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Leaking radiator cap(fixed)-now hi temp

vtecds1

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Joined
Jan 16, 2004
Messages
1,705
Location
Las Begas
Setup:
2.5" Civic Aluminum radiator
Permacool(non shroud) 1950cfm-puller
AC still intact
FMIC covers bumper grill
80/20 mix with water wetter
160 thermostat

I`m currently in the 196-203 temp(daytime) and if I'm lucky...193@ night. Current weather has been in the high 60's to 70's. For some reason, I cant seem to get my temps down. Even on the highway it would still hit 200. My question is...would a leaky radiator cap be the culprit? I talked to a couple of guys at work and they said yes. They mentioned that it is not pressurizing the system and air bubbles can get in there. I just want a 3rd, 4th, etc opinion from you guys.
 
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Barnes

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Feb 9, 2003
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Location
Richland, WA
80/20 = 80% water/20% coolant? Or vice-versa?

Is your radiator cap actually leaky? Or are you just trying to look for reasons your temps are higher than you want?
 

vtecds1

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Leaking...its been like that ever since i installed the civic radiator. Never really thought about it until i started seeing why people welded the stock location shut. Everyone is telling me its my fan, but i had the same fan with a full size radiator in the car when i lived in vegas. I never had any issues with the car at 115degree temps and with the ac on.
 

vtecds1

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80 distilled water and 20 coolant.
 

Barnes

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Unless your coolant is boiling, I don't see how even a completely non-functional radiator cap could affect temperature. At atmospheric pressure with a 80/20 mix your boiling point should be above at least 212 degrees Fahrenheit. Also, a leaky radiator cap should still maintain 13psi (or whatever the cap rating) raising your boiling point further. So you should NOT be boiling. If you are not boiling, your heat transfer rate should be just fine. (Boiling coolant is bad not because it doesn't transfer heat, but because your water pump can't pump the water.)

So short of a mechanical blockage or a failing water pump (unlikely) it is probably the fan or airflow. Perhaps an easy way to check is to drive around with the hood off. If your temps don't go lower than they are now, I would suspect something else is going on.
 

Xcelerate

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Jun 17, 2011
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North jersey
You can't really cool much from the civic radiator. Try running your fan all the time and see if that helps. 200 is still on safe temp. It also depends on how big is your mods. If you got bigger mods and boosting high, it would create more heat. Try running 2 bottle of water wetter plus water no coolant. And see if that helps
 

vtecds1

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I did go to the autozone and purchase a new cap since i needed one anyway, but wouldn't you know it...a 92 civic radiator cap doesn't fit my civic radiator. I will go and run the car without the hood as soon as the weather clears.

Xlerate- I have the fan wired so that I can run it on high anytime with a flick of a switch. I drove the car on the expressway last week(temps was high 70's) and all I could get is 200. That is with the switch on for 5 mins. One thing I want to add, when I first hooked up the switch and idled the car in the driveway, I brought the temp down from 200-185 within 30 seconds.
 
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vtecds1

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Went to Autozone this morning to return the cap, talk to the parts guy, and he found me the exact one I needed. First thing I did was run the car without the cap to see what was going on...within the first couple of minutes, the coolant started to over flow. I let it run for awhile and let the excess coolant drain out while watching my temps. The fan came on at exactly 200 and it shut off between 186-190. I let it go off 4-5 times before I shut the car down to install the cap. Then, I did the same thing and let the car run at idle for a bit and watch the temps. Same result with the cap off but now it's not leaking.

I'm going to have to wait until Friday or until the road is dry to see what the temps look like under load. Also, the part number for the cap is "7513" from Autozone just in case anyone needs one.

All this hard work...now its time for a cigarette and a glass of moscato.
 
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rdomeck

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Jun 1, 2011
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Indianapolis, In.
I'm sure that there are plenty of opinions on running the civic radiator......Mine is this. Why would you pull a radiator out and install one half it's size and expect to still run cool temps? If Mitsubishi could have got by with a radiator half the size I'm sure they would have installed it and saved some money. I have a civic radiator sitting on the shelf in my shop and it is really half the length and not any thicker. Put a full size back in it before you overheat your engine!
 

vtecds1

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The engine was too tight with my old set up. My old radiator compared to the civic radiator I have now was definitely thinner. There are a ton of civic radiators out there, and the one I have is the thicker kind.
 

Barnes

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What do you want the temps to be at? Totally forgot to ask what temps the fans kick on and off at.
 

vtecds1

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Quoting vtecds1:
The fan came on at exactly 200 and it shut off between 186-190.



