97 Integra rusting radiator and other issues! Help!

[adamc11]

Hi,

My dad has always been careless with cars.

I had to drive his car out of the driveway and noticed it was due for a service at 180,000 and now has about 190,000.

I opened the bonnet to check the oil level and noticed the radiator has rusted out, the water is brown and the oil is black.

http://img651.imageshack.us/img651/6002/photo2fh.jpg

http://img694.imageshack.us/img694/540/photo1upj.jpg

There is oil on the rocker cover but i think this is from my dad carelessly topping it up, as you can see the oil run mark from the oil cap.

He has had to top up the water and oil recently.

What's the best way to deal with this? I'm thinking the head gasket could be gone as my old pulsar had the exact same issue when it's head gasket went - rusted radiator and using oil. However the integra starts fine first time every time, i don't think water is leaking into the cylinder.

What i was going to do today was change the oil and filter, probably some castrol edge 5w30 (or maybe mobil 1 high mileage 10w40).

But how should i deal with this rust?

Should i replace the whole radiator - i am assuming i'll need to? What about the heater core?

What i was going to do was disconnect the radiator run a hose through the engine block and heater core to flush out any shit that is in it. Then change the radiator and clean out the hoses and radiator overflow, or just buy new ones.

Could anyone help me out with what i should do?

Thanks very much,

Adam

[adamc11]

Also, what about the water pump? Will that need replacing also?

[ericl33]

looks like radiator has been filled with water instead of coolant.

needs major flush

depends on your budget m8.

if you want to spend little, then just give it a good flush, running water through the whole system till you completely sure it's clean.....

then top it up with quality coolant.




problem areas would be thermostat, water pump, hoses, radiator.

anthing coolant related will have to be assessed properly to make sure it's still ok.

[mytfoz]

to do a flush maybe try Radiator Flush?
i never tried it myself so cant really give u much info.
but i would go with what ericl33 mentioned and maybe add radiator flush.
but for sure replace thermostat and water pump. inspect the hoses and might change them aswell(best to aswell).

then use coolant to finish it off after flushing and draining it a few times.
maybe best to do a major service? as in timing belt and water pump etc...

[adamc11]

Thanks for the replies. Cleaned it out a bit today and did the flush with some radiator flush fluid. However, everything is coated in rust - radiator, thermostat, right through the engine block, etc.

Is there any way to remove the rust? Will coolant over time clear it up, or do I need to use some strong shit that will eat the rust away? I've heard that citric acid is good.

Thanks again.

[grifty]

nothing u can do about the rust in the engine.

Change the thermostat and the cap and see how it does afterwards. If you have the tools/skills then change the waterpump aswell. maybe get ur hands on a clean 2nd hand radiator aswell.

squeeze the top bottom radiator hoses and see how they feel, nice and soft or hard and brittle?

[adamc11]

Hoses are hard and brittle. I will change the water pump when the timing belt is done at 200,000 - I might attempt the timing belt myself, never done one before. I'll also do the radiator and hoses.

Today I will change just the thermostat and radiator cap.

I suppose the only thing is if I change the radiator, hoses, water pump, the engine block still has rust in it which I don't want spreading back to the new parts. Will it spread or stay where it is?

Thanks again.

[ericl33]

Hoses are hard and brittle. I will change the water pump when the timing belt is done at 200,000 - I might attempt the timing belt myself, never done one before. I'll also do the radiator and hoses.

Today I will change just the thermostat and radiator cap.

I suppose the only thing is if I change the radiator, hoses, water pump, the engine block still has rust in it which I don't want spreading back to the new parts. Will it spread or stay where it is?

Thanks again.
change coolant every 5000kms till fluid is clean

[adamc11]

change coolant every 5000kms till fluid is clean

I got coolant concentrate that makes up 20L. I think the integra cooling system is about 4L, so with a 50/50 mix that means I use like 1/8 of the coolant concentrate. Is that right?

[adamc11]

Does anyone here know how to change a timing belt and is located in Melbourne? I am wanting to change the timing belt and water pump within the next 10,000kms. There are online write ups but if i had someone doing it with me that knew how to it would be good, just so i don't stuff it up, and i'm happy to pay them with $$$ or beer for their time!

Thanks.

[ericl33]

I got coolant concentrate that makes up 20L. I think the integra cooling system is about 4L, so with a 50/50 mix that means I use like 1/8 of the coolant concentrate. Is that right?
cooling system is 7 - 8 liters when drained completely.

drained from the radiator only will be about 4 - 5 ish liters.

for a car that has been flushed with water, i would go 50/50 mix

for just a coolant change, 35/65

reason being coolant is still in the engine, if you flushed it with water, there will still be water in the motor.

unless you completely flushed it.

just fill it up with the correct ratio, then drive for 5000kms and change again, keep doing so till you're happy with the coolant looking clean

thats what i would do.


as for timing belt help, i would help you..... but not in melbourne.

pm mocchi or CB auto

[SLOBRO]

I would say for best results remove your thermostat, use radiator flush with your current radiator with heater on low after 15-20 mins flush it out don't forget to flush the heater core, would be better if you did T/Belt waterpump and Cam + crank seals , then change all coolant hoses and fill up with new coolant and water. just sayin lol

[dougie_504]

If the oil is black and not milk-shake colour then HG might be fine still. Just make sure it's only filled to the MAX level in future and give it a good flush. Replace oil, drive, replace again when warm to get as much out as possible. Get a pressure test if you're still worried.

