MotoRad T-Stat

[7a7Accord]

Hello All,

I have an 89' Accord that I'm trying to bring to life. After doing a few searches I've decided to change the t-stat to an oem version to get my overflow container to stop bubbling over. My mechanic says from the description I've given him that it doesn't sound like a blown head gasket, plus I've done the suggestions he's given me and the they point to having a good head gasket. So how do I tell if this "motorad" t-stat is bad? I also have a "motorad" radiator cap, could this be my problem?

Any and all help is greatly appericiated!

VII

[A20A1]

Never heard of MotoRad... I get Stant.

I don't have problems with the T-Stat and I don't need an overflow container cause I never loose coolant.

How far do you fill your radiator?

[7a7Accord]

Hello A20A1,

I just picked the car up, so I have not put anything into the radiator. However I have rust colored dried liquid all over the engine, plus on my way home with it once parked it got to bubbling over and smelling of burning coolant.

VII

[A20A1]

Where is the coolant specifically over the engine?

You should check the fluid level as soon as you can... it could be too high or too low... if you nottice a srpay of coolant on the right side of the motor it could mean the water pump is going out or has gone out and was replaced.

[7a7Accord]

It's on the right side, under the battery and such. How hard is it to replace a water pump? Any recommendations?

TIA

VII

['89AccordLX(Rus)]

Check that radiator cap! My coolant reserve tank would overflow due to a worn out cap. Apparently the cap wouldn't hold pressure which resulted in the coolant overexpanding and escaping in large amount into the reserve tank. My $.02

[A20A1]

What year accord do you have?

Did you mean to say the coolant was under the battery and on the right side?

Or is your battery on the right as well?

http://www.3geez.com/showthread.php?t=31199

http://www.3geez.com/showthread.php?t=12736


those threads should help if it is your water pump.

[accordlxi2.0]

hmmm the right side.
i had a VERY bad leak, and i thought it was the radiator, becuase the antifreeze would leak out from around that area, which turned out to be one of my heater hoses, i would check the hoses for the heater and the lower radiator hose too.

is the temp gauge normal or no???

[A20A1]

But the Heater hose... thats all on the left side. :D

Don't trust the temp gauge... if it goes up, goes down, ordoesn't work at all it's a bad sign and if it moves too slowly that also is bad. But anyways if you're leaking coolant or it's low then the Temp gauge wont be accurate.

[accordlxi2.0]

oh yea . . . .i'm thinking like he's saying the passenger side, plus the battery thing got me too.
my bad, i've been inhaleing too much carb cleaner.

[7a7Accord]

Ok, I'm back.

It's an 89' Accord, five speed, and I think its a carbed version. The gentleman I got it from is under the impression it has a blown head gasket. I really want to prove his analysis wrong! My battery is on the right/passenger side of the car. The temprature gauge works, and I've seen the coolant bubbling under the battery from what I've assumed is the overflow container. I'll look into a radiator cap tomorrow, the battery looked newer just as the motorad radiator cap does, however I've discovered that the battery is bad:(

TIA

VII

[A20A1]

I usually get my engine orientation based on a frontal veiw of the car... so right would be drivers side. Since thats how you look at the motor when you open the hood.'

Yeah the resivoir is under the battery.. i had a simmilar problem.
It turned out to be a waterpump, but before the water pump died completely it caused two other problems... my radiator cracked and the heater hose busted like Accordlxi2.0

How is the battery bad?

If you find you are not getting charge you may want to look into the belt that drives both the altenator and the waterpump... if that is loose then it could cause both the cooling probolem and the electrical problem. But I'm jumping pretty far ahead.

[7a7Accord]

Now there's something I didn't think about, the belt! I got the car last weekend, friday evening I cleaned it out a bit and left it in front of my garage door bay. That evening it rained pretty hard, hoping that I didn't leave a window opened I didn't think much of leaving it out side. Now mind you I had charged the battery prior to all of this. Saturday morning I go to move the car and it doesn't turn over, dead battery. So I popped the top off the battery to find that its low on water, I top it off and charge it again. Right now its in the garage waiting for me to reinstall it, but I'm sure its bad and I would hate be stranded somewhere. After I send this I'll go downstairs and check the belt.

TIA

VII

[A20A1]

Oi! you still use one of those open water batteries? I like the maintenance free ones... mine is quite small.

[7a7Accord]

I just looked at the belts, both serpertine (s/p) belts are cracked and the v-belt looked fine. None of them looked loose or saggy, but replacing them couldn't hurt.

Where's the best place to get a water pump and radiator cap?

VII

[7a7Accord]

How do you like that yellow top? I saw one in a pawn shop yesterday and I'm tempted to offer the guy half price for it. Only problem is that I'm not sure if it will fit my 3g.

VII

[A20A1]

Optima Yellow Top? never used one, I hear they are good. Pawn show... beh, I'd never buy a battery from a pawn shop. :D

I have no idea where you are so I don't know where you would go. Napa is a good place to start if you have one.

[7a7Accord]

I'm in Central Missouri, I have yet to make up my mind as to which battery I'm going with. I have a red top in my wife's subaru and I love it!

