so my 1997 civic dx (d16y7) is having coolant issues and im not really sure what to do.

I recently replaced the heater core with a 99-00 heater core. the shorter twisted line that leaves the heater core in the engine bay goes to a gizmo and then a longer tube that leads to under the distributor, where that line meets the engine under the distributor is spraying out steam and coolant.

I first noticed the car overheating yesterday, while idling in the shade, so i got out and tried bleeding the system (this is about a week since the heater core swap, its been fine up until now), bleed the system for maybe 15 minutes until the bubbles stopped and the fan was still kicking on. The problem appeared to go away, until today it overheated a little bit again, so i tried rebleeding the system, but there were not many bubbles so i went to drive and it got insane overheating, pulled over to pop the hood and the steam is pouring out of the hose under the distributor, the radiator isnt even hot and there is no heat from my heater in the car. when i try to bleed the coolant now it just burps coolant out of the radiator when i hit the gas or pour water in it.

to add to the awesomeness the car isnt starting now, pretty sure its low on gas, but 160 miles for a full tank (~11 US gallons) doesnt sound right.... Cant really do much since i have no money, no gas, cant run the car cant buy parts.

I guess I am looking for a little advice or someone to say my gaskets arent blown -_- As of now I am just waiting until monday to take it to my mechanic who will be able to charge work to my account so i can at least drive for now.

it is the top cable in this pick, running under the distributor:



here is the cable plugging into the engine block under the distributor:

 

checked the car one more time, it just doesnt start now, bogs out, sounds like if it had a carburetor and the carburetor was flooded, also when i pour water into the radiator is almost instantly starts dripping out of the hose i was talking about in my first post....

 

First, fix that hose. It might have a rip in it or the hose is not sealing properly due to corrosion on the nipple. Remove the hose, inspect, clean and use sand paper to remove rough surfaces. Remove/cut a short piece from the hose. Reconnect hose and tighten the clamp. Temporarily remove thermostat to let the flow freely. Bring some gas and make the car start. If it still wont start, trouble shoot. Check fuel and spark. Once you get the engine running, troubleshoot the cooling problem.

 

my professors always tell me I over think and miss the obvious answers....

i throw some gas in, I cut the hose and reattached it. Car is running fine, about 7 minutes of running and bleeding coolant and no fan has clicked on, but at the same time the car has not gotten very hot, i am in the shade blasting heater. So far so good, ill let you know if that fixed everything...

busted:



cut:

 

so its been at least 30 minutes, and everytime the radiator gets a little low i throw some water in it and there are still mad bubbles, pic below... im not sure if there should be that many bubbles still, im thinking ill wait till bubbles stop, turn off engine, let it sit, top it off and put cap on and see if it over heats...

 

so i ended up parking on my driveway slant and then jacking the front of the car up too, that gave enough angle that the bubbles stopped after about 10 minutes, I turned the car off, topped it off, placed the radiator cap on with 1 clack so it was a little loose, ran the car for 10 minutes, turned it off, topped off the radiator and put the cap all the way on, no problems at all now. I drove around for a while, parked for a while, tried different things, nothing made it overheat... and it is about 90 degrees today... Troubleshooting for the win! Thanks for the help axis11!

 

Glad to have helped. But dont celebrate yet. To have a bulge in a hose indicates excess pressure in the cooling system. You might be having intermittent problems with the fan, radiator cap or both.Or the hose itself is so old and need replacement soon. Keep an eye on the temp gauge.

 

always do now. will update if anything happens!

ps, brand new radiator/fan, the other heater core hoses are new, only the one that popped was not replaced, and once i get some money i will replace it. I think i just did not bleed the system properly, only once i parked on an incline AND jacked the car up was i able to get the bubbles to stop coming up.