[AccordLXMaster]

Hey guys. Been a minute since ive been here...still trying to fix my car.

Idle is surging up and down in park and after the countless research ive done many say its the IACV. on older models it wouldve been the FITV. While i havent replaced my IACV yet...i figured itd be important to mention that my car is also running hot. Once while i had the radiator cap off with the car running i squeezed the top hose and the surging stopped for a moment....with the cap off the surging starts to sound more rapid (SOMETIMES). It doesnt happen everytime...but the surging idle acts differently when i mess with the cooling system every once in a while. If i squeeze the upper hose...or take off the rad. cap...the surging acts different. The engine was running all the way to the "H" until i got an oil change and now it stays about halfway to 3/4. My car when operating correctly should only be at 1/4. Fans are also not coming on so i have a jumper wire...Could all of this be connected?

P.S.- Thought it was a blockage..so i went to get my coolant system flushed and they couldnt do it because its not circulating through the whole system...Thermostat is working properly and is new. Lower hose is slightly warm and top hose is HOT....Heat also works like a charm. Something im missing??

 

[CDsDontBurn]

It could be that you have a bad thermostat, especially if it's not an OEM one. It could also be that the water pump has failed as well or is not working the way it should.

Something else that might be the issue could be that there isn't enough coolant in the system. With the rad cap off, let the car get up to operating temperature so that that thermostat opens up. Then start to add coolant to the system to get all the air out of the coolant system. This is the only other thing I suspect out of this situation.

And, yes, the surging idle is more than likely related to the IACV. At the very least, just clean it out and disconnect the battery for several minutes to clear the PCM.

 

[AccordLXMaster]

Well ive cleaned the IACV...might not have been properly lol..but i know i sprayed some throttle cleaner in and on it....to make sure i have all the air out of the system ive used the bleeder screw and filled from the rad. till coolant flow was steady from bleeder and then i closed it. But for some reason i have a hard time believing that that bled all the air out.

i replaced the thermostat with the one the engine came with (tested it..it works) so i know it works and its the right specs. and how can i check if my water pump is functioning correctly? I know the function of it..but how can you test it...ours is timing belt driven. Its not leaking anything so the gasket isnt bad....they told me it wasnt circulating all the way through yet the only way they figured that...was..the top hose was hot and the bottom was ice cold. And they were brought to the conclusion its not circulating at operating temp....also i noticed...on cold startup once car reaches op. temp. while driving....everytime the car shifts to the next gear..the temp gauge drops down about a millimeter and then proceeds to rise...its like a small jerk downwards...


PS. I took the radiator out today to check its condition as much as i could....doesnt look to be in too good of shape. plenty of dents of course as well as what looks to be either rust or dirt packed at the bottom and plenty of white gunk in the spouts. other than that it looks ok. Im leanin towards replacing it..but idk for sure. it may not be dissipating heat like it needs to be...

 

[CDsDontBurn]

There could be gunk build-up inside the radiator :dunno:. it's the only other thing i can think of here.

The way I bled the coolant system was by leaving the rad cap off. Filled up the radiator until no more coolant would go in. Turned the car on, and when the car got to operating temp, the thermostat would open beginning to circulate the coolant, so I would add more coolant at that point. I kept doing that until no more coolant could be added.

 

[AccordLXMaster]

Alright thanks...im thinking the same thing possibly...but nonetheless...i guess ill replace it with a 2 row aluminum dual core radiator..hehe....wont be racing but itll def be worth the price of 121 free shipping... as an OEM one is 110

Ill try your bleeding method in a sec actually.. ill hook everything back up and see if it just starts to cool down..if not then i know ill prolly need a radiator more than likely...ill try an IACV when i get the money as they arent cheap. hopefully this week if all goes well

Still havent got my fans running yet without a jumper wire...you have a v6 accord but im sure they are the same...any way you can get a pic of your ECT sensor? the main one thats under the Dizzy? i wanna see if the wires are matched up right..apparently who worked on my car clipped the wires for some reason and then taped them back together...but its Green/Blk to Green and Red/White to Black...and im thinking thats wrong...

 

[CDsDontBurn]

the "dizzy"?