I was hoping 200 and under, which is where I've currently been. But the weather has been fairly cool for the past week so I don't know where I will be at when it gets hot and humid.
 

vtecds1

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I ran the car on the freeway today and the highest I got was 183 with the switch on high. Driving around on the street, witch the switch on also neeted me around 186-190. Looks like the airflow, like Barnes had mentioned is the the problem. I will try running it once more tomorrow with the hood and manual switch off just to be certain. The temps will be in the 70's which is 10 degrees hotter than todays.

If airflow is the problem, looks like I have some choices.
1. install an extra slim fan I have on the passenger side, infront of the condensor, which is in front of the civic radiator. If in pusher mode, might help to get mor air in(hope that makes sense).

2. Make a custom shroud for the current puller I have on. Only problem is that it will be a pita to do because of the weird shape.

3. The shop that tuned my car is telling me to get a FAL fan like this
one. Although I cant see it pulling more air since it's only rated at 1250 and 2000 at high mode. While the one I have is at 1950cfm. But the FAL does have a shroud.
 
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Barnes

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What fan do you have now?

EDIT: Derp. It is generally agreed that Permacool fans aren't that great. The general concensus is that SPAL makes very good fans, albeit a bit pricey. In this case it is probably worth getting the largest (that will fit), highest powered one to make you happy.

That being said, your temps look fine to me. I don't think you mentioned once about yoru temps getting over 200.
 
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vtecds1

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It went to 203-206 today.

I ordered a 14" fan from SIS just to see if the larger size would work. Figured if it didn't, I`m only out $41. Let me start by saying that the motors that came with the fan sucks. I had to change it with the motor that I had on another 12" ebay fan that I had lying around, and it work 2 if not 3 times better. Just for kicks, I also installed the Permacool in front of the condensor. I wired both fans to come on at the same time and I had a switch in the dash to turn them on at high mode. Mixture was distilled water, 1 bottle of water wetter and a cup of coolant.

Took a drive to the local Jiffy Lube to drop off some used oil(about 2miles away) and my temp was already at 200. With the fan on high mode and on the whole time, It didn't drop at all. After I left JL, I did a 2-3 pull on the way back and the temp climb to 203-206. The temp dropped slowly when I got home and left the hood open. The weather today was in the mid to low 70's.

I will take the pusher off tomorrow and see what 1 puller can do. The 14" ebay puller(with the different motor) feels like it pulled a little more air than my PermaCool. I'll give and update as soon as I get done.

BTW-If your going to purchase an ebay fan, get the one that says 12volt and 80watt. The plain ones without any numbers don't work very well.
 
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vtecds1

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*I`m just going to keep updating this thread until the I find out a solution. This way, If anyone else is having problems with the Civic radiator, they get an idea on what to do.

What I did today...
-70 degree weather
-took off the Perma pusher and left the SIS puller

I drove the car to get some cigs and Popeyes, but had to turn around after driving 2-3 miles because the car reached 213. The SIS fan seemed like it worked better than my PermaCool as a puller, but I guess not.

Tonight...
-Same temp(weather)
-took off the hood

Drove the car around for about 5-10 miles. The highest it got was 206 and that's after 3(2-3gear) pulls and 1 launch. Although the temps were better(especially AIT), I'm definitely ditching the fan.

Tomorrow I will be putting my PermaCool back on, checking the thermostat and will be making some sort of duct for more air to come in. Will see how that goes...if the temps drop, then I'm going to buy the highest flowing fan I can find.
 
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vtecds1

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Took the car out 2x tonight with my home made air duct. Here's the results...

6:30
72 degrees
SIS puller

I drove around for about 20mins. Traffic was fair except for a slight bottle neck I hit down my block. The car started out good at 193. After about 10 mins of driving, temp started to climb slowly. I flipped the "HI" switch on as soon as I seen 203. It held it at that temp until I was about 3 blocks home. I caught a light and the temp went to 210 and was that high until I pulled in the driveway.

I let the car cool down for about 1hr-1 1/2. Then I pulled the SIS fan off and reinstalled my PermaCool.

9:30
68 degrees
PermaCool

I took the same route as earlier, but it was a little less traffic. My cruising temps was between 193-196. The highest my temp got was 203 when I was caught at a stop light. These numbers were with the fan off. About 2-3 miles from home, I decided to flip the "HI" switch on. It held steady at 193 until I pulled in the driveway. I then let it idle for about a minute, then the temp was at 190 before I shut the car off.

I'm still 50/50 on the duct. I need at least 75-80degrees outside to know for sure. If I can get the same result with warmer temps out as I did tonight, I'm putting a decent amount of cash on my next fan.
 

vtecds1

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Las Begas
Finally ditched my civic radiator setup and installed a Scirocco oem replacement unit with the dual shrouded FAL fan. It's been working perfect for the past month or so without even having the hi-switch on. Although I did ditch the ac condensor which probably helped out alot. Now I'm wondering if the civic radiator setup would of worked better since I did that.
 
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