car overheating, thermostat?

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GSRCRXsi

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hey guys, my car just started overheating today. seems to stay at bay, ie not in the red but still hot, when im moving, but when i stop it will rise right to the red. the car is my daily driver, an automatic 95 LS integra. i popped the hood while it was about halfway on its way to the red and the fan wasnt on. that means the thermostat isnt open right? so is this morethen likely the thermostat? or could it be something else?

any help was appreciated, i need to fix this asap as i use this to drive to and from school and to deliver pizza as thats my job here at school. thanks.
 
can be the thermostat. When i gutted my old hatch i started to pull fuses for things i didnt use. I pulled the fuse for the blower motor for the heat. Well ends up the fan is on the same fuse. Check you fuse too. but more than likely its the thermostat.
 
hmm im hearing that if it was the thermostat, then it would still overheat, even when driving. but it stays pretty stable when moving. maybe the fan? or fan switch?
 
well its not a fuse, i just checked that. fuse is fine, and blower motor (which is on the same fuse) works fine.
 
run some power to the fan to check to see if the fan motor is working, also there are some sensors besides the thermostat that turn on your fan (at least on the civic there are), of course it couldnt hurt as well to change your thermostat, but those r some thoughts
 
well fan works fine, i just checked it again. the coolant was real low though. i filled it back up but it seems i have a small leak :(.

what is everyones opinion on that stop leak stuff? is it that bad to use?
 
good for a short time...i wouldnt make it a long term solution...170 bucks for a new radiator...i wouldnt worry too much, its a 45 minute install...if youve never done it before, i could probably have you setup in 30 minutes...but you might get a lil coolant on the concrete if i move that fast.
 
yah u should go ahead and replace the radiator, see if the lack of coolant is the problem or only part of the problem. Perhaps using the stop leak would be a good temp fix to see if it is just the leak causing all the problems. However if the fan is not turning on at higher temps, you have a switch sensor out. I had the same problem, and bought the new sensor for 20 did the install, everything was excellent. Look at your Haynes book, or whatever manual you have and look for the sensor that monitors the temp on your coolant, mine was where the coolant line went into the engine block. good luck
 
Originally posted by GSRCRXsi@Aug 30 2005, 07:07 PM
well fan works fine, i just checked it again. the coolant was real low though. i filled it back up but it seems i have a small leak :(.

what is everyones opinion on that stop leak stuff? is it that bad to use?
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everyone is talking about the radiator leaking but i dont see where he posted that the radiator is/was leaking.

find where the leak is and fix that, stop leak is bad, it builds up and can clog ports in the engine. so not a good idea and if in fact the radiator is leaking fix it right

call 1-800-radiator they have replacment radiators cheap and offer one that is all metal, not the metal plastic honda crap.
 
pull the thermostat,put it in a pot of water,put pot on stove,turn stove on put thermometer in pot note what temp the thermostat pops open.

at 20 or so bucks the thermostat would be my first thing to testand get the honda one I went through 3 aftermarket and was still having probs until I spent the extra 11 bucks at the dealer and no more probs.also you might not have a leak it might just be boiling and going out the overfill tube.and simple airflow kept mine from heating while moving but every stop she started climbing.
 
put the heat on and see if it goes down then u know it could be the thermo when it starts to over heat turn the heat on high and blower on high
 
did you pull a compression test?

is there coolant in your oil?
any smoke?
any oil in your coolant?

if you can't find where its leaking from i would suggest looking into the headgasket, but definately make sure your fan motor works, and if it does then check on the sensor... there's some reason that fan is not coming on...
 
the fan works FINE. like i said, i checked it already. comes on when its supposed to and everything. it just wasnt on when i happened to look at it the first time.

its not the thermostat. i can feel both hoses are hot when the car is warmed up. so coolant is flowing.

its not the headgasket. drive fine, no coolant oil mix, no smoke.

like i said the radiator has a leak. and that caused me to loose coolant which caused me to overheat.

now my only dilema is whether or not to use the stop leak stuff. the leak is small, very small. only leaks like a drop a second. but a leak is a leak nonetheless. and i cant see where its comming from. i can only see it dripping off the bottom of the radiator. but i dont want to spend a ton on a new rad. autozone and advance all want like 180+ for a new one. and frankly i cant spare that right now on a rad.
 
temporarily yes use the leak stop. but don't use too much, if you do in time it will clog your radiator, or so that's what they taught me in school.
 
Dude, a drop a second is a big deal. And it will only get worse. Like every one says stop leak will get you by for a few days. But buy a new radiator and fix it right. You can get them cheap enough. If you were local you could have one of mine, I have 3 extra fuckers! :ph34r:


And :D to not overheating anymore
 
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