EG 'GL' overheating issues :(

[VT3C]

Hi Guys,

I have a background prject car that I am working on.. it's a 95 GL civic hatchy.. 'ZC' dual Carby (SOHC).

It's un-licensed at the moment and when I drove it (with permit) to it's new home the other day, I got about 1-2km down the road when the temp guage was maxxed out. Not terribly fussed about this motor I just kept on driving as I was almost there.. anyway it drove completely normal and when we got to the destination and turned off the motor there was a hissing sound.. popped the hood and the overflow container was almost full and sitting there boiling in the bottle for a few minutes.

My own research suggests that it could be a couple of things causing this but I wanted to hear if any of you guys have ever come accross this.

The car was purchased and driven to it's old home about 18 months ago and then hadnt been started for at least a year before the other day's drive.. however the first time we drove it it did the exact same thing but we thought it was from the oil-level being waaaay too high.

We changed the oil and filled to the correct level and (12 months later) it still does the same thing.. water level is fine.. didnt leak any water in 12 months of sitting there..

Possibly the thermostat is seized up in the closed position ?

I noticed the radiator cap is non genuine (el cheapo) and my manual says that the wrong type of cap could cause the vehicle to overheat ?

Unfortunately the car is stored a long way from my home so I am trying to find out what is causing the problem before i go out there to fix it.

FYI this little ZC motor rocks !! has a great powerband and note !!

[SuiJin]

could even be the headgasket

[wAYzoR]

Radiator could also be blocked and rusted inside causing flow problems. ya could try pulling out the thermostat and see if that helps, if its good change your thermostat.... stupid question but are your thermos working?

[VT3C]

could even be the headgasket

hoping it's not the headgasket.. hard to tell with this motor cause the first time we drove it, so much smoke came out the exhaust that it blocked the highway !! but the oil was filled up to almost the top of the DipStick tube (!!!)

it only has ~125,000kms on the Chassis but obviously hasnt been serviced properly so that means nothing.

Doesn't appear to be using any oil or water though since changing the oil and was blowing NO smoke this time we drove it.

Radiator could also be blocked and rusted inside causing flow problems. ya could try pulling out the thermostat and see if that helps, if its good change your thermostat.... stupid question but are your thermos working?

that was my other suggestion (from manual) that the radiator was blocked.. I'll have to go out there on the weekend maybe if I have time and try running the car with the thermostat removed.. but I thought the default position for Honda Thermo was in the OPEN position ? when my thermo died on my B16 it would just take AGES to warm up cause the cold water was free-flowwing.
What I thought was strange is that i've never even seen any water in the overflow in any honda's I've owned/driven/seen/worked on.. so perhaps this is indicative of a blockage.

only driven the car 2/3 times in total and it's at soemone else's house.. so what I know about the car is basically listed above

[anjin]

Nope - default is closed. The water circulates around the head and block bypassing the radiator until it gets hot enough to open the thermostat and add in that loop.

Add in a reason ot two - the temperature sensor/switch is faulty and doesn't turn on the fan. Bridge the thermo sensor and see if the fan comes on.

Or the wiring to the fan is faulty.

[wAYzoR]

prob just let it warm up properly, it will take longer to warm up the engine as the water is constantly flowing around motor. I would check the basic things first like fan, blockages, and thermostat. But yes all thermostats are closed while cold, reason for them is to help keep heat in the block so it warms up quicker.

[90LAN]

what fluid are you running ?

[VT3C]

Nope - default is closed. The water circulates around the head and block bypassing the radiator until it gets hot enough to open the thermostat and add in that loop.

are you sure about that ? are you talking Carby model specific ?
so why would my car (B16) take almost 20 mins to warm up when my thermostat was dead ? then replaced it and would take about 2 mins..

Add in a reason ot two - the temperature sensor/switch is faulty and doesn't turn on the fan. Bridge the thermo sensor and see if the fan comes on.

Or the wiring to the fan is faulty.

I dont think it's the fan as it was while driving on a not-too-hot day.

what fluid are you running ?

who knows.. it's green so it appears to be coolant HAHA.. prob just Tectalloy or something.

it seems to warm up quite normally but then all of a sudden it's through the roof... I am thinking the coolant is not being allowed to flow through the motor it's just sitting there and then comming out into the expansion bottle once it is boiling.. havnt had the chance to run it with the radiator cap off to see flow.