Weird case of overheating, not bleeding related.

[JKL1031]

My problem:

-it is not air, the water pump, the radiator, fan clutch

I can drive the car hours before if overheats. sometimes only minutes. When it overheats, its totally at random, and continues to do it again shortly after restartup.

Without the thermostat in, it runs fine, engine will not heat up depending on ambient temp.

The engine pulls strong and is sound.

The car is warming up very fast from cold start.

No beading or intermix on the oil stick.

Could the headgasket be on its way out, or not properly sealed and sucking air in whenever it feels, or the head be bad? Again the engine runs strong and sound. thermostat has been put in and bled before by myself a pro.

[compactfean]

yeah it could be head gasket. When your car is running do you see air bubbles with the radiator cap off?

[JKL1031]

yes

[compactfean]

Yep. The combustion is leaking into a coolant port forcing coolant out and causing the cooling system to pretty much vapor lock. Everyone thinks that you have to have coolant in your oil or something else catastrophic for a head gasket ...nope. when Honda's blow headgasket this is excactly the problem. Looks like its time to start tearing her down..hope everything goes smooth.

[biggie]

Bad HG or Bad thermostat, use OEM one and change everytime you change coolant.

[JKL1031]

thanks man.

[JKL1031]

So if my head compression comes back ok, and I only have a problem with the TSTAT in, and uve bled and tried all hell, would drilling the jiggle valve hole open, or running a Swirl pot eliminate the air problem?

[JKL1031]

anyone?

[compactfean]

No matter what you do if you have air in the system bleeding and filling is the only way to fix it right. If its your head gasket replace it. The only thing you might be able to do to buy you some time is remove the ttsat.

[JKL1031]

What if my head is in good condition, what can I do.

[compactfean]

If your head is tighter than a ticks a** than air is coming from somewhere. Weap hole? Coolant line? Do a coolant system pressure test and leave it for like an hour. If you don't lose pressure than it should be fine. I'm guessing you have a tiny leak somewhere. If it is headgasket when you do the pressure test it will force coolant into the cylinder and when you first start the car it will smoke.

[JKL1031]

just an update, its warm again, so i pick te car up from shop that was looking for me a new engine. I remove the Tstat, drove the car 130 miles in 74F weather, at operating temp the hold time, and hoses are holding pressure, however both did feel a bit warm. Is there a chance that i still have an internal leak?

[liquid_cool]

you dont need a new engine..just a new head gasket....you do need to replace that gasket thou...or you risk vapor locking a piston and sending a rod throu the block!....its not that hard to change the gasket..even in a drive way and its a good learning experience for the begginer...good luck man..and if ya have anymore questions..just ask