How to cure overheating...cheap!!

We're running an 88 CRX in the 24 hrs of Lemons. We have run two races and blew the head gasket both times around. We changed the motor for the last race and it lasted until 2 hrs before the end of the race.

We are going to machine the head flat this time around, but I was wondering if anybody knows any cheap tricks to help cooling - i.e. if there is a bigger radiator that would fit right in the hole, or any other tricks? Our budget for this is $50! We can get radiators from any car for about $20.

Also we ran this motor for two hours without water! we're rebuilding it on the cheap - do you think that the block itself could be warped and need decking? or would it be OK?

Thanks
Monty Pythons Flying CRX

My recent overheating problems on tha D16 were resolved with two things:
1. Deck the head. Although, in the end I am not sure I needed to do this, piece of mind was working here.
2. Change the radiator. The original one in the car was crudded up. The was probably my problem.

If you are adding water that often you probably should get the head decked. 2 hours without cooling is a long way to go....you my find both the head and the block are out of spec to be machined.

My d16 only had overheating issues when in 90 degrees plus temp at high rpm, I run rich over 7200 rpm. A double wide radiator solved a lot of problems. Your other cheap options is turning the heater fan on. And in your case, deck the head.

if the "new" motor had the same thing, i am thinking you have a bad radiator. it is not uncommon for the fins to rust away and not be connected to the core tubes anymore. push gently on the fins between the tubes that carry the water and see if they fall out.

Stock radiators can & do plug up over time and this will reduce the cooling efficiency.
Get an OEM replacement from Modine or Rock Auto.

FWIW I run a stock OEM radiator on my H-prod Civic with 11:1 compression and and spin it up to 7500 and I have no problems with coolant temps. In fact I have to run a T-stat as we found I would lose power if it ran too cold.

I run plain water + water wetter.

Make sure the head & block are flat & true.

Don't know if you are running one or not but ditch the Honda oil-to-water heat exchanger and run a remote oil cooler.

Are the dowel pins for the head in good shape? I use new ones everytime I pull the head. Cheap insurance.

Thanks everybody for the good advice. As I mentioned the budget is $50. This is because we were given a residual value of $250 for the car, so we can spend $250 fixing the problems we have. Although it's invisible to the judges we don;t feel inclined to cheat.

So we got the head fixed at NAPA. I think the bill was about $80. We bought an engine rebuild kit because the rings are shot, another $175, and our budget is now shot!!!

Plan it to clean out the radiator as good as possible. I have a good 944 radiator here and may try it. BTW Lemons rules say stricltly no coolant or water wetter.

I'll let y'all know how we make out - race is mid-Sept.

Thanks for your advice!

Why not water wetter? I understand no coolant due to it being very slick and difficult to clean up from the track surface. I run water and water wetter, with the understanding that it is not slick if dumped on the track surface.

I have a very decent D series radiator (no rust or leaks) off my D16z6 (92 eg) that I would be willing to trade parts for you with. PM' me.

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Originally Posted by timo944

Thanks everybody for the good advice. As I mentioned the budget is $50. This is because we were given a residual value of $250 for the car, so we can spend $250 fixing the problems we have. Although it's invisible to the judges we don;t feel inclined to cheat.

So we got the head fixed at NAPA. I think the bill was about $80. We bought an engine rebuild kit because the rings are shot, another $175, and our budget is now shot!!!

Plan it to clean out the radiator as good as possible. I have a good 944 radiator here and may try it. BTW Lemons rules say stricltly no coolant or water wetter.

I'll let y'all know how we make out - race is mid-Sept.

Thanks for your advice!

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Since the CRX rad is already full length.. I would just take some Bleach and CLR.. then run teh einge with some blaeach and CLR and throughly flughs it out with water while running. Ghetto fix but has worked great in the past for me.

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Originally Posted by tac911t

Why not water wetter? I understand no coolant due to it being very slick and difficult to clean up from the track surface. I run water and water wetter, with the understanding that it is not slick if dumped on the track surface.

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They claim that WW is "slippery stuff." They also have some other issues but all in all it's a great series. Pretty well run and a blast to drive in a total POS and be doing well! At CMP last race we have about 90 cars on a 1.1 mile track!!! Mayhem!

One other thing you might check is the block to cylinder heigth. I kept going though head gaskets , maching the head until i really checked the block to find out the cylinders were about .004 below the the block surface. We took the .004 off and have not had a problem since. It took 3-4 cuts before the cutter even hit the top of the cylinders.