03-30-2015, 03:48 PM
(03-30-2015, 07:43 AM)fixkick Wrote: thanks for sharing, i do love home brew fixes, sure do !
is it cold out,? i didnt know it s was frigid engine, that is totally different.
how cold out is it, here is 80f so , ive no clues.
the thermostat has a rubber surround ring, and seen many wrong (100s of emails) with it missing or using a paper gasket instead.
doing so floats the thermostat, it just leaks bad. (goes nuts)
this causes thermostat floa.
nor a backwards stat. (both hopeless cases)
they do use this engine in many cars, J18/20 and not one does this , set up right. non do. 50,000 car or more.....
j20 is just a stroked 1.8.
Frigid 2:
the front fan clutch can seize and on cold days, the engine will go frigid, up in Montana or Canada or Alaska, up there they block 1/2 the RAD with cardboard, to Solve this issues. -50F is bad news.
did the engine temperature surge? up and down, if yes, that is the STAT wax pellet going nuts, (due to lack of flow via bypass and or tube 22.)
remember pipe 22 can kill both paths, if necked down its a big problem on this car.
the stat air bleed not sitting on top , invites, air pockets and thermostat will not run in air. ever. nor will the ECT at rear of head.
the symptoms are surge. hot/cold,hot, repeat. with air or lack pipe 22 flow, full normal flow.
I checked the air bleed position...it was up. New thermostat...Gasket, proper one. Engine temp was still erratic, was never run below 10 or 15 degrees f but up to high 90s in summer prior. Now any ambient temp is fine. I normally am in Idaho.
Symptoms were very slow warm-up, (so the 8 miles to town in chilly weather was open loop all the way)... engine temp sometimes surged but mostly would not maintain operating temp, so closed loop was hard to attain, just generally erratic. I concluded that tube 22 was the culprit, but resistances on ECT were right, and heater works fine. Any other motor I ever saw had the thermostat up top , right before big hose to top of radiator so I put it there. MPG went from low 20s to 29 at 60-64 MPH. Temp gauge is now half way up at all times,rock steady, Accord thermo switch closes at 180f, electric fan from unknown vehicle.
I put an older brass radiator in it as OEM was damaged, much better in hot weather (today I was in heavy traffic in Tucson, 93f, impossible to make it overheat.), but does like 1/2 cardboard below about freezing. I could send photo. Tube 22 was not directing sufficient coolant to wax pellet, that's all I could conclude. Thanks.