Hi, I'm trying to diagnose my friends 1992 Honda Domani which has an overheating problem. It's blowing a lot of white smoke and a little water. Surely the head gasket has blown, but also the fan doesn't come on. Could the head gasket be the prime cause of overheating! Or is this un-related! Would a broken thermostat prevent the fan from coming on or is this independent! Any help would be appreciated. Thank you for your time.
bellky,
Sep 20, 4:09am
Okay, (as below) straight out blown head gasket and most likely cause of overheating.
I'm sure others will give more :)
Fan(s) not coming on could be original cause of overheating and blown head gasket but not sure.
bondage_babe,
Sep 20, 4:09am
I should mention that it doesn't seem to be losing coolant, at least not a measurable amount.
bondage_babe,
Sep 20, 4:12am
Cheers bellky, does broken thermostat = fan not working! Or is that independent!
bondage_babe,
Sep 20, 4:14am
Temp gauge seems to be working well. Radiator is warming up ok too, my first thought was a water pump but everything seems to be flowing.
jmma,
Sep 20, 4:21am
Put a bandage on it and whip it into shape (o:
bellky,
Sep 20, 4:33am
If it's overheating and the fan(s) won't come on and the radiator is flowing hot water, then maybe the fan sensor switch/relay (and or fan) is faulty.
1coppertone,
Sep 20, 4:40am
if the water pump is crook water will still generally flow. if the water pumps not leaking it probably all right. so you can eliminate that been the main problem. good luck getting it sorted!
1coppertone,
Sep 20, 4:42am
now thats a good start!
skin1235,
Sep 20, 5:01am
your post 3 ., get the thermo checked immediately and get at least one of the fans working as for the white smoke and a little water in post 1, that has to be condensation only and is of no issue whatsoever
at this stage it does not have a blown gasket so stop fretting about that, post 3 says it is not using coolant at any discernible rate but if you continue to use it with the fan not working it will very soon have a cracked head or worse, the fan is your main issue, it must work, check plugs,fuses etc, simple to wire direct to battery to run or just check if able to run - you'll find a double wire plug on the cable that connect to the fan, open the plug and connect battery terminals to each wire ( fan end of now opened plug), if it runs okay it is not difficult to find a power source that only comes live with the ignition turned on, wire it to that on the positive wire to fan
bellky,
Sep 20, 5:07am
Okay - good news^ if no blown head gasket :)
bondage_babe,
Sep 20, 5:15am
Thanks, that will be the mission. My first thought was to wire the fan direct to accessory power but if a thermostat will fix the issue I won't need to get all dodgy on it. I believe the amount of water coming out of it is significant enough to be a head gasket problem, but it does seem to still run ok. It has been sitting for a few months. I will see to the thermostat over the weekend and check all fan connections. Have already checked fuses and they are fine. Thanks for your time.
bellky,
Sep 20, 5:53am
^ If the fan sensor is in the block then it won't be the thermostat that's the problem.
skin1235,
Sep 20, 6:31am
I think they are in the header tank on the Domani but also suggest that if the thermo is crook it is usually open not closed, plus if the thermo is indeed closed and not opening you would by now have blown the engine and your post 3 would be wrong
have faith, fix the fan,
once you have found the pos wire required to run it, consider feeding it from an acc circuit, or an ignition live only circuit ( Domani kill all lights including the fogs on ign, most cars domani included will run the cabin heater on acc) either splice the feed wire to the fan into the fogs ( and disconnect the fog bulbs) or clip it to the feed wire to the heater fuse under the hood - this means the engine fan will be unfused but also means the heater fuse will not blow should you need it to demist - avoid using the cabin heater as much as you can but the wiring will handle it this all assumes that the fan does actually work, it is not unknown for them to quit, worn brushes is the most common reason, and easily fixed with either new brushes or $30 at the wreckers for a going fan from almost any of the honda range ( the mounting is very common to both honda and mitsi)
skin1235,
Sep 20, 6:33am
yet your post 3 tells me the gasket and the head is all okay the white smoke ( steam) and water dribble is condensation from inside the exhaust system
unclejake,
Sep 20, 6:38am
I believe you could be wasting your time and money if you don't get the coolant tested for carbon before changing sensors etc.
A Tee Kay test will give you a good indication of headgasket integrity
johnf_456,
Sep 20, 6:40am
Where can you get car size band aids!
unclejake,
Sep 20, 6:43am
You are likely correct, but I would want to know that the car doesn't overheat on the open road before I blamed the fan.
A crook thermostat or failed pump could give similar results. Even with no impellor the coolant would thermo-siphon
skin1235,
Sep 20, 6:52am
some caution agreed UJ, I know Domani's, slightly later models but all have the similar piss poor air flow, and will get very hot should the fan fail to run, worse on the open road ( the concept of the fan being almost redundant at highway speed does not apply to Domani - or a lot of the modern cars like it did to the old rigid fan holdens and fords we grew up with, they had a huge mostly unrestricted air flow through the core at highway speed
unclejake,
Sep 20, 6:54am
I stand corrected then, and will go back to writing this report!
skin1235,
Sep 20, 6:58am
you have to remove the rad just to change the oil filter, how tight, and crazy is that so they use great long flexible hoses so you can lift the rad out without disconnecting it from the system stunning is one way to describe it stupid is another
edit, and the fans are attached to the rad, the fan wiring gets a fairly hard tug or two in the process imagine what is happening to the auto oil cooler and the tubes going to that
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