Hi,
I am out of town for the week for work & on the trip here my '93 EX started overheating. I allowed it to cool down & refilled the radiator(was empty) with water. Got about 4 miles & the same thing happened. Basically, when I stop the water is boiling out of the radiator overflow tank & onto the ground. I can fill the radiator& get about 4 miles until all of the water has boiled/ran out of the tank/radiator onto the ground. Does this sound like a bad thermostat? If so, where exactly is the thermostat located on this model?
BTW...I did have to replace the radiator cap that fell apart a couple months ago. I need to get this problem resolved before I travel the 3 hours back home this weekend. Thanks for your help.

 

Sounds like your thermostat is stuck to me. Its located on the left side of the engine. Follow the hose from the radiator to the left side of the engine. Then disconnect the hose, unscrew the two 10 mm bolts, and take the thermostat out. Be careful with the rubber seal thingy. Then replace everything, fill the radiator with coolant, and purge the system by unscrewing the 12 mm (i think its a 12) bolt on the front side of the engine toward the left. Its got a hose under it. When you loosen it, coolant should start flowing out and there should be air bubbles too. (BTW: make sure your car is started and warmed up before doing this.) When the air bubbles stop for about 30 seconds at a time, then tighten it up again. Make sure you keep filling the radiator as you do this because it will keep sucking coolant down until all the air is gone from the system. If that doesnt fix your problem then you probably have a leak somewhere. Hope I helped you out. Let me know if you have any other questions.

 

Thanks so much....I will try that (hopefully) tomorrow. :-)

 

One more thing quickly.....I am assuming the hose you are talking about is one of the thick ones going between the engine & radiator. Is it the hose that goes into the front of the engine(looks easy to access) or the one that is going into the back of the engine( looks a lot harder to access)? Thanks.

 

The one that is harder to access. You might have to take your intake tube off to get to it. The one to the front is where the little bolt is to purge the system. Good luck.

 

Hey thanks again for the help. I decided to go to Autozone this morning & pick up both a thermostat & a new radiator cap(just replaced like 2 months ago). It looks like it was the radiator cap after all causing the problem. There are a couple of small, round "gaskets" on the bottom of a new cap, but these are attached to the rest of the cap by a little, cheap, piece of plastic. It looks like the cap I got a couple months ago lost its plastic piece & the gaskets somehow after installation(probably fell into the radiator & are just waiting for an opportune moment to lodge themselves somwhere undesireable & wreak more, greater havoc!!!). I guess these pieces arethe only thing thatkeeps the coolant from just flying out through overflow tube when the engine is running(which is what was happening).
I may go ahead & just try replacing the thermostat when I get home anyhow to get the experience. Thanks again!