ek overheating advice needed :I

[rnbguy]

hey fellas,

my 97 ek1 seems to be overheating, i noticed that even when temp needle is over half way , neither of the fans are comming on????

im guesing this means either the thermostat or switch is broken...

would doing an odb diagnoses trick help identify the issue?

what else could it be?

[jdmTYPE R]

u have to make sure that the fan turn on or not,if u wanna check if the fan works pull the plug off for the fanswitch and touch the 2 wire togther on the plug with a paper clip if the fan turns on then your fan is ok,it could be your thermoswitch playing up. touch the bottom radiator hose to see if it is hot or cold if it is cold your thermostat could be playing up to. if all this is ok then u mite wanna get your raditator check out.

[rnbguy]

thanx heaps, this may sound dumb but which switch is the fan switch? i havent looked for it yet, im thinking itll probably be somewhere atatched to the radiator or fan itself

[jdmTYPE R]

look where the bottom radiator pipe connects to the engine there should be gray plug with a black and green wire....thats the fan switch

[rnbguy]

okay going off that its thermo stat, bottom hose is cold as ice, and fan with switch trick works fine.
now gotta figure out best place to get one on a weekend :( and how hard it is to change

[jdmTYPE R]

make sure u get the bottom hose when the temp is on hot ok

[rnbguy]

i didnt quite understand that, but i think u meant make sure u check???

yeah i checked ... hey do u know how to change the thermo on these?

[destrukshn]

easy bro.
lol.

where you located?]

[rnbguy]

lool im in north ryde or livo any where near either in sydney ?


btw is the thermo inside that hose that the switch is connected to that connects engine block to botom of radiator?

[destrukshn]

yeah dude, kinda under the throttle body.
where the bottom radiator hose is going to.

[rnbguy]

rekon i can change thermo without flushing system?

[destrukshn]

no.
lol, half the coolant will come out, you might as well flush it from there

[bennjamin]

no.
lol, half the coolant will come out, you might as well flush it from there

and the coolant will be replace by air bubbles lol -

either way you need to totally flush the system.

[rnbguy]

loll okkkk will do :) gonna go look for one tomorrow


i havent looked yet, but im assuming there a write up on this here somewhere :)

[destrukshn]

yeah dude.
easy, to make things easier, take off your intake pipe.
drain the coolant, from the bottom plug on the radiator.
then take off the hose at the thermostat housing only.
disconnect the plug from the sensor.
and i think it's 10mm 2-3 bolts, that's holdin ghte thermostat housing.
undo them, might have to jiggle the housing off.
then take out the thermostat, if it doesn't budge by hand, get pliers, and pull it off/jiggle it off.
then put back, in reverse order.

[rnbguy]

sounds good and all but what happens to all the little cute bubles in my engine :(

[destrukshn]

after that's done.
pour your coolant in, then, jack your car up on stands, so the radiator cap is at the highest point of the cooling system.
with the rad cap off, start your car.
run it until, there are no more bubbles.

turn your car off, put on the rad cap, lower your car
and you should be done.

[bennjamin]

you forgot an important thing -
slide the temp. adjuster all the way to HOT.
This opens up the heater core and lets the entire coolant / bubbles in system flow out

the radiator cap is designed to be the highest point on the cooling system already - no need to jack up.
Just run it until the fan comes on twice (thermo opens twice letting hopefully all bubbles thru)

[destrukshn]

yes that too!
lol.
yes, it is, but i find, it gets rid of the air bubbles quicker and more effieciently.
=)

[rnbguy]

okay ill try tomorrow morning fellas, ive heard jacking it up is necassry on some cars but not all...

[rnbguy]

if this fails, ill be visiting ben in north ryde to help out :)

[bennjamin]

if this fails, ill be visiting ben in north ryde to help out :)

take it slow and dont rush it :) And dont breathe in too much coolant its nasty stuff.

[rnbguy]

thanx dood, i take it that bottom plug is easy to find, its night now so not gonna bother looking for it till tomorrow am

[rnbguy]

anddd can i use an after market thermo???i have a feeling honda will over charge

[rnbguy]

also how do i know its not water pump

[destrukshn]

anddd can i use an after market thermo???i have a feeling honda will over charge
honda thermostats are about $40 or so.
and not many aftermarket parts places, will hold genuine ones.
aftermarket should be okay.

you'd see water dripping from the timing side if it was was the water pump.

[Drew]

Get some Genuine Honda Coolant if you are going to flush the system

[destrukshn]

Get some Genuine Honda Coolant if you are going to flush the system
yes use, gen honda coolant only.

[rnbguy]

ahh okay so any hints as to whos open on weekends? i was gonna try scotts, but their closed tomorrow

[destrukshn]

rick damelians. 8am-1pm
and they close 1pm sharp.
no exeptions, i know.
lol.

[rnbguy]

haha hey fellas i spoke to honda these are the costs:

thermostat : $49
4L coolant : $42

should i go buy it or does it sound wrong to anyone?

[Encor3]

haha hey fellas i spoke to honda these are the costs:

thermostat : $49
4L coolant : $42

should i go buy it or does it sound wrong to anyone?

Hey i had the same issue, and i ended up just jiggling and reconnecting all the cables there and its working fine now.

Also check your grounding, giving cables a clean and reconnecting them.

[rnbguy]

too late bought the stuff, the only gigling im gonna do is to get parts off and back on i guess.

[rnbguy]

im gonna do this now, but i just need to confirm, the thermo is connected on which end of that hose????

the end on the radiator or the end on the engine?

[bennjamin]

im gonna do this now, but i just need to confirm, the thermo is connected on which end of that hose????

the end on the radiator or the end on the engine?

its located ON THE ENGINE BLOCK , AT THE BACK UNDERNEATH THE INLET MANIFOLD.

Here is a picture of its location -

http://www.avalon.com.au/mikes_www/images/Thermo/a%20020.jpg

[rnbguy]

thanx heaps guys, changed thermostat today and works like a charm, no overheating... only problem is i noticed the fan didnt come on even after driving for an hour...? i think this is normal because my old car was like this but i can't be sure, can anyone with an EK1 confirm if there fan comes on always or under extremly hot days only?

[Encor3]

thanx heaps guys, changed thermostat today and works like a charm, no overheating... only problem is i noticed the fan didnt come on even after driving for an hour...? i think this is normal because my old car was like this but i can't be sure, can anyone with an EK1 confirm if there fan comes on always or under extremly hot days only?

just leave it parked with the engine running

[rnbguy]

i did but was at night time and weather was pretty cold, might try it on a hotter day