Just to be sure: you recommend revving the engine at 1500 RPM for 5-10 minutes? Sorry if this is a dumb question.

 

Unless the process is:

Start car, wait for fan to come on twice, turn car off, check both rad and reservoir for coolant level (add if necessary), put rad and reservoir caps back on, start car, rev engine
at 1500 RPM until fan comes on, turn car off, check coolant levels again (add if necessary), put rad and reservoir caps back on.

Then nope, I didn't see it.

I'll do a search for your posts with the term "burping cooling system" for more clarification because I'm having trouble understanding your instructions because it's all in one sentence and the steps aren't separated by punction. It also appears to stray from the manual and from the spill free funnel (not that there's anything wrong with that, it just seems like a new method which I have yet to grasp). I appreciate your help nonetheless.

 

at NO POINT do you turn the car OFF during this process,
there will be rad cap removed operation while you are adding coolant as needed while at idle waiting for fan to cycle on and off
then holding rpm steady at 2000 to quickly warm engine and get thermostat to open
wait for fan to cycle on and off
idle again and ck level - add as needed
2000 rpm for 2 full cycles of fan on and off
idle and ck level
install rad cap with engine running- idle till fan cycles on and off
then turn engine off

RES bottle should be at the LOW mark so it has room to catch and hold the hot overflow, returning it as engine cools to keep rad level correct

in the morning ck level in rad - very near top, and res, near cold mark
ck hose on res cap top is secure- inside the cap= so it cant fall off and keep system from transferring coolant as needed

 

res cap stays ON the whole time- at cold mark when beginning procedure

heater must be on full hot the whole time - its a mini radiator and loves to trap air if left closed
Turn the cabin fan on full too,
open the car doors so you don't suffocate!!

if still confused see Wikipedia for closed cooling system operation
the res is a res- not active part but important part!
that hose in cap falling off is often a culprit!

I try to write instruction as a one thing per line, with extra info on that same line,- so not much punctuation of those directions is required

Im an old guy with stubby fingers who doesn't like wearing glasses, you're lucky I fix all the red/misspelled words~

 

Yes, that is what I was saying. However, 01tl has read, and re-posted for many, the actual factory recommended procedure which is 2000 rpm, as mentioned above. 2000 rpm is probably even better.
With a spill free funnel, you don't put the radiator cap back on until you're done.

 

When turning the heater and fan on to full blast, does the A/C need to be running?

Since you checked off on the instructions that I posted, I'm assuming you want me to replace step 7 with revving the engine at 2000 rpm for 5-10 minutes.

Here are the instructions again for your convenience:




Since 01tl4tl's instructions are a bit different than the spill free funnel, I'm gonna try the spill free funnel first and see how that goes.

 

I removed my reservoir to bring the fluid level down to the cold mark (which I presume is the "Min" mark).

I took some photos for you guys to analyze. I'm thinking it's the rust that you guys were talking about. The coolant that I poured out that was near the bottom half of the reservoir had a bit of brown color to it.

 

So I burped the system per the spill free funnel instructions.

Some things to note:
-My car's CEL hasn't been on for the past 3 days. I'm sure it'll come back on, but I'm wondering: if I had a BHG, wouldn't it be on all the time? There was also a time like two weeks ago that the CEL was off for two days, but then it went back on.
-I did this by myself, so I couldn't keep an eye on the funnel when I was inside the car revving the engine.
-The heater with the A/C on blew out cold air. I know the heater works with the A/C from previous experiences. Living in Miami on a hot day, I wouldn't dare to try it out today though lol.
-I didn't use the A/C due to the aforementioned point; I just turned the temp all the way up and the fan all the way up.
-There wasn't a lot of bubbles at first. Then bubbles started coming in sporadically. There was also some big bubbles, I'd say about 1 and half inches big.-
About a minute after the thermostat had opened up, I checked the reservoir and it was still at "Min", so I filled it up with distilled water up to "Max"
-I revved the engine at 2000 rpm for 5 minutes on Step 7.

When it was all done, I took the car for a 15 minute test drive and cold A/C on full blast. Since my problem occurs when I'm stopped for a prolonged period at a traffic light, I made sure to take some streets with heavy traffic. Everything was great until until was almost home. I approached a stop sign and waited for incoming traffic to clear so I could turn left. I noticed my temp gauge went up to the middle and then went down when I started moving again. When I got home, I put the car in park and let it idle for a bit. Eventually, the temp gauge went up to 3/4ths before I turned off the car.

So yup, that didn't help out. I had to leave to work shortly thereafter. When I got to work, I noticed that my temp gauge was towards the middle, so I decided to pop the hood and see if my fans were running. They weren't running. I waited a bit (like 30 seconds) to see if they'd turn on and they both did, so I went to check the temp gauge and it was up to 3/4ths so I proceeded to turn the car off and go to work.

