Coolant bubbling in reservoir

TIBBY637

MEMBER
HONDA CIVIC

98 Honda Civic Ex - It first started to overheat and a mechanic said it was the radiator cap. Replaced, works for a few months, overheats again. This time, engine lights came on, I can smell a burnt smell from the fuse box and kinda sounded like the brown chip, all the relay works just fine because I swap cooling fan relay with condenser and both works. The fan motor is dead so I replaced the whole fan and motor. Flush the radiator off of gunks and else. Both hose are hot if idle for a few minute. The only problem now is when I turn a/c on, cooling fan doesn't turn on with it. The cooling fan works but it dose not turn on as much as it should. Maybe because of the burned smell in fuse box in engine bay that shorted the first fan motor? Fan doesn't spin as much as it used to. This causes bubbling in the reservoir. Could this be the temperature sensor? Or the burned smell from the fuse box? How much does it cost to replace the fuse box?

6 Replies

RASMATAZ

MECHANIC
75,992 POSTS

You have a short within the cooling fan circuits, you can always rewire it with out using its original path its all in the head. Now a days they incorporate a lot of relays in the system to eliminate a hunk of wire and its unbelievable.

Did you bother bleeding the air out/could also be the CTS

SPONSORED LINKS

Was this

answer

helpful?

Yes

Sunday, September 16th, 2007 AT 2:13 AM

TIBBY637

MEMBER
8 POSTS

No, I haven't tried to bleed any air out, I just keep putting coolant in because I have no idea what the problem is. How do you rewire something like this? It is hard just looking at it because I'm not a mechanic. I haven't replace the CTS yet because I'm not sure if that was the problem. I'll try to replace the CTS and bleed it to see what happen. I have no idea what the brown chip does. I tried taking it out and see what it is but it's hard to take it out, plus one of the side has a glare like its melted. Thanks.

Was this

answer

helpful?

Yes

Sunday, September 16th, 2007 AT 4:37 PM

RASMATAZ

MECHANIC
75,992 POSTS

Try this:

BLEEDING COOLING SYSTEM:

Always bleed air from cooling system after replacing coolant. Set heater for maximum heat. Remove radiator cap. Loosen drain plug and remove drain bolt (if equipped) from engine block. Drain coolant reservoir. Fill coolant reservoir to MAX mark with 50/50 water-coolant mixture. Loosen bleed bolt and fill radiator up to base of filler neck. Close bleed bolt when coolant flows out without bubbles. Tighten bleed bolt. With radiator cap removed, start and operate engine to normal operating temperature. Add coolant if necessary and check for leaks.

Hope this helps

Was this

answer

helpful?

Yes

Sunday, September 16th, 2007 AT 4:43 PM

TIBBY637

MEMBER
8 POSTS

I tried bleeding it but still does the same thing. This time I timed the fan and for 30 minute it still didn't come on. Normally within 5 to 10 minute it should come on. Just got back from work and it's too dark. I'll try to straight wire the fan tomorrow to see if the motor is dead again. Im concern about the brown IG1 chip. It looks like the black stuff inside is shorted with a glare. I know it's the Ignition but what does it do really. I need another civic to compare the chip but most of my friends don't have civics anymore. If that chip is dead then that means nothing works? Should I find a new fuse box and replace it see if the fan works? There's too much variables. I know that it doesn't leak anywhere else but it bubbles into the reservoir and I loose coolant that way.

Was this

answer

helpful?

Yes

Thursday, September 20th, 2007 AT 12:03 AM

TIBBY637

MEMBER
8 POSTS

After replacing everything I know including the fuse box, the only thing I haven't touched yet is the Thermo Sensor, Thermostat, and the wires. I tried to short the connector going to the thermo sensor with a paper clip and the cooling fan finally turns on. With this result, it is not the wires. It's a guaranteed it is the thermo sensor. I will replace both the thermostat and thermo sensor and see how it is. I'll post up the result in a day or two.