Civic 93 delay to turn off the check light (engine doesn't start while CEL on)

[SD_760]

Bleed!

Loosen bleeder bolt until no air is released.

Set the heater to max heat with cabin blower OFF.

Only terminate procedure if engine overheats.

Also are you saying just put the temp slider

Just monitor engine temp and coolant level.

ok so I did it again jacked it up higher squeezed harder left it on longer and I finally got the coolant to pass through to the hose past the thermostat so I'm assuming it opened up and I got the air out. However the fan still wouldn't come on. And I started to see smoke coming from the radiator , no signs of temperature heating up but it was idleing for a good 13minutes with no fans coming on and it should have come on - should I replace the relay ? Is there any other possibility of the fans not coming on? I've been searching forums and videos and have spent a lot of time , nothing in the manual about diagnosing radiator fans , the fan works I manually jumped the fan switch plug... what can I do? The coolant seemed to be circulating legit. point me in the next direction if possible?

 

[SD_760]

Correct. You only need to slide the lever to max heat.

How long did you let the engine idle after the temp gauge indicated the engine was fully warmred up?

If the weather is cold where you live, it may take 20-30 minutes for the fan to turn on.

Being patient will pay off.

Nah it's in California. The engine was warmed up for a good 10 -12 minutes easy I'm prettty sure the fan should have come on at least one time. I mean I thought the radiator was gonna explode... lol smoke coming off it a lot. I thought ok maybe it just burning fluid. But the car has been smoking A little since I first got it to turn on. It got a test drive around the block and was seeing some smoke coming from radiator area of engine bay. I didn't count how long it was on for but it seemed like a while. I'll time it tomorrow and see what happens... I'm thinking one of the relays needs to be changed or something it should have come on in my opinion.

 

[SD_760]

What was the outside temp during the bleed?

Not necessarily. Civic engines run cold.

If the temp gauge was reading normal, then you are fine. You

It was like 75 degrees - yeah temp never went to/past half way it was like at 40%. It would make since having a leak I guess. Ok let me see if I can find a leak in the system and will repeat bleed.

 

[SD_760]

Perfect



If you can't locate the leak with the engine idling, then use a tool that pressurizes the cooling system so you can reveal the leak with engine off.

Ok. Yeah I was trying to be cautious. I got a friend coming over to help me out today so we should be able to figure it out. I was looking at the service manual and it says that thermostat opens fully at 194* and thermoswitch activates cooling fan at 196-203* so I was probably real close to the fan turning on and got scared of the smoke.. I think the thermostat I have is like 170* or something like that so the car wasn't on too much longer after I got the coolant to start flowing through. Alright I'll update with results

 

[SD_760]

Perfect



If you can't locate the leak with the engine idling, then use a tool that pressurizes the cooling system so you can reveal the leak with engine off.

I left it on long enough monitoring the temp and the fans came on. It just was smokin a lil bit but the fans have cycle like 4 times now so it's all good just finding whatever small leak - I didn't have the kit for the pressure test but it seems like the radiator itself is where the leak is coming from, gonna try n get the pressure test soon. Might have to get a new radiator.

But for all these posts I see and people with the same problem if their thermostat is not opening , BLEED the crap out of your cooling system. Take extra time with it and be patient. Thanks for the advice and help boofoo.

 

[SD_760]

Perfect



If you can't locate the leak with the engine idling, then use a tool that pressurizes the cooling system so you can reveal the leak with engine off.

Is there supposed to be a cap on this ? Bottom of radiator there's a metal outlet ?

 

[SD_760]

Do you have an auto transmission?

Nah it's 5 speed. And it stopped smoking I just keep letting it run for like 20 minutes each day and it stopped ... must have been some crap just burning off? I'm gonna check it again tomorrow , test drive and idle test again

 

[SD_760]

Do you have an auto transmission?

Quick question, about how long does it take for the ecu to be ready to smog for these cars? The car was dead with no battery for a long time and after all the repairs I need to smog it now. I'm very familiar with sniffing OBD2 cars but not these obd1, should it be ready to smog or will I have to drive it for a while?