Overheating question

[b_radsmizzle]

sorry but this is the best diagram i could come up with. after about of month of work my accord is (as i thought) roadworthy. on its maiden voyage the temp slowly crept up till it hit the red. after i pulled over i noticed that the vac line off of the thermowax valve (drawn in red) is missing and the t fitting that is supposed to be there is bypassed from the secondary diaphram to the carb. the line from the thermowax valve is unplugged. i realize that the vac lines in the diagram are not what stock is supposed to look like. mine is completely stock but this is the only diagram of an a20a1 i had.

so is this missing vac line the cause of my troubles?

[conozo]

A slowly rising temperature would most likely be a worn out thermostat or dirty coolant. When has that last been replaced?

The thermowax valve according to a google search, says that it bleeds the vacuume system when the engine is cold so that you cannot push it full throttle. It really cant do anything to the engine temperature, but if can effect how your engine runs/idles

[b_radsmizzle]

ok thanks for the reply. i actually rechecked the coolant level and what do you know its empty haha. so its draining from somewhere. i guess that should have been what i checked first when it overheated

[conozo]

it may not be overheating because its empty, it may be empty because it overheated.

I would replace your thermostat if its been a while. They are cheap and easy.

[w261w261]

THE most important thing in an older car is fluid monitoring. Keep a good eye on both oil and coolant.....clean out the overflow bottle so you can see in advance if the level is dropping before you end up with low levels in the radiator and something bad happens. Also, don't forget to bleed the system after putting in a new thermostat.

[b_radsmizzle]

where is the air bleed bolt?

i'm about to leave to pick up a new thermostat. it honestly wouldn't surprise me if its never been replaced. i'll keep you posted

[Oldblueaccord]

Its that little nipple on the housing. it points up. Unscrew it and make sure its cleaned out when you change out your T-stat.


wp

[b_radsmizzle]

ok thanks=]

[b_radsmizzle]

i haven't had the chance to install the new thermostat yet.

i've been told my water pump could be bad. what are the chances its that and not the thermostat?

[conozo]

even if the pump is bad, i would replace the thermostat anyways.

Is there a coolant leak around the pump, does it make noise, what makes them think its bad?

[w261w261]

I gather you are a fairly recent purchaser of your car? Do you know when the timing belt was last changed? Most people I think change out the water pump along with the belt. If you don't have any information about how long they've been in, you might consider throwing in a belt and pump just for reliability's sake.

Here's a copy of a post I did a couple of years ago:

The main difference between people that have reliable old cars and people that don't is that the people with reliable ones do maintenance in advance of failure. If you don't mind being stranded every once in awhile, then you can wait for a part to fail before fixing it. This allows you to get every bit of use out of it, but at the cost of the inconvenience. Me, I go for preventative maintenance.

Many things will announce themselves in advance before they fail completely. The front end will get progressively more loose before a ball joint fails, a muffler will get louder and louder, etc. For those parts, if you pay attention to what the car is telling you, you can replace them in plenty of time.

But there are other things that won't give you any warning. Those you should replace on a schedule. Here's some from my list:

1. Timing belt. At 70k, you have to assume it hasn't been replaced, and it's now 20 years old. Do it now, along with the water pump. If the timing belt fails, you stop Right Now! Some say if the belt fails you might also bend some valves, but others here say that won't happen. In any event, if the belt is indeed age 20, it could go anytime.

2. All hoses. I think they should be replaced every four years, but others say you can go longer. Some are more heat-risked than others, I guess. You can squeeze the big ones to see if they're soft-feeling, but I just go ahead and get them all. Unfortunately, "all" includes about 8 little hoses that go to the idle stabilizer valve and idle air control valve (on fuelie cars). I can almost guarantee they've never been replaced on yours. When you or your mechanic flush the cooling system, be sure to tell him to put in Peak antifreeze or something that is bright green, not the yellow stuff. The reason is you need a nice dark coolant to check its level in the overflow bottle, which isn't so easy to see in the best of cases, with light-colored coolant it's really difficult. The water part of the 50/50 mix should be distilled, which you can buy at a grocery store. Make sure your mechanic uses it too, or uses premixed. If you can convince him when he flushes it to use distilled water that's good too. It will pay off in your coolant not getting that rusty look for a lot longer.

2a. Clean your overflow bottle, so you can best see the level of the coolant in it. Failure to check fluids is high on the list of things not to do on old cars. The 3G does not make it easy, with a low obscure mounting point, but if you have a clean bottle and a flashlight, it's very do-able. See my posts on how to clean the bottle (take out the battery, the battery tray, the bottle, and swab it out with some phosphoric acid. Takes an hour or so).

3. Thermostat. Do with the hoses. It isn't expensive. You might as well get the temperature sensor (I think it's called the TW sensor or somesuch) that's near the thermostat too. When it starts to go the engine won't run right and finally won't start.

4. Auto tranny fluid. Use Honda OEM. Don't delay on this as there's probably some crud in there already, and a tranny fix is expensive. Manual tranny...use Honda fluid also. Change every 15k miles or so, but in practice you can probably do it when you change a drive shaft. If I get a torn boot, I myself put in a whole new shaft at that point, and I use Honda OEM. Expensive, but no problems.

5. Plugs, plug wires and air filter. Change the oil every 3k miles. Some here put in synthetic and say it makes a difference. I don't use it myself.

