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Hey folks, 02 Accord DX with an intermittent overheat.
About a month ago a heater hose burst. I replaced it and starting a couple of weeks later it will overheat ONLY when stopped in traffic on the interstate (coming from ATL here so that’s about 90% of the commute). Revving the engine lightly will help it not overheat as well as turning the heat on in the car. Turning the A/C on or off does not seem to have an effect. It will NOT overheat under any other situations, even stopped for an equal amount of time at a red light on back roads.
The radiator is only about a year old (non OEM rad and cap). I just replaced the thermostat (OEM) and have bleed the system each time. Bleeding has taken about 30 minutes per event. Water pump is about 70k old. It does seem like bubbles come for a very long time but they are slow and lazy, not what I would expect from a compression leak. Fans work, Heat works, everything seems to work. Neither the coolant or oil is a milkshake. Also the engine runs great, no apparent performance issues and there doesn’t appear to be any coolant consumption.
Any ideas? I will replace the rad cap next and try bleeding at different angles (parked up a hill and such). This problem has left my wife stranded 3 times so I am going to treat this problem aggressively.
Thanks!
ScottEDIT: Also, the coolant flow is great, there are not any radiator obstructions, no white smoke from the exhaust, idle is good, and the oil is topped off.
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Are you sure coolant fan(s) are working? Not only is it working but working when car runs hot? Think it possible gunk has system clogged……..do a good FLUSH of system. I have had good luck with the cheap T system kits from part stores where you connect garden hose to flush.
I am 100% sure that the fans are working correctly. I have not done a flush because it had one about a year ago and there is zero debris in the coolant. Even the 14 year old thermostat was super clean. Also if it were a clog, I think it would overheat more consistently.
What’s everyone think?
Still sounds as if you have air entrapment in the system.
Honda seems to be quite finicky when it comes to air in the cooling system.It sounds like you’ve got air trapped in the system. Sometimes it can be a real pain to get all the air out.
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Passed the combustion gas test. I changed the spark plugs (unrelated but needed them anyway) and bled the system for at least an hour. Some air did come out. Total, the car ran for ~2 hours with no issues.
Is there any other place that air could leak into the system? Like a water pump bearing or something?
Pressure test the coolant system only way to see if losing pressure. Don’t forget to test the cap.
What type of combustion gas test did you do?Overheated again today. There is no way there was any air in that system. The car drove fine for about 150 miles between last night and this afternoon when it overheated again.
The cap is the one for that aftermarket radiator. I picked up another cap to test. It is a very different style but is the same pressure rating and will fit on snug.
I did a block test with the blue fluid. I was applying the test all throughout the rev range too and it passed with flying colors.
I will pick up a pressure tester today, though it doesn’t appear to be leaking coolant anywhere. Could that test shed light on an issue other than a leak?
EDIT: Also, the old plugs looked fine. They were old but all of them were identical. Definitely no indication of coolant burning.
Pressure test just to eliminate possible leak.
Can you access a scan tool to get the actual temp of the ECT. Would also be useful to see live data to verify normal engine parameters such as operation of fans in relation to ECT.
For clarification, radiator was replaced a year ago because of same overheat problem?
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