cooling problems on 87 integra 5 door hatch 1.6 twin ohc carburettor

Hi all you knowledgeable Honda-philes
My old girl suffered a blown top radiator hose and the local mechanic
wanted so much to repair it (and do the cam belt at near 300k
kilometers) i decided to buy another car.

I didn't cook the motor or head gasket as theres no oil in the water or
vise versa.
Long story short a mate of mine said he'd help me replace the
thermostat which we did, and the car ran. Now my daughter is old
enought to get a licence, I want her to learn on an easy-to-drive unit
and the old girl sure fits the bill.
BUT the lower of the 2 hoses from radiator to block remains cold!!!
while the top hose and the rest of the mill heat up good. The gauge
which is usually spot on climbs up to just shy of the red zone.
Reading all the articles it seems we have thought of all the same
solutions that you fellas have, but wondered if there was a second
bleeder....the primary on the block we let piss out water until there
was no more air, but the lower hose remains cold and apparently empty.
The fan/s do not kick in at all. There is sludge/rusty water in the
radiator reservoir.
I should mention that even though the car stood for about 18 months,
once the new thermo was in and we had thrown some gas in the carby, she
idled like a dream and started with no fuss
Which direction does the water flow.....from the bottom of the radiator
to the motor to the top of the radiator, or the other way?
HELP!!!!!! please
Graham
New Zealand

 

first things first: if it blew a hose, there's a good chance the gasket
blew. if it's been idle for a while since then, it may have temporarily
corroded to a "no-leak" condition for the moment, but that's likely
temporary. you need to check into that once you have the other problems
fixed.

regarding the thermostat, did you replace with honda oem? aftermarket
ones are known to be sub-par in quality.

regarding the radiator, it may be blocked if corrosive exhaust gas was
circulating, and then the engine stood idle. again, check into that.
you may be able to get away with a flush, but a replacement may be on
the cards.

regarding circulation, flow is as it would be with a convective system,
i.e. up through the block, down through the radiator, so the bottom hose
is supposed to be the cool one. or "cool-er", not cold. cold indicates
blockage. you /will/ cook the motor running with a blocked rad,
regardless of what the gauges say.