Kyushin

I have been having problems lately with my S over heating, i have taken it to the dealership many times and always get the same answer, they tell me the over heating is due to air bubbles in the system causing the spikes. I have taken it back to them 4-5 times and the same problem persists and the service manager tells me that this car is just a pain to bleed and burp properly. How true is this and isnt 4-5 times alittle excessive? THe car is heating up because when the temp guage spikes, i pull over and its got a full puke tank with also alittle leakover on the top, what should i do from here?

Sideways

Go to another dealer. There are two bleed points to get the air out. It should not be a problem. You may have a sticking thermostat too. Perfect time to add an aftermarket thermostat so you run cooler in the warm Florida summer.

Kyushin

The Thermostat was replaced as per my last work order, but what about the over flowing puke tank?

Sideways

The commonly asked questions thread 4 down from the top in this forum has lots of good information. Check this: http://forums.s2ki.com/forums/showthread.p...&threadid=86811

Good luck

xviper

It is possible that the thermostat was installed backwards. Also, the rad cap may be defective (not holding pressure). And yes, take a look at my DIY on the coolant flush to properly bleed the system. Are you saying that when your overflow reservoir is indicating the "proper" level at the start of the day, that it overflows when HOT? If so, something is wrong. If it is above the high mark in the reservoir (when cold), you've got too much fluid to begin with.
Is the coolant mix correct? Do you have an aftermarket temp gauge? (How do you know it "peaks"?) If so, it may have been mounted incorrectly. The sender needs to be installed going up so no air pockets reside over the tip.
For an interim solution, whenever the temp looks like it's getting a bit on the high side, turn ON your A/C and only use the low fan setting and maybe consider turning UP your interior heat. This is NOT for your comfort but to make it easier on your engine in case you are worried about overheating. This is only if it goes to 4 bars on the stock gauge.

Sideways

If it is constantly making bubbles I would think the system is corrupted. Bad headgasket, cracked block, etc. I hope it is not this.

Kyushin

Viper, youre just the one i wanted to talk to on this issue. I have had it back to honda 4-5 times, they have installed new thermostats and all that. When i picked it up 2 weeks ago, it was at the full level and stayed there, but one morning, i drove it and it started to spike, and the overflow was full and leakin abit. It never really went down and honda keeps telling me that air keeps gettin into the systemn because its a pain to bleed and burp properly. I dont know if this has anything to do with it, but it usually spikes in the mornings, after sitting all night, and when i drive for abotu 15 miles then try to turn on the heat, i get no heat for atleast another 5-6 miles, a spike then heat.

Kyushin

System corrupted? How would we begin to look for this?

xviper

I agree with sideways. Something is not sealed up right. It was either NOT bled correctly (like having the "heat" control to FULL hot when bleeding) or the thermostat was not installed correctly (they may have not tightened the clamp properly there - drawing air in when cooling down - or like I said earlier, put the stat in backwards - most stats have a "direction" and also have an "up" and "down" way to orientate). What you described sounds like you have a HUGE air pocket in the system and it sounds likely that the air pocket may include the heater core. That's one of the reasons why you are not getting heat when you should but then rather suddenly. The other possible reason could be a backwards stat. I would zero in on this as this all started at the time the stat was installed and the system bled. Again, look at my DIY to see that there is a sequence to bleeding this system as well as what needs to be done to ensure most of the air is out.
The change in the level of the overflow reservoir should get LESS over several driving cycles, NOT getting MORE to the extent that it comes out. Remember, the level should increase slightly as the engine heats up, then as it cools, it should draw it all back in. After a coolant change or bleed like what you just did, the level should show a bit less for one or two mornings after the air has been "burped" out and that space replaced with coolant that is drawn in during the cool down time.
ps. This cooling system is NOT that tough to bleed. It is certainly not much different than any other car. The techs are trying to not look like they may have done something wrong.
pps. You can have the system "pressure tested" to see if it is corrupted".

Kyushin

Wow, sounds like they are tryin to cover something up, i asked them on my 3rd visit to do a pressure test on the cylinders, and it was not on the service invoice and he told me that they dont have a CODE for the test and thats the reason they didnt show it, and he did not give me any numbers for the test. ANother thing is the lead tech told me that the heater function is nothing more than a door connected to a smaller radiator and when you turn the heat on, that door just opens up and the air is heated and then pushed into the cabin and has nothing to do with my problem, and that 15-20 min for heat to come out is normal