 

Was the coolant within the radiator discolored also like in the reservoir ?
I'm thinking it's possibly oil residue......perhaps indicating a leaky head gasket.

 

The fans don't work, the fans do work, now I'm confused. One thing at a time. When you have the better part of a day, use your funnel, make sure the cooling system is fully burped, watch the temp gauge while you do this, then shut it off, and walk away. Time is not critical, but give it an hour or so. Don't let the coolant get below a couple inches in the funnel as it cools. Now, have a helper crank the engine with the ignition or fuel disabled so it won't start. Have them keep the throttle wide open. You watch the funnel. If you get any bubbles in the funnel, you most likely have a blown head gasket. That's the best case scenario. It could be warped, cracked, or porous head and/or block. It doesn't matter in your case, as you've said you'll replace the engine anyway. If you have this problem you're not going to be able to diagnose the rest of the cooling system accurately. After the engine replacement keep a close eye on the temp gauge until you're sure the rest of the system is ok.
For your over-flow tank, use some toilet bowl cleaner mixed with water and some small nuts, bolts, b.b.s, sinkers. gravel, or whatever, and shake it around until it's clean. Use appropriate caution with the toilet bowl cleaner, as it's a strong acid.

 

Like i said before your rusty corroded radiator is restricting flow, i had the same overheating issue way back i replace the radiator it fixed the problem.

 

I think we can safely say you didn't follow the book method- the funnel is just a helper who adds fluid as needed
the res doesn't come into play until after hot engine shutdown when rad rises and pumps over a few ounces to storage bottle/res

the color in there suggest rad is beyond bad! and may have damage to wp as well
AC on makes 2nd fan run- we don't want that right now!

HEATER must be on full hot with full speed on cabin fan --leave doors open!-
what part of that wasn't clear? the heater is a mini radiator located in the coolant system- it will trap air every time!
ALL filling is done from fancy funnel or human hand

the res bottle- ok lower line is MIN = COLD and upper line is MAX = you start at MIN during burp, put cap with its inner hose securely attached on to res before starting engine, and will still be near min when done.
CK in the morning at res and rad for correct level

You can get away with a small HG leak for a long time

revving- you HOLDING a constant 2000 rpm, not vroom vroom right?
till fan does its thing as specified?
NEED helper on one end of that project- throttle holding rpm steady, or pouring in as level drops in rad as all the spaces in engine block get refilled and thermo opens- more coolant into hoses etc

Beware of back-gushing out of rad when letting off throttle- ease off gently

 

Here are the compression test results. My cousin suspects a BHG. We're working on removing the head as I type this.

 

My cousin saw this video and said "This sounds exactly like the problem you have. And I'll bet you that your problem is in the exact same spot that it was in the video."

Sure enough, after pulling out the new spark plugs, there was "water" (what he calls engine coolant) on the the spark plug of the ?cylinder? that had the BHG in the video.

 

Be sure to have the heads checked for warpage before reinstalling.

 

amart and others: It would be helpful to the many ziners trying to help you, -as you post new threads on what brand head gasket etc- that you mention the head was removed and found with blown out part in gasket, coolant found in that cylinder.
Mystery leak solved!! lets hope for good results with head flatness

AND as someone else mentioned in one thread- the BASE, or engine block side- needs to be ckd- with a metal straightedge- for,,,,, well,,,,, straightness! or flatness
If its beyond spec- the decision to replace engine returns
and you finally have a fun good running TL to enjoy for several years!

After the headaches and All dollars in- you will have way more car- especially in a used car- than anything the Toy company makes~

When you get to drive it temp steady, and enjoy things like the heated seats this winter
it was all worth it--
who says we don't have relationships with our cars! feed her, make her shiny and pay immediate attention to her every need!! or the payback uuuuuughhhhh~

Uh-oh shouldn't tempt the acura Gods -who thinks the OP will soon be looking for the diy thread `seat heater repair for $3` ??
TIP: read owner book on correct seat heat operation- constant use of HIGH is BAD
see manual for instructions

 

Update; this is as far as we got today and we foumd our second sign of a BHG.

Second symptom of a BHG:
Thanks for the advice guys, I'll mention it to him to check for a warped head and engine block side for straightness/flatness. Much appreciated!

 

^^^ Any updates on this ?

 

its got 1 blown side for sure = head removed gasket damage found
2nd head- not yet done - not been back under hood since first one removed = from what I read
no testing of 1st heads flatness

Who wants to bet on damage to block AND heads with this saga!

 

vids don't like to play my computer but Im guessing those show a piston top that's very shiny from being literally- steam cleaned!

