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Ok, so I used the online video to replace the timing belt on my 2007 Honda Ridgeline that has a J series motor. I used the same video several months ago to do the timing belt in my wife’s 2007 Odyssey.
In this job I also replaced the radiator because of a known issue where the transmission cooling line connectors corrode, which mine had started to do.
After I got everything back together I went through the Ridgeline factory shop manual to burp the air out of the cooling system. I thought I got it all out and took it for a ride. Within a 1/4 mile it started to overheat. I pulled over and let it cool for a few minutes. Turned the key and the temp was at the normal level. Went to drive it home and it overheated again so I pulled over. It took me a few times of doing this to get it home.
Once home I looked on the internet and found Eric’s instructions for bleeding the air out. I did not have the fancy spill free funnel nor could I find one locally so I tried to do this with with a big funnel that fit into opening.
After several hours trying to get the air out it is still over heating. I can let it idle for 5 minutes and it will go up to 3/4 hot where normal is 1/2. If I give it any gas per Eric’s instructions it overheats. I do see burps every once in a while doing this.
So my question is, do I keep doing what I was doing or is there some other trick with these J series cooling systems. It did not have the bleed valve, or at least I could not find one. Any help would be appreciated.
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Keep following the bleed procedure. Put a pan under the
radiator to catch coolant if you don’t have the spill free
funnel.I got a bigger funnel, but not the spill free. Trying again today and if I don’t have love I may try replacing the thermostat. The heater in the truck is working great so I think it is circulating though.
[quote=”bleve” post=83926]I got a bigger funnel, but not the spill free. Trying again today and if I don’t have love I may try replacing the thermostat. The heater in the truck is working great so I think it is circulating though.[/quote]
Just take your time and don’t be too discouraged. Ridgelines are hard to get all the air out off and take time and patience. Anytime it seems that it is going to overheat keep shutting it down.
And are your fans coming on? Make sure all the connectors are plugged up correctly.
I am not so sure it is air in the line. I am thinking it may be the thermostat but that is almost not making sense. Here is what it does.
When I start it cold it heats up and then once the engine is hot (meter at the halfway point), it will stay there if I just let it idle. If I rev it up to 2500 rpms it will jump up to 3/4 within 90 seconds and coolant backs up the funnel.
After it is hot with coolant pushed up in the funnel if I turn the engine off the fan continues and then after a few seconds you hear what I think is the thermostat click and coolant rushes back into the radiator. I can repeat this over and over. Now if I spray hose water on the thermostat housing the water continuously flows and no mater how many rpms it does not overheat.
Is the thermostat not working when it gets too hot or is this still a symptom of air in the system, possibly around the thermostat? I am going to pick up a thermostat but would be good to know if that is not the problem before I set out to replace it.
Thanks everyone
Thermostats are one of the lessor expensive parts on a vehicle. Wasting a few bux is better than fighting something that may be a simple repair.
Also, usually the temperature sensor for the gauge is below the thermostat housing. I’m wondering if spraying water could be making the wiring or connector work.
I thought the same thing about wetting/cooling the temp sensor but the fans are coming on when the engine gets hot. The thermostat should open no matter what that sensor is doing as far as I know. If the fans were not blowing then I could see that maybe the coolant was not getting cooled off, but they are operating at what seems like fine rpms.
Yipes, that could be due to a big air pocket or a sticking thermostat, or it could be something worse, like a bad head gasket.
Also look at the highest point in the cooling system. There may be a bleed bolt there just for the purpose of letting out the air.
[quote=”college man” post=83937]I think its time for a thermostat.[/quote]
Another thing to do, if a new thermostat is not the fix, is reading the coolant temperature off of the ECU to see if it agrees with the gauge.
I certainly hope it is not the head gasket. The truck only has 105k miles on it, and it was cooling fine before I replaced the timing belt, water pump and radiator. I also think it would be weird for the thermostat to go bad but I have spent at least 10 hours trying to figure this out. I don’t have a way to measure the temp out of the EGR as I am a shade tree mechanic. I could remove the sensor from there though and bleed it I guess.
I would say it is proving to be harder to fix this then to do the timing belt and radiator 🙂
If I can’t get it to tomorrow I will have to have it towed to a shop. Which would be a shame since I thought I was saving a lot of money by doing the timing belt and radiator myself. I did buy a thermostat today, but not so sure that is the issue and it is not super easy to replace on the Ridgeline.
Will see how tomorrow pans out.
-Bennett
Yesterday did not pan out although I got it to the point where the return hose is getting hot all the way up to the radiator but the top of the radiator remains cold. So waiting on a tow truck to take it to the neighborhood garage.
Thanks All for the help.
[quote=”bleve” post=84047]Yesterday did not pan out although I got it to the point where the return hose is getting hot all the way up to the radiator but the top of the radiator remains cold. So waiting on a tow truck to take it to the neighborhood garage.
Thanks All for the help.[/quote]
Sorry you could not get it on your own, let us know what the garage says.
The overheating only when revving makes me wonder if you have a pin hole leak in your head gasket. It is possible when you drained the cooling system and refilled it you disturbed something that was blocking the leak or you might have gotten super hot spots where an air pocket was and blown out a tiny part of the gasket.
I’m thinking it is something electrical and a false indication. Anyway, it will be interesting to find out. I hope the owner gets back to us.
if the issue was a head-gasket, wouldn’t that also mean the coolant is getting less and less? i don’t see where the OP mentions the coolant is declining or i could have completely missed it
i agree with one user on suggesting to monitor the readings on the gauge with a separate reader to see if the coolant readings are agreeing with each other. a cheap OBDII blue-tooth connector with the Torque Pro app for Android phones would have worked, but the truck is at the shop right now so i guess we’ll wait for the response.
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