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?

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

https://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.

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.

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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.
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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



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.