 

[AccordLXMaster]

distributor...sorry lol

 

[CDsDontBurn]

I don't have a distributor

v6 2000 (or 1999, i forget which) and newer don't get distributors

 

[AccordLXMaster]

wow....how lucky are yall. well strangest thing...as i was filling the radiator up...(while engine was running to bleed air) the surging stopped...for like 3 secs...and then started surging again...that was weird but now im almost positive the surging has to do with air in the system...unplugged the IACV while surging and it didnt stop...it started surging alot quicker and shorter. Ive heard if its the IACV then the idle will return to normal...ive also heard if the throttle was changed recently then the linkage could be too tight or loose....and since i just had an engine swap it would be pretty obvious that my throttle had been changed...so i tried loosening it....to no avail...(if i even did it right)....by this time steam was coming out of my radiator cap...i forgot my car runs hot..i ran and turned it off...it was 3/4 to the H....steam was just coming off the top of the radiator and the cap...so it hit me...DUHH THE CAP IS LEAKING AIR....i ran to the store and bought a denso cap....DOESNT FIT...oddly..for my car it calls for a denso cap...HONDA ALSO CALLS FOR A DENSO CAP..so i tried the valeo one or whatever...it fit...(WEEEEIRRRDDD) the steam stopped and i felt better...BUTTTT again.....to no avail..the car still runs hot...when its fully hot...it only stays at 1/2 to H and then about 10 mins of letting it sit there...itll travel towards the H so im stuck once again...i would start throwing parts at it but..im not a noob...ill consider a pressure test to see if anything truly is leaking....

PS. -Still havent got my fans running without jumper wire....ughh P'ing me O

 

[CDsDontBurn]

When I bled my system, I let it run until steam started coming out. Then I slowly added more coolant until no more coolant could be added.

TBH, I don't know if this is the correct way of bleeding a system of air, but it's the way I was taught and has always worked forme.

 

[AccordLXMaster]

hmm..well i guess ill be getting a pressure test hopefully today and itll tell me whether or not everything is holding up right.

 

[CDsDontBurn]

So, what happened with the pressure test?

 

[AccordLXMaster]

yeah sooo.....i wasnt able to get the pressure test. The wife got off a little late and i obviously cant drive it myself just in case my baby decides to break down and overheat too much on the way to the shop...so i wasnt able to make it out today..today is sunday now and its even HARDER to find a shop open..im looking more towards monday before i find out whats wrong...ugh...wish i could do it myself...ill try to see if i can bleed as much air out as i can while im at home today..(after Baltimore plays of course lol)

 

[CDsDontBurn]

Car > Game

you can always listen to the game on the radio while you're working on the car

 

[AccordLXMaster]

lol...yeahh true true...looks like baltimore isnt showing on tv down here...oh well...radio it is for me....well..then again im not sure what channel theyd play it on....

besides the point...looks like ill be getting to that bleeding pretty sooner than i thought...though id like to mention i have no lever jack to lift the front end up...i just have the little screw jacks...so id have to see how im going to lift the front end up to get the radiator higher than the engine that way any air lodged somewhere would come out...will update asap..

 

[CDsDontBurn]

Does your driveway have an incline? If so, there you go. No need to raise the car

 

[AccordLXMaster]

that easy? if thats the case..then ive bled the air multiple multiple times...maybe something else is wrong...if it were a head gasket it would over heat quickly right? like...very fast? im still debating getting a radiator..found one for like 45...just to narrow it down..idk where else to turn...thermo replace? again?

 

[Sonya in TX]

Go OEM.....I made the mistake of getting an IACV from Advance Auto Parts and it was trash. Pay extra and get OEM from Honda which will work great.....

 

[AccordLXMaster]

Well if it hasnt been a long time. Time.to get back to work .on this today. Trying to start from step one with fresh eyes and a fresh mind. Ill try removing thermo and running it like that to see if it over heats. Stripped the threads on my aluminum radiator and sprung a tranny leak. So had to get another radiator comin in today. Ill also be looking into a new iacv to stop the surging. And refilling refrigerant as mine is low so a.c doesnt come on to turn fans on

 

[jenga70]

When I got my used 98, it had an idle issue similar to what you described. Try tapping on the top flat portion of the throttle body with a wrench when it does it. When I did, the range of rpm it would surge would lower each time I gave it a good tap with a socket wrench.

Spraying cleaner did not help that much, so I took it apart and found the valve was sticking with carbon / oil buildup. After cleaning out with a good dental type pick, , making sure the valve had full motion, I reassembled the throttle body and it has worked like a charm ever since.