d17a2 overheating problem and not be able to rev past 4k
 

Hi guys, I have a D17a2 civic with the ex trim, when i bought the car it was abused horribly, and im trying to bring him back to his prime. I had a mechanic do a complete overhaul, and now the engine feels healthy again, then the problems begun. It turns out when im in 5th gear, or any gear, i can´t pass 4k rpm or 80mph, i checked the oil level and its on the second dot on the dip stick, but now i think its a vtec solenoid issue, since vtec is supposed to activate around those rpm; correct me if im wrong. Also one of my rubber hoses ripped and my coolant started to drop dramatically, to the point the car turned itself off to protect itself. replaced that hose and replaced the coolant it lost, then the radiator cap starts puking the coolant, stopped the car and fillled it with water, and its been runnning on water since that day. However yesterday, the car started to overheat again, once it got to the top hot mark on the temp gauge, i tuned the car off, left it on the on position, let the fans do their thing and open the hood to cool better, I did this about 6 times yesterday to avoid any harm to the engine, also the engine has about 175k miles on it. When i check the coolant level, it was just steaming, put about 2 lts of water to bring the levels back to normal, or to the top of the radiator cap. Today it was running well, up until i engine braked to save brake pads, TEmp reached up to the dark level mark on the temp gauge but started to climb down shorty after ( have to change my driving style?) I really dont know what to do and would really appreciate the wise knowledge anyone can provide me with.

Re: d17a2 overheating problem and not be able to rev past 4k
 

Head gasket is probably blown, read here:

https://www.civicforums.com/forums/3...reference.html

If you cooked it really good to the point where it stopped running the head is almost certainly warped, take it to a machine shop.

Re: d17a2 overheating problem and not be able to rev past 4k
 

Sooooo it's low on power?
Does it pull hard all the way up to redline in all other gears?

What failed previously to cause you to have the engine "overhauled"?
Do you have fault codes related to VTEC system to support your guess?

The car/computer cannot do that.

If it was ran overheated until it quit, it's likely toasted the engine all over again.
(when one is run overheated until it quits, quite often it's damaged beyond saving with a good outcome....that's the point I suggest engine replacement options)


Yup. Supports the theory of it being toast again.

Re: d17a2 overheating problem and not be able to rev past 4k
 

Rip d17a2

Re: d17a2 overheating problem and not be able to rev past 4k
 

Well i really dont think the engine has suffered any damage beyond repairing, it has good torque and can reach 80 mph, it doesnt sound like something is clicking, sorry for not giving enough info, im a new member and its my first car :) i really dont want to replace the engine this soon, yeah eventually, but not now

Re: d17a2 overheating problem and not be able to rev past 4k
 

Just had the head gasket replaced about 1500k ago

Re: d17a2 overheating problem and not be able to rev past 4k
 

Re: d17a2 overheating problem and not be able to rev past 4k
 

I really hope its not toasted, it run well, feels healthy, its just this issue,

PS: put water on the radiator about 30 min ago, and the radiator is spilling a stream of coolant on the floor, going to my mechanic so he can pull it and verify if thats the problem.

Re: d17a2 overheating problem and not be able to rev past 4k
 

Yes, i was planning on doing that, once the car reached 185k 0r 195k and planning on buying and installing a k20c1, but not know, i want him to last at least a couple more years, besides its a vintage plum pearl color, and i dont want to get rid of him

Re: d17a2 overheating problem and not be able to rev past 4k
 

i hope not, really hope not

Re: d17a2 overheating problem and not be able to rev past 4k
 

Doesn't matter, it's blown again. 99.9% guaranteed.

Did you read through the link I posted?

Have your mechanic do the test in the video that's in the first post, that will prove whether or not it's the head gasket. Do this before spending money on any other parts or diagnostics.

Pouring from where? The overflow? The neck where the rad cap sits? (Steam erosion from overheating will eat away the plastic and cause the cap to not seal) Or is the rad damaged somewhere else?

Re: d17a2 overheating problem and not be able to rev past 4k
 

literally from underneath the radiator, its seem the leak is pretty bad cause it just drips and drips,

Re: d17a2 overheating problem and not be able to rev past 4k
 

Right, just about anything can be fixed if you have enough money.

Bull. Butter.
Complaint #1 in yout #1 post was that it won't go over 80 MPH and you just figured it must be a vtec problem, without presenting supporting evidence.

The most recent overheat makes all the engine overhaul work a moot point. All it takes is one overheat event to ruin all that work. And cause even more damage....like ruining the radiator.

Re: d17a2 overheating problem and not be able to rev past 4k
 

The car can reach 80mph, the engine feels healthy enough that it wants to keep climbing but it wont pass over 4k, its like there was a rev limiter and reading other people post about similar issues all mostly link up to the vtec issue, again the car feel healthy and smooth, climbs speed with out much effort or throttle input, about like 1/3 to the floor. I really dont know why people keep stating that the engine is dead; when its not, it runs great, turns on without any issues. Again, this is my first car, and i just need good advice on getting this issue resolved.

Re: d17a2 overheating problem and not be able to rev past 4k
 

that's what we're trying to do...

have your mechanic test the head gasket like it shows in the video,
can do a cooling system pressure test to figure out the rad leak but the head gasket needs to be tested first.

head gasket is the most important to figure out, because if it's bad then there's no point in doing anything else until it's fixed. The car may not be worth fixing depending on how much the head gasket and machining costs.

this is your first car and clearly you're not as familiar with these cars as we are.
so listen to us

Re: d17a2 overheating problem and not be able to rev past 4k
 

You stated the engine quit because it overheated. So that means the cylinders got so hot the gasoline was self igniting during the compression stroke before the spark happened or the pistons swelled up from the over heat so much they no longer could freely move in the bores or both..

