Hey peeps, I'm new to this forums and hondas in general. A friend of mine just gave me a 1994 Civic coupe EX (auto, 1.6). There are a few problems though.......first, the car keeps bubbling over the resevoir. I changed the thermostat to a 170, changed most of the hosing but ran into my first real problem. The waterpump inlet pipe o-ring (attached to the thermostat housing) is leaking. I can't seem to fit the housing to the inlet tube right. Is there a special way to fit the thermo-housing to the inlet pipe( ie, some type of lube or something?) Any suggestions or tips folks...I would appreciate it greatly!!!! Other than this and a erratic idle the car is fine...i'll post pics soon hopefully....THanks all!!

 

First of all, make sure you have the correct o-ring. Even though it fits around the pipe, it still may be too large. If you haven't already, just got to Honda and make sure you have the right part. Usually, I just dip my o-rings in coolant just for some lubrication and shove the tubes in. You can always use some vaseline if coolant doesn't work. Make sure to give it good pressure, but you shouldn't need too much. Check inside the housing at the sealing surface to make sure there aren't any nicks or burrs that are giving the tube trouble or cutting the o-ring.

Also, I wouldn't recommend the 170 degree t-stat. The car is designed to run at 195 degrees so that fuel burns most efficiently. All the 170 degree is doing is reducing your gas mileage. As long as everything in your cooling system is working properly, it should work well at 195.

 

Thanks Phil Mygroin....heh. I'm gonna take your advice. I just deburred and cleaned out the passages of the water passages and connecting points with a dremel and a scouring type of fitting. It cleans out the crud but doesnt really remove too much housing material. I bought a new o-ring and i'll return the 170 t-stat for a 195 tomorrow. I think I'll also try the vasaline tip. Thanks Phil, hopefully it'll work tomorrow!

 

No problem, let me know how it works.

 

Phil, it worked......I guess vaseline has more than one use I know of !! Well, I reassembled everything as planned ( went to dealer for a new t-stat rather then Napa ). On a side note, the parts guy at honda couldn't tell me what temp the t-stats are rated at, and the guy at Checkers auto was pulling up 180 on his computer ( I peeked over the counter and it did say OEM 180 degrees). Anyways, I bought the dealer one. I pounded the car around for about a half an hour or so.....didn't overheat. Thanks again Phil. Now I have to tackle the problem of a loping idle when the fan(s) are not running, but thats another story

 

Glad to hear it...vaseline can get a bad rap sometimes. I'm not sure exactly what temp the Honda thermostats are rated at, but I do know that my obd scanner reads 195 degrees from the computer temp sensor, as does my infrared thermometer. But they may be describing the temp at which it begins to open, instead of it's operating temp. All makers are different. As long as your temp gauge is at it's usual spot, you're good.

 

for the irratic idle try some fuel system cleaner and also take the IAC valve (on the back of the intake manifold close to the throttle body) off and clean the black crap out of it, should help the idle quiet a bit

 

Thanks Phil and Riceburner, got the system back together fine...... Oh riceburner, I cleaned the figure-8 gasket on the IAC valve, idle loping no longer exists...idles perfect, but the soot I had was white. I thought my cooling probs would have been solved, but she still runs hot uphills, I'll post it in a new thread, thanks guys for your help!