Engine Problems..

[Francos Accord]

Well, I just bought my 3gee last saturday, and on the way home, (NY to PA), I noticed that my temp. gauge wouldn't stop rising/ level out, and eventually i had to pull over due to overheating. Turns out my fans aren't working... Great... I found the relay that goes straight into the radiator, unplugged it, and hooked a power source directly to the fans, and they work. I also checked the fuses, and they are all good. So I figure it must be the relay that it plugs into, so i call up napa, and they say that there are 2 relays for the coolant fans one on the radiator, and one on the engine block itself, which I couldn't find, and they are 2 different relays. I ordered the one for the radiator, install it, and the fans still don't turn on. I guess it has to be the the relay on the engine block but i cant find were it is located. Where is it? Along with no working coolant fans, I noticed that there is oil leaking from where the head meets the engine block, but I don't think it is a blown gasket, because it isnt running rough, and the oil isn't milkey. Is there anything else it could be, or is it actually a blown head gasket? The place we bought it from said bring it down, and they will fix it no problem, but i just want to know what i am dealing with here. Any help will be greatly appreciated.

[mephi]

You need to download the manual. It will have all of the relay and wiring locations. You can find the link in the technical part of the forum

Is the oil leaking from right below the distributor? If that is the case, it may just be the distributor o-ring. Happened in mine.

Usually oil that leaks from somewhere above the head gasket will collect and wick around the gasket, making it look like the gasket itself is leaking. Stupid capillary action making oil leak diagnosis difficult. It could be from the valve cover gasket too, but my guess is going to be the dizzy.

[clark_486]

Did you check this one to see if its good?

[Francos Accord]

I checked all the fuses and all the relays that could remotely deal with the fans, they are all working. Could it be a bad thermostat?

[clark_486]

if it was the thermostat i would think it would overheat even with the fan on as the coolant would only be moving around the block.

[MessyHonda]

yeah make sure you have fresh coolant and blead the system...the bolt is on the termostat housing to let all the air bubbles out.

[conozo]

If you have air in the system it is likely that the fans wont turn on. On mine my head gasket has a tiny tiny hole and the engine is pumping air into the cooling system. Oil, coolant, exhaust looks fine and engine runs great just for the exception of air in the system. If you have a tiny hole in your head gasket this could happen. Take off your radiator cap, let the engine warm up a little (2 minutes but dont let it overheat), turn the car off and if coolant starts flowing out of cap after the engine has stopped then there is a head gasket leak. This isnt a fail safe way to test a blown head gasket, im just sharing what i experienced and was confirmed by several auto mechanics.

Also my car started to overheat only when i was stopped or stuck in a slow moving traffic jam. Which sounded like the fan relay was the problem, it wasnt but all those components can be tested along with the thermostat before you start going out and replacing everything.

I believe there is just the one relay on the bottom of the radiator on carbed cars. FI cars have two i believe.

[Francos Accord]

I was on the phone with the mechanic i bought the car from, and he said that the thermostat was never replaced, and that could be the reason for it overheating within 15 minutes of driving. So i went out and bought a thermostat, and replaced it. When i pulled the old one out, it was seized. When the engine got hot, the thermostat wouldn't open, and let the coolant run through. I replaced it, and i put in fresh anti-freeze. I let it sit idleing for about 20 minutes (the amount of time it would take for it it overheat before replacing the thermostat) and the inside thermometer was only at the half mark. So its a good thing that i replaced the thermostat, but my fans still don't work. I rigged it so that when i start the car, the fans turn on automatically and run until i shut the car off, and thats how i am getting it back up to staten island for the mechanic to fix it properly.

[Francos Accord]

Got some updates on the car. Last Saturday the car was dropped off back in Staten Island to be fixed. Well, today i get a call from the mechanic, and heres what was wrong. I had a bad oil leak because I had a cracked distributer cap. That was replaced. I already replaced the thermostat, so that didn't need to be done, but when I changed it, i decided to flush the radiator. I flushed it 4 times , and it was coming out slimy and poop brown all 4 times. He said that he disconnected every hose and flushed out everything, including the motor, and it was finally clear. After doing that, he went to work on the non working fans. It turns out that I had a cracked radiator too. He replaced that too, and he was working on some minor things went he called me up about an hour ago, and I will be heading down to Staten Island tomorrow to pick my car up!!

[conozo]

hope that doesnt cost you a lot. But even if it did, its worth it to have a working cooling system to prevent damage to your engine.

[AccordB20A]

hope you can sort this out, overheating issues really really suck