Generally the labor to remove the heads, remove the valve train, send off to be milled and then reassembled is more the cost of a used engine..

if you can’t rev the engine past 4000 rpm in any gear then indeed the computer might think there is a vtec issue and is holding the rpm there. Plugging a code reader will give the computer a chance to tell you that.

Re: d17a2 overheating problem and not be able to rev past 4k
 

I know, and i thank you all kindly for the great advice and i thank Colin42 as well for the advice :) It just gets to me that I've spent so much money on rebuilding the engine and it just keeps giving me issues, and you are probably absolutely correct, now that i see all the common issues on head gasket failure that its probably that and the radiator leak, we'll find out in a couple of hours, once i arrive at the mechanics shop.

Re: d17a2 overheating problem and not be able to rev past 4k
 

Yeah, i had the it milled already and i hope i wont have to do that again, after i got the car back, it revved smoothly after. Ill check the code once i get to the mechanics, since i dont have a code reader myself to see if its a vtec issue.

Re: d17a2 overheating problem and not be able to rev past 4k
 

If it were a VTEC problem, the CEL would be on and there would be fault code(s) related to VTEC.
If it were a VTEC code issue, your RPM would be limited in all gears, not just 5th.


Is your CEL on?

Re: d17a2 overheating problem and not be able to rev past 4k
 

No, no CEL what so ever, what might be the issue with the vtec? However, now that i think about it, the maintenance flashed on the dash 10 times when i started the car, but reseted it with pressing the trip button turning on the car, then releasing the trip button and seemed to work, no more CEL

Re: d17a2 overheating problem and not be able to rev past 4k
 

All the gears do the same, sometimes; when i step on him in 1st gear, i will pass to 4500k rpm, but then 2nd gets limited and when i try to go to 1st and go 4500k rpm again, it wont let me pass 4k. Also, I've forgot to mention that i sometimes go to my mechanic, get the codes erased, works for like 5 minutes, then start limiting me again to 4k

Re: d17a2 overheating problem and not be able to rev past 4k
 

There is no way to make the engine live a little longer ?

Re: d17a2 overheating problem and not be able to rev past 4k
 

stop

breathe. Deeply. 3 times.

start reading. Reading for real, i mean.

denial will not solve your problem.

have mechanic do the test Colin42 have already told you to use twice.

then wait for verdict.

panicking will do you no good.

until cause is found, no point in delving into it. You just wasting your energy and ours.

Re: d17a2 overheating problem and not be able to rev past 4k
 

Hi guys, I apologize for the late update, apparently, the head gasket is in good shape, the problem was with the radiator, seems that a leak started to form underneath it, Im currently having the radiator replaced and we'll see if that solves the issue.

Re: d17a2 overheating problem and not be able to rev past 4k
 

In no way or form have i showed panic as you stated, if anything i was a little frustrated; put yourself in my position. If you feel im wasting your time brother, simply ignore my post and the problem is solved.

Re: d17a2 overheating problem and not be able to rev past 4k
 

so he did the test with the shop air and it passed?

you got lucky

hopefully the new rad fixes it

Re: d17a2 overheating problem and not be able to rev past 4k
 

What about fault codes and not going above 4000 RPM?

Re: d17a2 overheating problem and not be able to rev past 4k
 

deep breath

start reading.

see below

Re: d17a2 overheating problem and not be able to rev past 4k
 

Hi guys, haven't been able to post in a couple of weeks, but here's an update to what has recently happened, got the car back and everything seemed great, temp was slightly under the middle mark of the gauge, drove to work the next morning, assuming that the mecanic did his job correctly, and tried to pass over 4k, engine cuts of power when trying to pass 4k, i thought to myself, its fine. Got off of work and headed back home, thats when the issues started, the temp was climbing and fast, pulled over to the side of the road and popped the hood, i was really close to the mecanic i had taken my car previously, and waited for the engine to cool for a bit, drove, stopped again, drove, and stopped again to let the engine cool, there was a point in which the car did not want to turn on until i applied some throttle and let the revs climb to 2k so the engine wont die on me. When i got to the mecanics, i started to notice my mistake on taking my car with these people, so i tell him that i think the head gasket need replacing, he pulls the dip stick, checks the color and says its ok, openes the oil lid and no residue; it was completele clean, i curiously open the radiator lid and all the coolant begins to spill out, i ask him, is this normal, he says yes, look at the color of the coolant, and its pure water, thats when i got upset since they said they filled it with antifreeze mix, asked them to fill the levels, they agreed but with a horrible attitude, drove back home, car was over heating but didnt get to the dark lines on the top of the temp gauge, yesterday, i decided to check his levels and put distilled water to see if that was the issue with the over heating, when i begin to fill the radiator, i noticed it need about 2 lts of water, so i filled up to the neck of the radiator, that's when i noticed that a small costant stream of bubbles form, thats when i said, must be the head gasket. After i went for a small drive to see if i can still drive it, its my only car, it has to work. It worked great so far, until i parked slighly up hill and the engine died on its own, tried to start the engine, and i had to apply a lot of throttle to get it to revive, it was idleing very ruff after and now im scared to turn him on, but the temp was perfect, also feels a litte weak, any advice on what to do???..... Also no codes are thrown, at all, as if the car doesn't say what is wrong with him

Re: d17a2 overheating problem and not be able to rev past 4k
 

If that job was to remove money from your pocket and put it into his own, he probably accomplished his goal :rofl:

Fixing your car? Notsomuch.