1998 Hatch overheat.

After a flat out run from Kingston to Toronto (250km), I had the car
idling in the driveway for several minuits to check things over (Can't
be too careful with a beater that's got 280,000km and still running
with all the original components under the hood). To my surprise, after
idling in the driving for several minuets, the engine temperature gage
starting rising. Which was very surprising, cause that was the first
time I've ever seen the temp gage move from it's 1/3 mark. I checked
under the hood and the reservoir was at the max level. The radiator and
in/out house were all warm to the touch (warm enough for me to grab
hold of them without burning...which is surprising since the car was
going over 100mph back from Kingston). It only took me less then a min
to do all the checking cause I was in a bit of panic. I went back into
the car, the heater was turned off and all the way into the cold
position. I moved the leaver all the way into the hot position and
blasted the heat. Very hot air started coming out the heater and the
temperature gage dropped back into its normal 1/3 position. It's been
several days since that episode and I haven't encountered anymore weird
problem with my cooling system.

My guess is, after driving the vehicle hard it cooled off rapidly after
exiting the highway and idling in the driveway, somehow air was
introduced in the cooling system, there was some kind of blockage and
when I turned on the heater, the blockage cleared up. If so, I won't
worry about it. But, I'd like to here if you Guru's got any
suggestion for preventative maintenance.

Pars

 

have you changed the thermostat? and is the rad clogged with insects?

 

-------------------------------

I don't see you saying that the rad fan(s) were running. They should
have been. When it cools there should be NO AIR under the rad cap. I
think you'll find some. Rad cap not pressurizing properly / air in
system.

'Curly'

 

The thermostat is still orginal. But I'm kinda leery about replacing
it. I've had past situations where the new thermostat didn't work. I
wouldn't want to throw out a perfectly good one (that's proven itself)
for a defective one. The radiator has seen 280,000km and the fins are
beatup to hell and almost flat across the board. Even thow, the engine
bay is huge for such a small engine (very airy), so even a bad rad is
probably still ok. But, I'll have to keep an eye on it when the weather
starts to get realy hot.

 

Sounds like good advice. The fan was working well and turned off on cue
when engine went back to normal temperture. I'll have to check inside
the radiator in the morning to make sure it's topped up all the way.
Considering that the resevoir is at the min level when the engine is
cool, it'll probably be ok. I guess the next thing to do would be to
replace the radiator cap. I also suspected the rad cap as the culprit.

 

It's gotta be the rad fans. Or the relays that turn them on.

 

if you buy oem, there's really very little chance of that.

that makes it a good candidate! especially in this situation where it's
working ok whole driving, but overheating while stationary.

bay size has nothing to do with it. there's just no way the surface of
the block can dissipate sufficient heat to keep the motor cool. think
about how many times the surface area of a finned motorcycle cylinder
compares to that of an unfinned cylinder. the ratio is something like
100:1.

sure, but an ounce of prevention [thermostat, clean rad, maybe rad cap]
is a damned sight cheaper than a few thousand dollars of cure!

 

The radiator is clean, but most of the fins are flatten from stone
chip. Which will require a new rad core. That's a little
too pricy at this time. I'm willing to wait it out a bit, especially if
it seems as if the rad is doing it's part.

 

No no.. The fan (only one) was working properly. It came on when
the engine started to over heat and only turned off when the engine
temperature
went back to normal. But even though the fan was working properly, the
engine was
still overheating. It was when I turned on the interior heater that
caused the engine's overheating
to stop.

 

understood. but if you have a little time on your hands, you can often
do a reasonable job of straightening them up with a small nail or
something similar. and it might be a good idea to look into the
protective expanded metal grille mod! i need to do that this summer
when i have a bit more time.

fwiw, this:
http://63.89.49.212/ipb/wizard.jsp?partner=ipb&clientid=alleurasianautoparts&baseurl=http://www.alleurasianautoparts.com/&cookieid=1RP1AA1KG1RP1AA1KF&year=1998&make=HO&model=CVC-DX2-002&category=G&part=Radiator&appTransmissionType=Automatic
unless it's a pricing error, is very affordable!

 

It sounds like either a bad thermostate. Or the radiator itself is all
gummed up on the inside making it not so effective. How many months
and miles old is the radiator fluid? Old fluid can cause an overheat.
Also a gummed up radiator can cause an overheat. Did you ever use tap
water to top off the radiator? If so how much? The calcium deposits
build up from tap water, that's why I always use bottled water.



East-

 

It isn't an error. Plastic ones are low-cost/undurable/unrepairable. Here are brass ones for less...

http://stores.ebay.com/ABLEMARVS-STORE

A popularity with a brass unit is that they can be repaired and hold up to
higher temperatures. I've not bought from this ebay store so I don't
know much about their product.

 

there was a time when i might have agreed with you on that, but not any
more. yes, when the plastic cracks, and it does eventually [after about
10 years], the radiator's done and it's not repairable. BUT,
brass/copper radiators are soldered, and solder creeps at operating
temperatures. consequently, in my experience, those things end up
leaking much more frequently, /and/ those leaks are harder to track
down. so, /i/ am a plastic and aluminum guy these days. they work,
they work well, and they last pretty much as long as the road debris
damage you're experiencing allows. plus they're lighter.

 

The radiator's coolant was suppose have been changed with the last
timing belt replacement which was 40,000km ago. I've got a bottle of
de-ionizined coolant for top-ups. If I were to use bottled water, it
would probably be Aquafina instead of mineralized water. I would never
put tap water into a Honda rad.

I'm going to get a price for a rad replacement from my Mechanic and go
from there. Even if it does appear to work well, it's still got
280,000km on it, which can't be good.

 

I would expect plastic and aluminum to be more brittle then the other
medals. If so, it wouldn't be a good replacement for my rad,simply
because mine tends to attrack a lot of stone chip and perhaps more
likely to crack and leak from the impact. It already happened to me
once when the car was brand new (less then 5000km on it). I hated the
fact that Honda classified it as road-hazzard and didn't help pay for
the replacement.

Pars

 

Thermostat is a prime culprit. Replace it with OEM. They ought to be
changed every 5 years or so anyway.

It costs all of $20.

But not rotten? That's odd. Up here they corrode into dust.

 

Plastic radiators are reliable if they're engineered right. My original 280K-miles
plastic radiator is one heck of a monster. But as soon as someone complains
about a leak on a plastic radiator the game is over. There are no tools in the
shop than can repair the nylon reliably.

We'd smash the engine block on a hoist that penetrated the Civic's brass radiator
and ripped open a 3" gaping hole ...it was no problem with a propane torch. Try
welding an aluminum tank with a TIG welder and you're liable to blast a hole
right thru it.

Solder creeps occur once every six years or so and the torch will fix 'em for
another decade. Usually, if you can't find the creep, you'd just pop open the
top with a torch and clean out the coolant tubes with a long dipstick. The
reassembly will fix two problems.

 

you can buy a "comb" to straighten the fins out. ive seen em at
autozone/pep boys/ etc.

 

OK. I can handle $20 dollars. I'll get my mechanic to change the
thermostat the next time I take the car in for an oil change. It only
took me 7.5 years to accumilate 280K and no noticeable corrosion on the
rad.