cooling issues

[hoppy1968]

Just got my daughter a 89 prelude si 4ws, she loves the car only had it a couple of weeks and started to have trouble. it starts to over heat but then it goes back down, you check the fluid and with the cap off it will spill out the radiator, i thought it might have a blown head gasket but a compression check gave me from 148 to 152 psi per cylinde, replaced the thermostat,cap,and did a flush an fill no hoses are leaking, so cuold my water pump be bad because i dont see a flow pattern with the cap off. i usually do my own work,does any body have any ideas and any tech info for dohc replacement on timing beltand water pump

[spiffyguido]

Assuming that the thermostat was the right one and installed the correct direction, the water pump would be my next item to look into.

Replacing the timing belt and water pump isn't terribly hard, especially if you have a little automotive know-how already. It's a full day job, but can be done with basic tools. If you think you may proceed with this, I can give a more detailed description of what must be done. The hardest part is usually getting the bolt on the main pulley undone. Once that is achieved, all else usually goes smoothly.

Thanks for visiting, and welcome to PreludeDriver.

[hoppy1968]

i have started the tear down , so any info that could help is greatly appreciated . I ordered a tech cd but wont be here till later in the week. and i have a 17 year old daughter waiting on her car, driving my 03 civic and i want it back as much as she wants hers!! thanks again !!!!!! this is my 17th honda and i do all my own work but never on a dohc

[spiffyguido]

DOHC is just as easy as SOHC to retime. There are tick marks and 'up' indicators on both of the cam gears, so you'll be able to line everything back up when you put it together.

Taking everything apart is easy and won't give you any trouble. Some things to watch out for:

-Be sure that if you end up removing the timing belt tensioner that you torque it to the correct value when reinstalling.
-Be sure to install the belt in the correct direction.


On a side note, this is also a really good time to change your cam oil seals if you want to. These aren't that prone to failure, but a lot of people do it when they do the timing belt just in case.

Changing the water pump is a breeze once the timing belt is off.

[hoppy1968]

Ive got about 2 hours in to the tear down and down to pulling the timing belt off and r&r the waterpump. not been to bad doing it with out a manual sucks but its going ok . i thank u for the tips glad i found this site.

[spiffyguido]

Great.

Glad to hear things are progressing.

Hit us back with any more questions.

[hoppy1968]

well i got the water pump and timing belt changed, everything was going at start up then whwn we drove it it has a hard time ideling matter of fact it will die if you let off the throttle, but going down the road its fine can you give me some info because i really want my car back if its cold it will idle when it heats up it will surge then die the next thing to happen was code 16 come up which it the fuel injection system

[spiffyguido]

Check to make sure your injectors are all connected.

Also, your idle problems are likely caused by the IAC valve not functioning properly. This is common when the water lines have been opened up. It is very important that you bleed the coolant lines because the idle control systems rely on water temp to function. To bleed the lines, start by making sure the radiator and overflow are filled correctly, park the car on level ground and let the engine warm to full heat. Once the engine is hot, open the bleed screw on the thermostat housing (front of the engine, where the upper rad hose meets the block) and let the water run out until there are no bubbles. This will generally fix any idle issues. Repeat if needed.

I hope that helps.