If the other pistons have flaky carbon on tops = you want to remove that with scraper and then seafoam after engine running again

 

I don't get the connection between intake valve condition, and a blown head gasket. I'd be more prone to guess a fuel injector partially plugged, egr passages unevenly plugged, or pcv caused difference in the intake manifold. Or possibly a vacuum leak.

 

can see vids on this pos puter, what happened?

 

This thread was originated over one month ago......with plenty of feedback,
..............but apparently something has went wrong along the way. The Op has not taken the effort or time
to post any follow-up info on the situation in over a week.

Perhaps the diagnostic project is on hold for good reason, IDK.

 

Im going to speculate the OP is gathering funds for a replacement engine on this recent car purchase
iirc = in the beginning there was a desire for 3rd and 4th verification of 2 real life diagnosis= to decide small repair-just HG- or replace engine- or bolt from the whole deal

Door number 3?

 

Sorry for the lack of updates, guys. Been real busy and both my cousin's schedules and mines have been busy.

Here's what I have for you: the rear head gasket was bad as well (sorry for the photo being blurry).



Since both gaskets were bad, we decided to take both heads off. The heads came back from the machine shop yesterday.







We're just waiting for some hoses to arrive along with some other stuff before we begin to assemble the engine back together. While we wait for the last parts to arrive, we've been cleaning and sandblasting the other parts we took out and I've been helping him with a project regarding running pipes for his air compressor system where he'll be able to do pretty damn professional sandblasting and have two air hoses for his air tools so we can reduce switching between air tools and clean up faster afterwards.

Anyway, the car is getting a major tuneup. Besides the 105k service, it's getting the drive belts done, we're putting in remanufactured fuel injectors since the old ones were bound to go bad eventually, it's also getting the brakes and rotors done, all motor mounts, transmission mounts, new air filter, as well as the fluids sans transmission fluid.

That's it for now, I'll try and keep you guys updated, but definitely expect to hear from me when it's all said and done.

 

Where either of the heads warped out of spec? Did replacing the head gaskets fix the problem?

 

based on the pics those were successfully resurfaced and ready for action
In anther thread the owner of this car said they have been waiting on some small parts and doing extra work to it while things are accessible

Should be a nice ride when done,,person doing install is free labor/relative and they do some work as they can. Pics soon of another happy ziner Im sure!
He got this TL with a suspected blown head gasket and drove it until ~confirmed~

 

The heads were redone and the head gaskets were bad. Redoing the heads and putting im the new head gaskets fixed the problem.

 

So I got my car back a few days ago and I finally got a chance to sit down and write down a list of everything that got replaced. Before anything, I just want to say that these cars are f****** incredible. My cousin was talking crap about my car the entire time, but when he took it for a test drive and floored it, he was impressed by how well these cars run and how it was able to "chirp second".

With that said, here's the list of parts that got replaced:

- Both Heads redone at a machine shop
- Every gasket and o-ring leading up to the removal of the heads.
- Head Bolts (goes without saying)
- Thermo Switch on front cylinder head
- Knock Sensor and Knock Sensor Wire Connector
- Camshaft Position Sensor
- Crankshaft Position Sensor
- Air Temp Sensor
- Oil Pump Seal
- Spool Valve Filter
- Thermostat Housing
- Connecting Pipe
- Upper & Lower Radiator hoses, Heater Core hoses going to the firewall, ATF Warmer hoses
- 99% of engine parts that were removed got glassbead blasted and were repainted

Tuneup:
- Fuel Injectors including Front & Rear Air Passage Holder
- Drive belt kit
- Timing belt kit including Water Pump, Tensioner, and Auto Adjuster Collar
- All ignition coils and spark plugs replaced (this was the fix for my CEL)
- Mobil 1 Oil and filter + other fluids
- Air filter
- Motor Mounts and Transmission Mounts
- RainX Wipers and Fluid

Some stuff that went bad when the car started up the first time:
- Power steering pump
- Idle air control valve
- EGR Valve

Cosmetic:
- Painted Windshield Wiper arms
- Like-new steering wheel





The magic of glassbead blasting.















































Like new steering wheel; can't tell it's used.

 

Here's the Air Distribution System project that we worked on while waiting for parts to be delivered and for the heads to be redone.



.

 

Nice work and great pics !!!
Easy to see why the project took awhile to complete.

 

Yup, the air distribution system took the longest. Like 3 weeks. A big part of it is just waiting for parts to arrive.

Forgot to mention that both o2 sensors were also replaced as well as the front passenger CV boot strap. After the CEL problem with the ignition coils was fixed, two more CEL codes came up: for the Camshaft Position Sensor and the the o2 sensors. There was also a code for the Crankshaft Position Sensor, but it never came back after the reset. Since it did come up though, my cousin advised me to change it anyway so we wouldn't have to do it later down the line.