Engine Temp issues please Help!!!

Ph3n0m · 08-22-2011, 10:06 AM

200 honda insight, AC, manual, 120k miles

Ok, so long story short, the in car gauge is acting crazy.

A cpl weeks ago the CRANKshaft Pulley fell off. Which sounds insane, but it happened. Anyhow. i parked the car immediately, the sensor said it was hot, but i had drive about 100 yards with the pulley off so i HIGHLY doubt it was hot, likely just a reaction to the stoppage of flow from the water pump not being turned. I've since fixed it but that car sat about a week and a half. I drove it 15 miles to my parents without noticing any issues yesterday. This morning on my way into work (25 miles all highway) The car would jump up by two bars at a time to just below the red, when i noticed this i put it in neutral (was about to pull over) for about 10 seconds, then back into 5th and continued to drive and the gauge went down to normal. This happened two or three more times on the highway on my way in. I got off the freeway and the car ran around normal middle of the range on the temp gauge.

So, here's a thought (shot in the dark). when we put the belt back on we turned the water pump pulley with the car off a good amount of times, and perhaps we introduced air into ths system. i'm reading about this being an issue. Idk if this car even has a coolant resevoir like other cars or not. the diagram in the manual looked like the radiator and water pump with a cpl hoses.

Any ideas would be great. the car has been great up until now but i'm nervous about driving it home when it'll be 80+ outside today (it was 70ish this morning).

Could the belt be slipping?? The belt is in good condition...

ANY HELP IS appreciated

Ph3n0m · 08-22-2011, 10:08 AM

and btw this car was not hot at all when i shut it down. about a mile off the highway.

Ph3n0m · 08-22-2011, 10:27 AM

I realize i may be answering my own questions but the reservoir was definitely low. i'll fill at lunch n see what happens...

Eli · 08-22-2011, 11:01 AM

Could be air in the system..

Could also be a blown head gasket from the initial incident.

Ph3n0m · 08-22-2011, 11:13 AM

do these head gaskets blow often i've read that a few times on here.

wouldn't this car blow white smoke due to a head gasket?

P.S. those are some insane miles on those cars!!!

Eli · 08-22-2011, 11:33 AM

It's not common at all in and of itself, but an episode like that can cause the head gasket on any engine to blow..

Regarding the white smoke, not necessarily.. Just depends on how bad it is.

A slight leak will eventually manifest itself as either gunk under the radiator cap or under the oil fill cap.

Let's not jump to conclusions though, hopefully it's not that.

It's too bad you don't have an Ultragauge so you can better monitor temps, the dash gauge doesn't tell you much.

madmanmostafa · 08-22-2011, 12:41 PM

+1 for air in the system. Sounds like it may need to be burped.

If it is the HE, you'll just have to see what happens. You can take it to a shop where they can test the compression. If it's low, then you may be in the shop a while longer to repair it. If it's fine, check for air or a bad t-stat

Ph3n0m · 08-22-2011, 01:14 PM

well i bought some coolant... i'll add it to the reservoir and see how it runs this afternoon. Is there anything ELSE i should be doing while adding so i don't get air in there? There was just a very small amount left in the reservoir.

I'm not taking it anywhere today, i'm going on vacation tomorrow for a week so it'll sit.

Any online procedures for burping/bleeding the system?

Ph3n0m · 08-22-2011, 01:17 PM

The oil and both of those caps has always been clean, in the year i've owned. I guess we'll see...

Zwolfe · 08-22-2011, 02:23 PM

Tried bleeding the coolant system?

There should be a bleeder nipple that will allow an air pocket in the coolant system to be released, should there be air in the system.

Then you just top off coolant after it has been bled.

Loosen up the bleeder nipple (should be somewhere on top of the engine, probably close to the thermostat) and once coolant starts to come out, tighten it back down. It probably takes a 10mm or 12mm.

Should be no air in the system after that (if there was at all).

If you know where the bleeder nipple is, process shouldn't take any longer than a few seconds once you got your wrench or ratchet on the nipple.

I don't know anything about that engine but I would be mystified if Honda doesn't have a bleeder nipple on it.