I have a 92 LE that is overheating.2 months ago I had a new timing belt and water pump put on. Just recently the car has started overheating under load...usually on the highway between 70-85mph. It has a new radiator, new thermostat, and the coolant was replaced a few months ago as well. I am taking it to the shop tomorow to drive with the tech because they couldn't get it to overheat. He has already ran a compression test on the engine, and a pressure test on the coolant sytem and everything checks out.

I thought it could be the head gasket, but he says he couldn't find any leaks. I have read theat 91-95 Acura Legends develope a problem where they need to replace the HG because air is leaking out of the engine. My car has a similar symptom in that the heat blows COLD while the temp guage goes up. I've been thinking about replacing the thermostat agian for good measure. Is there a temperature sending unit? Any ideas?

 

When you say "over heating under load" do you mean that the temp gauge just goes up? How far? Is it within the manual's working temperature range? It is possible that under load you are running lean which would cause the engine temp to rise. Engines typically get hotter under load but usually the temp in the coolant stays about the same if the cooling system is operating properly. If you can put the car on a dyno and use an exhaust gas analyser to see if you are running lean that would be a good way to tell under actual working conditions. I would make sure you don't have any air locks in the cooling system. Remove rad cap on cold engine. Start engine and as it warms up squeeze the upper rad hose to burp any air out of it. Replace rad cap before coolant gets too hot as it will expand above radiator filler. If it needs coolant, add to overflow container. A thermostat that sticks openat high RPM can also cause overheat as the coolant does not stay in the rad long enough to cool. Water pump not spinning fast enough will also cause overheat. Done any underspin pulley conversions? Does this car have electric fan or belt driven with clutch?

 

Under load meaning when I accelerate past half way on the throttle, the water temp will start going up. I will go take the cap off and burp iit this morning...its FREEZING here.

If the new water pump isn't spinning fast enough, what would cause it?

I guess I am geting up to around 4-5000rpm when the problem first starts, so maybe its the new thermostat. I will have that replaced.

The car is totaly stock and I wouldn't know why it would be running lean...maybe the timing? When the new belt was put on is it possible that if that is off a few degrees it would lean out the motor?

I will ask all of this when I take it in today...Thanks man.

 

Only thing to cause WP from not spining enough is belt slippage, but it would have to be really loose. Timing would have to be way off. Lean burn with fuel injection may be dirty fuel filterand/or low fuel pressure. If you havn't got any codes and operation OK I would imagine any lean burn would be mild. Lean fuel mixture is hard to ignite so you would get some running problems if it was too severe. It's possible that the new timing belt was put onincorrectly and timing is off. These are non-interference engines so mechanical timing could be off without you noticing. It wouldn't hurt to have timing checked as that would be cheap test.

 

Is the coolant resivior ever over flowed? The symptom of cold heater says that there is air getting into the coolant system. Has your tech checked for hydrocarbons in the cooling system which would indicate a bad headgasket.
Did this start after the timing belt replacement?


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