[studentdriver]

My 97 Accord with less than 130k has been overheating. I thought it was just a blown radiator hose. We have now replaced 3 hoses, the thermostat, water pump and the radiator. It is still overheating, and I think it may be the heater core. Was this the original problem? Or did this happen as a result of replacing the bad radiator? Before we could drive in town and just overheat on the highway, now we can't even go 3 blocks without overheating. Is this going to solve my problem, or is there something else I need to replace? Is this coincental? Or normal procedure?

 

[studentdriver]

This problem started in August when the temperatures outside were about 100 degrees. Now it is cooler weather, and we are still having problems.

 

[stiller fan]

are you using the a/c when the car begins to overheat?

are there any blockages in the system?

is there any mixing of fluids under the hood? oil/coolant mixing (blown head gasket)?

 

[8jb7]

check to see if there is any bubbling in the overflow tank, if there is it can mean you have a blown head gasket.

 

[greg1c]

I doubt the heater core will be the cause of overheating as coolant does not normally flow through the heater core in the summer. You have not mentioned if you have checked the radiator fan and the condenser fans on the car, if the fans are not turning it could be the cause of overheating. You can get a cheap tester to look for combustion gases in the coolant or rent one from autozone.

 

[HondaTechAV6]

heater core won't cause overheated unless its leaking coolant onto your passenger floor. the cooling system doesn't care about the heater core. the car cannot overheat if the heater core is clogged or isn't even there. so lets get down to the nitty gritty of the cooling system.

do both fans run either with a/c on or after the car warms up fully and, hopefully :lmao:, before it overheats?

if not we found our problem right off the bat. why is that? the easiest way to check it is to remove the fan switch on the thermostat housing and jump the terminals together with the car running. if the fans turn out we just verified the fuses, relays, fan motors and grounds are all good - that was easy...

replace that thermoswitch, top off and bleed the coolant and perform the check again - did it fix it? if not we need to move on to the next step....which is coming next time on Drive Accord!