The coolant advice you've been given looks pretty sound to me. Good luck and keep us updated!

[adamc11]

Thanks for the advice everyone, sorry about the late update.

So i changed the thermostat, radiator cap, oil filter, oil, flushed the cooling system out and filled it up and put coolant in.

I gave it a good wash and degreased the engine and cleaned it up nice.

Went good for a while, but now it has another problem which is getting worse. When driving (engine is hot or cold), the engine sometimes cuts in and out under throttle, my dad said it nearly stalled the other day. It happened when i was driving it, i think it could be the fuel filter, distributor, injectors, spark plugs, not sure where to start. It's coming up for it's 200,000km service, which of the mentioned items are due to be replaced? What else could be causing it?

Thanks again,

Adam

[SLOBRO]

there must be water in your leads or distributor after washing the engine, remove distributor cap and leads and use compressed air to dry them and inside the distributor itself

[adamc11]

Thanks SLOBRO. I don't have access to compressed air. Actually i could take it to the servo and use the tyre pump's compressed air :)

[SLOBRO]

yea could do that :D

[dougie_504]

there must be water in your leads or distributor after washing the engine, remove distributor cap and leads and use compressed air to dry them and inside the distributor itself

+1 deserves rep but on Tapatalk.

[adamc11]

So my dads car has been sitting around for the past 2 weeks while he has been overseas. I took it for a drive tonight and it's running really bad.

I removed the leads and noticed that the leads have condensation on them and there is some moisture around the plugs. Would this cause the problem?

I am going to use some compressed air on the leads but getting the moisture around the plugs will be hard, so I might try using a hair dryer.

I'm also going to take off the distributor cap and check if it's dry.

Thanks.

[SLOBRO]

So my dads car has been sitting around for the past 2 weeks while he has been overseas. I took it for a drive tonight and it's running really bad.

I removed the leads and noticed that the leads have condensation on them and there is some moisture around the plugs. Would this cause the problem?

I am going to use some compressed air on the leads but getting the moisture around the plugs will be hard, so I might try using a hair dryer.

I'm also going to take off the distributor cap and check if it's dry.

Thanks.

yep that will be your problem

[dougie_504]

Agreed, have had this problem myself. Keep the plugs in whatever you do until the moisture is out. Pity you don't have an air gun but if you get access to it you just put the outlet in the plug hole and wrap a towel around it so any water being blown upwards will get stuck in the towel.

[mocchi]

did you end up replacing the radiator?

[Jasemas]

Srsly should take the teg of your dad :P

[adamc11]

yep that will be your problem

Thanks. What i ended up doing was drying it out with a hair dryer. I took it for a drive and it was still doing it so i pulled over, removed the leads and noticed that they had condensation so i wiped them dry. I had to do this a few times but it fixed it. I think that was the easiest way to fix it - get the engine hot and the moisture will condense on the leads and just wipe them down.



did you end up replacing the radiator?

Not yet. The whole cooling system has rust through it, including the overflow bottle, hoses, engine block. I am going to flush the system out every thousand or so kms and in 10,000kms when it's due for it's 200,000km service i will see how it's at. I may replace the radiator, hoses, overflow and water pump then.


Srsly should take the teg of your dad :P

It was in pretty good condition when he got it but he just doesn't care about cars. It probably gets washed a few times a year, the paint is really really dirty at the moment and i can see it starting to fade. If i don't give it some love i can see the clear coat coming off :(

[SLOBRO]

Thanks. What i ended up doing was drying it out with a hair dryer. I took it for a drive and it was still doing it so i pulled over, removed the leads and noticed that they had condensation so i wiped them dry. I had to do this a few times but it fixed it. I think that was the easiest way to fix it - get the engine hot and the moisture will condense on the leads and just wipe them down. :(
I'll make it even easier for you lol go to supercheap or autobarn get carby cleaner and spray the lead heads and inside the plug holes and it will just evaporate
and be very dry

[adamc11]

Ok guys need some urgent help.

My dads car has been fine for the last few weeks and now it won't start and he is stuck in Frankston. The car is turning over but engine is not starting.

Any ideas? He filled up with fuel last night so i don't think that's the issue.

I told him to remove all the spark leads and make sure they are not wet and clicked in properly. If a single plug or lead is shot will it still start up, or could this be a distributor issue?

I really hope I don't have to drive all the way to Frankston to check try and fix it and to pick him up :(

Thanks,

Adam

[adamc11]

He signed up to RACV for 2 years = $230 and got the guy to come and and it's the distributor. RACV guy said it's a common honda problem.

Any possibility i stuffed it up when i took the cap off a few weeks ago? All i did was remove the cap to make sure there was no water and then fit it back the exact same way.

Hopefully just a coincidence.

[SLOBRO]

don't worry normal stuff