Could a slipping belt cause the overflow container bubbling situation?

VII

[A20A1]

Well the water pump needs to spin for the coolant to flow and cool off properly... if not heat will build up and then that will cause the coolant to overflow... but it's serious in this instance because it means you're overheating.

Below are seperate suggestions but are tied into cooling problems:
A few things to make sure of are:
1) Are the fans working?
2) If not are the fans dead or is the sensor that turns on the fans dead?
3) If sensor and fan are fine then it's a cooling system problem, refer to above posts and for more information search for ( Water pump / Belt / Thermostat / Hoses / Radiator ).

[7a7Accord]

I've done the search thing, this is what lead me to my local Honda dealer requesting the oem t-stat, those things aren't cheap compared to their aftermarket counterparts. I'm a little lost on the radiator cap, my dealer didn't have one, is there an aftermarket cap you guys recommend? What are the tale tell signs of a bad water pump?

TIA

VII

[A20A1]

Bad Signs Are
- Non-Consistent / Fluxuating Temp Gauge Reading
- Overheating
- Slow or Fast Drop Of The Coolant Level
- New Belt But Belt Still Squeeks And Belt Tension Is Correct.
- Clattering noise or Squeeking noise from the pump, but not belt related
- Water / Coolant Stains on hood area above water pump, looks like spray or spatter


-----

For both the radiator cap and the thermostat... go to checker/Kragne/schucks auto parts and look for a "Stant" they have worked great for me.
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['89AccordLX(Rus)]

Stant caps and thermostats are really high quality as far as I have used them. You can get them at autozone or any other parts store. The accords need a 13 lb standard size cap. The thermostat OEM temperature is 180 degrees F. Based on that info, you should be able to pickup a quality cap and thermostat from any parts store.

P.S.: I just overhauled my cooling system and used Stant components. Based on my experience, I would highly recommend them. BTW, I used the Stant Super-Stat Thermostat.

[carotman]

Well, I had this problem right after I did my B20A swap.... the thermostat was the only thing I didn'T change cause it looked really good and was a Honda EOM... well, this greedyness almost cost me my brand new engine.

The thermostat would only open halfway (or maybe 1/3) and would not let enough coolant flow in the radiator. The engine would raise quickly in temperature and the coolant started to bubble, the fan would never come on (the thermostat didn't have enough flow for the coolant to go all the way down to the bottom of the radiator)

I suggest you check that thermostat.

Here is what mine looked like when I pulled it out

http://pages.infinit.net/omus/forum/thermostat2.jpg

The top of the thermostat broke in half (not fun)


Just get a OEM thermostat. Motorad isn't that bad for the cap (that's what I got) but I would trust the OEM thermostat better.

[7a7Accord]

Ok, the game plan this morning is to drop in the oem t-stat, put some water in the radiator and see where I stand. How can I tell if I have enough coolant/water in the system?

TIA

VII

['89AccordLX(Rus)]

Ok, the game plan this morning is to drop in the oem t-stat, put some water in the radiator and see where I stand. How can I tell if I have enough coolant/water in the system?

TIA

VII

The water/coolant level in the radiator should be up to about half way in the neck. The coolant level in the reservoir should be at the full mark. Make sure you let the air out of the system using the bleed bolt and keeping the cap open until the thermostat opens and purges the air out of the top hose. After that, you should be set.

[7a7Accord]

Ok, I new at this so forgive me.

The neck is that what the radiator cap screws onto?

The car has green coolant in it right now, would it be bad to mix pink with it?

Once the fluid levels are ok, do I leave the radiator cap off and unscrew the bleeder screw? Will I hear the air purging once the t-stat opens?

TIA

VII

P.S. I have the oem t-stat in, it wasn't as hard as I thought it was going to be ;)

[7a7Accord]

Things are looking up, I just found a gallon on green coolant in my shed :)
So I mix that with 50% water and fill correct?

TIA

VII

[7a7Accord]

Topped off the fluid, and I let the car run for a few minutes. Right now the overflow container is ready to bubble over, and the t-stat housing just started seeping alittle. I'm guessing I didn't torque the housing down enough.

I listened to the waterpump and I didn't hear anything that I thought was a bad sound. I didn't notice any of the tale tell rust colored dried water around the pump either.

I did noticed that the fans have not turned on. And for the time the car ran the temp needle didn't move?

Should I be lookin at replacing the radiator cap or water pump next?

TIA

VII

[7a7Accord]

I cracked the t-stat housing :( And, my local dealer doesn't have one in stock, where is a good place for a replacement?

TIA

VII

[accordlxi2.0]

you can try a junk yard . . .
but it takes while for the fans to come on, since the sensor is in the radiator.

[A20A1]

T-Stat housing?

I have spares.

How on earth did that happen?

I live in Hawaii though so if i were to ship it it take a bit.

--

Did you install the T-Stat in the correct position / angle?
Also facing the right way?

