Overheating after BHP Increase

[jangz]

Ahh crap, I just had a full blast through gears 1,2,3 and 4 and soon after it quickly started to overheat right past the red mark, overflow was filled and some sprayed out and emptied my radiator. I am officially screwed as this leaves me thinking that its defiantly a head gasket issue and now I am stumped as I can no longer afford to spend any more.

I decided to run it like a normal car, no more racing about (to keep it safe) and put money aside until this falls apart for another Honda, I think I really needed this realization, its to some degree a big relief and at the same time a serious heart break and feeling my throat being stuffed with a melon.

I got parts that I will need to sell if this is the case, you guys may want to keep an eye out for the sales part of the forum.

I got parts like:

282mm MG ZR calipers and carriers.
5 panel panoramic rear view mirror +fittings
D16z6 Injectors.
Prelude injector resister box from RadioShack (nice metal case)
Manual Boost Controller.
Toyo (red) - Oil Catch Can
D16z6 Alternator
D14z2 Dizzy
Dual Gauge Cluster Bezel
D-Baged Front Grill - 99 face lift model
Black Housing, Long Amber Side Indicator - Front Head Lights - 1998 model EJ/EK
Clear Side Indicators
1500 miles D16z6 ACT Sports Clutch +D16z6 Fly Wheel
23mm Rear Anti Roll Bar - ITR JDM 98
26mm Front Sway Bar VTI/EK9
non-branded ASR look Rear Brace (silver) works perfectly fine no issues at all.

[BETEK]

Bad news man about your car
So what are your plans now?

[jangz]

I am going to keep the car however long I can (and drive it safely) and put money aside that I would have spent towards this Civic but save it towards another car. Also I am going to try and gain back some money spent on new and rarely used part that I have laying around the house. When i have enough for a new car sell this one for whatever I can get and put that towards mods straight up on the next car I get.

I cant be beating around the bush, fact is I do eventually need a 4 door with my now ever growing family. I was thinking of something like the Honda Accord 2003+, Mazda 3 2003+, but I seen some sick looking Honda Jazz 1.4i 2003+ that I am seriously considering in getting and doing it up (tastefully of cause). The Jazz seems to fit my criteria of having something good on insurance and tax, and economy and looks can be greatly improved from the sissy, granny look. I plan to have it done with a slick VIP style, and run the car low, with full leather interior that I plan to upholster ^_^ because I got mad skillz lol

Soon as I get my first few items sold i will be on track with my new direction...... when the time comes I think I would be crying when letting go of this car, and this genuinely speaking.... ahh I don't even want to think about it.

[saxophonias]

sad news.. But wait, couldn't you get a used d14 for 150-200pounds and swap it? d14s don't mess things every day so this time you may be luckier! Can we see a photo of your car?

[pardizzle21]

Jangz!dont give up, have you got any parts for sale that you can go without?ie so that the money made from the sales could go towards a head gasket etc?to finally get your car done but then quit now is terrible!

Would you be able to take the civic off the road until fixing the problem?or go down the route of a new engine(around £150 with 80,000 miles? )

Eitherway, if you do want to sell bits let me know about the ITR anti roll bar and rear brace!

[007]

slow down Jangz. you need to troubleshoot instead of guessing wildly. there are tons of resources around that show you how to identify a possible head gasket leak. try them out.

also, if it helps any, I have *slight* heating issues myself. when I drive normally, everything is fine. but when I apply load on the engine below 5000 RPM, coolant starts being pushed into the overflow tank and the reduction in coolant starts to manifest itself as overheating. after the car cools down completely, when I take the radiator cap off, there is no pressure being expelled. this means that there are no gases from combustion trapped in the cooling system.

when I went over the ECU datalogs, I noticed that the engine was running lean under load [15:1 @ 850 kPa] when the temps would start to climb. I intend to fix it later on and then see if things come back to normal. my advice to you is know what tune you are running. keep monitoring your AFRs. it isn't uncommon for people to lean out fuel mixtures across the board to give better fuel economy. when you love your car so much, the last thing you should be in the dark about it the ECU tune.

[jangz]

Ahh your right, I know I shouldn't give up and jump to conclusions, I guess I still haven't learned from my own lessons thought out this whole journey. As I said i will be keeping the car as long as I can and put money on the side while doing so if fix this then I'm keeping this car for sure. Your suggestion about the tune may have some value, as he did say he leaned out the AFR on part throttle as we talked about me being a relaxed driving most of the time. not sure if that was messed up later on.

When car was at 155 BHP it never spewed out that much coolant and it was tuned on ECTUNE, the second tune to 180bhp was done on CROME PRO, as he was getting major head aches trying to get the license that ran out for his ECTUNE, not sure if its due to the tune that could cause that tho.... every single place i read say the same dreaded thing HEAD GASKET....

I'm so torn man... but i wont give up, I will try and chill the F**K out and get my head screwed on and think more strategically.

[007]

I'm so torn man... but i wont give up, I will try and chill the F**K out and get my head screwed on and think more strategically.

right on!

[pardizzle21]

hey jangz,
Oh know not another possible cause for overheating! Mine has not been mapped since doing the headswap/vtec swap, but i doubt its the case for me, as iv read on here that the d14s normally run rich after the swap due to using 1.6 fuel maps!
Did your tuner lean out ur AFR do you know,because if he did that could make sense about your overheating issue?

Hope you get it sorted mate!pardz

[jangz]

He stated that he leaned it out on part throttle but not enough to be dangerous, however this tuner in well know and really good at what he does, when car was at 155bhp the vtec was disabled at 5.5 psi. The vtec is now active and set to 6 psi at 180bhp at this point Im thinking that i may be beating around the bush and it could the the gasket, however latley i have been driving calmly and havnt really dont much to fix it has i am way to busy and partly i just exhausted with all this.

I plan to take it back and talk to the tuner and see if somthing can be done, however he stated that this could also be a head gasket issue. When the head was fitted in the first place it was 2nd hand, not skimmed and believe the same bolts were used which is why i feel it could be the HG issue.

We will wait and what happens