6. Buy a big bottle of Techron and put it in the gas when you fill up. You might want to use two bottles with two consecutive tanks of gas. Techron is the best to clean the fuel injectors.

7. Go under the car and check the rubber booties that are at the inboard and outboard ends of the driveshafts. If the boots are torn that means that sand etc. has gotten into the cv joints, and they need to be inspected and repacked with grease. Clicking during low speed turns is the symptom. The boots need to be replaced if they're torn of course.

8. Check the ball joints for wear. There are 6 of them, 4 on the front and two on the back. At 70k, they're probably ok.

9. Look at the bushings for the stabilizer bar, radius rods, and control arms. Check the steering rack for leaks, and NEVER USE ANYTHING BUT HONDA POWER STEERING FLUID, or at least fluid that specifically says it's for Honda..big trouble if you use something else. Look at the brakes and the wheel cylinders for dry rot. Replace the brake fluid, which should be done every 2 years, as it absorbs water.

10. If you're really into preventative maintenance, you might replace the main relay (fuel injected), as the solder develops micro-cracks. The symptom is hard starting intermittently at first, getting worse progressively. The install is a bit of a chore, but see the plentiful posts here on how to do it.

11. Take a look at the radiator. Plenty of cars have had a new one by now.

12. Does the battery have a date on it? If it's 4 years old, get a new one before it fails on you in the winter. Take the wires off the battery posts (remove the ground wire first and put it on last, the reason being that if the ground is connected and you mistakenly short the positive post to the car with a wrench, you will produce a big spark and probably blow the alternator....don't even think about what can happen if you connect a battery backwards!) Buy a battery post/clamp cleaner thingy and thoroughly clean the post and the clamps. Get a set of those red/green felt circles that go around the posts so you won't get a buildup of corrosion.

13. Take a look at the ground wires. There's one from the valve cover to the front of the car, but mainly look at the main one from the battery to the frame. Take it off, and clean the end and where it attaches. Replace the wire if it looks rusty. I replaced the valve cover ground, because it's a small wire and looked like it had started to rust. Use big-gauge wire and nice solid end pieces.

14. Check the tail lights for water pooling in the bottom of the units. Their seals leak. I use gutter tape so the water draining from the trunk lid gutters goes over the tail lights as opposed to down across their inside face. Eventually the water will get high enough to short the bulbs.

15. Clean the sunroof rear drains. When they get blocked the water pools in the sunroof cutout, and when you put on the brakes you get a shower down the back of your neck. The drains are reached by taking out the trunk liners and cleaning out the plastic tubes that drain out behind the wheel wells. Use a panel-popping tool sold in auto stores to get the buttons out, using a screwdriver will make a mess.

16. Replace the pitiful sealed beam OEM head lights with Hella's, so you can use a nice replaceable bulb by PIAA or Sylvania. That way, you can actually see where you're going at night. Most of the replacement headlights on eBay are junk. Buy quality.

17. When your driver's window starts not wanting to go up, it might be the switch, as that's the one that gets the most use, but is probably the coil in the auto-drop controller, which is behind the door panel. Eventually, you won't be able to raise the window at all. There are posts on here on how to install a new one.

18. Check the tires and get some decent ones if they're worn. Get an alignment.

19. I bought a tool box and have in it a set of tools including a metric 1/4" drive socket set, all types of pliers, one of those 4 in-one screwdrivers, a spare headlight bulb, taillight bulbs (actually there's a clip for a spare tail light bulb on the inside of the covers to access the bulbs). Get some assorted spare fuses, a Maglight-quality flashlight (plus a small Maglight for the glove box). A quick tire repair kit. There's probably more stuff in there I can't remember now.

20. Buy a couple of those reflective triangles or flares, in case you get stuck at night on a dark curvy road.

21. Eventually you will leave on your headlights and run down the battery, or you will get a flat. I bought one of those jump starters / air compressors (a good one, prob cost $75) and keep it lashed to the inside of the trunk. It's bailed me out a couple of times, and I've been a good samaritan more than that. Cheap insurance, and an easy way to be a hero to those who are not prepared and would be up Shit Creek if not for you.


That should be enough to get you started. Remember, a reliable car is a product of the original manufacturer (ours is GREAT, of course) and constant diligence.

[jasonrebellion]

yeah, I can attest to hooking up batteries wrong.. when I was 16 I hooked up a battery in my 86 maxima backwards...shorted out my headlights so only one worked and ihad to hotwire the other from the working one, and I got lucky and it blew a fusible link before it caused any more damage

[b_radsmizzle]

ok so i went to put the new thermostat in today and after being warned plenty of times and after me being as careful as possible, both bolts snapped and are stuck in the housing. i pulled out my trusty broken bolt removal kit and that shit snaped too (the kind where you drill a hole in the center of the bolt and use the reverse threaded piece to turn the screw). so sny ideas on a good way to loosen them up a bit to get them out. and please post any way to remove broken bolts other that said method.

THANKS

[Dr_Snooz]

Don't sweat it. Those bolts get really corroded and nasty. As a last ditch, you can go to the junkyard and pull the whole pipe off another car. That might be your easiest option at this point.

[b_radsmizzle]

i ended up drilling new holes and just used 2 nuts and bolts. works great!


thanks for your help