Did you use a new rubber gasket over the T-stat or did you use the old one?
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[7a7Accord]

Hey A20A1,

I used a new gasket over the oem t-stat and followed the "how to" right down to positioning my hand while holding the housing like in the picture. I noticed the t-stat housing was smoking and seeping alittle. So I though I hadn't torqued it down enough, so I put my wrench back on it, pushed it alittle and that's when I heard a pop! Looked down at the housing and there was a crack on the top as plain as day :( I popped the hood after parking it, now I have smoke coming from the t-stat housing, the overflow container and the neck of the radiator! So I quit before I broke anything else. My local dealer wants $55.56 for the housing, my salvage yard wants $20.00 for it and AutoZone wants $ 5.50 for it. Today was not a good day for wrenching :(

Thank you all for your responses

VII

[A20A1]

Did you replace the housing gasket too?
look like a "D"

[7a7Accord]

Housing Gasket?

The only gasket I had was the one for the t-stat. I didn't see a gasket on the housing when I took it off. Maybe that explains the seepage and the orange stuff I saw around the housing.

It's strange my sister-in-law's boyfriend just came over and made me an offer on the car! Seeing as how it's not running right I feel funny saying a number as to what its worth.

Thanks

VII

[HondaBoy]

if tis leaking orange, that'd tell me that coolant is probley mostly if not all just water. not antifreeze. i just flushed my cooling system. rusty water was from just putting water and not putting any antifreeze after i had a busted hose. anyway, to flush the system, you want to turn the heater switch all the way over and disconnect the lower radiator hose and the thermostat housing. thats how i did it, then i got the water hose and sprayed into the water way on the head until clear water came out of the lower hose. then i sprayed into the upper hose until clear water came out of the bottom place where the lower hose connects. anyway, you dont want to let your cooling system go, believe me its pretty cheap to keep it up compared to the high costs of the repairs that overheating and stuff will cause. you should probley know that. hope you clear up your problem. oh i forgot to say, i had the problem of the overflow tank with the over boiling. it was a thermostat problem.

['89AccordLX(Rus)]

Just to elaborate a little on the cooling system filling and bleeding.
Open the bleeder bolt and add collant to radiator until coolant runs out of the bleeder bolt in a steady stream. (Engine should be OFF!) Once no air is coming out, close the bleeder screw, top off the radiator and start the car. Watch the coolant level in the radiator. As the car warms up, the coolant level will drop and you may see air bubbles floating up as the air is being forced out of the upper hose. After the car warms up to operating temperature, shut the engine off, top off the coolant level if needed, and close the cap tightly.
As for the thermostat housing, make sure that you are puting the gasket on properly and don't overtorque the bolts. Seating the gasket doesn't require much force. Also, get a scraper and remove any deposits on the gasket mating surfaces. You may even want to coat the gasket with some sealant to avoid leaks. When I replaced my thermostat, I used an OEM Honda gasket and no sealant was needed. I did however clean everything up real well before I installed the thermostat.

[7a7Accord]

I spoke with a guy that works at a radiator manfac... here, and from what I've explained he's inclined to say that it sounds like a clogged hose or radiator.

I'm wondering if I should take another stab at it this weekend? I really want to get this car up and going, I just to do it myself!

TIA

VII

[7a7Accord]

I picked up my t-stat housing from advanced auto, it looks pretty heavy duty, and it did come with a gasket :deal: I also grabbed new radiator hoses since I was there, this maybe the weekend project, time will tell!

VII

[7a7Accord]

Hello All,

I'm back on this project, my daily driver is in the body shop and I've discovered sharing a car with my spouse is no fun @ all! So I REALLY need to get this car up and running, and this is what I have:

1) New Stant t-stat housing w/ gasket
2) New upper and lower radiator hoses

Tomorrow I'm picking up a new radiator cap, some coolant, and that yellow drainage tub I've seen at the autoparts stores. Something tells me that my oil change station will be too small for draining the coolant.

Right now the car is jacked up on stands and I've pulled the plastic "scrape plate" off, is it the norm to break screws removing this plate? Looking at the problem from the bottom the rust colored coolant splatter is primarly under the overflow tank. So the game plan for tomorrow is to replace the cap and the t-stat housing. If I'm still bubbling I'll replace the radiator hoses. And if that doesn't work I'm going to drink a couple cold ones, cuss a little and more than likely post here.

VII

[7a7Accord]

Update: I've changed the upper radiator hose, t-stat housing, and radiator cap. Right now the overflow container isn't bubbling over like it use to. In the past I would drive it around the block and my the time I get back to the driveway is overflowing. This time by the time I got to the driveway is wasn't bubbling over, so I let it run for awhile and it still didn't boil over. However I could see the coolant bubbling inside of the container, is this normal???

I also noticed one of the heater hoses leaking, I picked that up last night and will more than likely change tonight/this weekend.

Thanks

VII

[md21722]

make sure the radiator cap seals correctly in the radiator. i had a MotoRad or some such and it was the "new" type with a smaller rubber seal than my "old" Honda radiator needed. it caused coolant to bubble out onto the ground when i parked. changing the radiator cap to old style (actually just an old one from my parts car) solved the problem. you may have a more subtle issue with your cap.