I did not have the head magnafluxed. I re-bled the system for an hour with the front end jacked up, radiator cap loose, heater on full blast, overflow reservoir half full. Temp needle stayed in the middle the whole time of course due to the heater on full. After the hour was up I adjusted the heater control to cool, the temp needle started to rise after maybe 5 minutes. When the needle got about 1/8 from the top, the fan kicked on for 5 seconds'ish. So the fan does come on, just not for very long. It did appear to cool slightly.
The car did get hot on me once after I bought it. I had to put a radiator (cracked) in it to get it home when I bought it, then realized it needed a water pump on the drive home, Eventually started losing coolant which brought me to the head gasket. And now all sensors and switches.

 

Kyle:

Did you try higher rpms with the rad cap off to see if bubbles were spitting/popping? Other than that I may suspect the radiator as partially plugged or not flowing correctly since taking the heater core out of the equation (turning heater to cool) caused the car to heat up rather quickly. If the radiator isn't performing well it could be the cause of all of this, blown head gasket included. Is it new? Replaced? Flushed? Coolant and antifreeze at 50/50 ratio? I know, I'm reaching, but still trying to help.

Ed
Dallas

 

Are you losing coolant still? If you are can you see it leaking? If not look in your reservoir if you filled it half full and the radiator was filled full while the car was running. Is the reservoir empty? If it is and you know you are losing coolant Check your oil is it milky? The reason I ask these things is that since your fan is kicking in, it is evident that once the coolant reaches a certain hot temperature the wax that is in the thermostat melts and allows it to open and let your coolent flow to the radiator. There is a sensor that knows that thermostat opened and that sensor turns the fan on to cool down the coolant that goes into the top of the radiator and trickles down the radiator through the fins while the outside air and fan cools down the coolant til it gets to the bottom of the rad where it is cool again and can circulate again to lower the temperature of your engine. Now when the coolent enters the block it trickle me down multiple departments in the engine to cool down everything. Then once the coolant has absorbed all that heat the wax melts again and wallah circle of life continues through the thermo stat. However if there is the slightest butt crack of a sliver in your engine block you could be burning coolent or losing it in your oil (ahhhhh) which would be a nightmare. Do you smell burning coolant?

 

Not losing coolant since the headgasket replacement. Nice green (50/50 mix) color. Gave a good test this morning, drove it to work for the first time since gasket replacement. I have a good 5-6 mile incline that I run it pretty hard (70-80mph). Before the gasket, the temp guage would start to rise when I reached the top of the icline waiting to get on the freeway, not today. Looking good so far, feeling much better.

I like the idea of flushing the radiator, which I did not do when I did the headgasket, the coolant looked like crap at the time too. If I get any high temps, i'll flush it.

Thanks all!

 

Kyle:

Glad to hear that your vehicle is now showing signs of stabilizing as far as the temperature is concerned. Flushing and replenishing your cooling system is highly recommended at this point, and I even buy Honda coolant at the dealerships and mix the 50:50 ratio myself. Your coolant has most likely been quite compromised at this point; the car ran hot, and depending on where your headgasket let loose it either allowed a little oil and/or exhaust gases to contaminate what was in the system. It should come out of there, probably sooner rather than later. Honda Corp systems can be a little fussy given some of the dissimilar metals chosen by their design engineers, and this is why I use their coolant. They took this into account when providing the fluid specifications. My 94 Civic has ~210K on it and has the original radiator. That's no easy feat in Dallas traffic when it is 100+ in the shade. Underhood temperatures can be incredibly hot here, so much so that when checking my oil at a gas stop I must use paper towels to handle the dipstick.

You may also want to take a hose and flush the bottom of the radiator where it is exposed down by the lower valence pan in the grill area. This area can be prone to bugs, leaves, trash, and other such obstructions which inhibit air flow and cooling. I hose mine when I wash the car, only takes a minute.

Glad you are up and running.

Ed in Dallas