Thread: 1991 B13 SE-R overheating issues

Ok, so it only happens when it's 95+ outside and I'm in stop-n-go traffic.

And the heat gauge has not displayed anything beyond the high end of "acceptable" limits set by the gauge.. But, it does go beyond the halfway point on the heat gauge and I turn on my heater and my mini-radiator in the cabin cools it off (heater core) and i get back to normal levels...

I was at first thinking it was the ethonal in the gasoline here in Oklahoma, but even when i find a place that sells 100% gasoline, it can still happen...

I have also changed out my thermostat, my coolant is green (no leaks) and I've even added some water wetter....

Besides putting on a huge bandaid (the larger Koyo R1977) is there anything else I can do to make it operate more like new?? Because without any mods on this motor, I shouldn't need a larger radiator..

have you bled the coolant system properly

are your fans kicking on at the right temp? Are they kicking in at all?

i've seen some crazy overheating sh!t before.

You've had some pretty high temps lately, and the humidity in OK doesn't help at all...

Here in West Texas, we experience the heat you have every year, at least 30 days above 101 degrees, but only about 20~30 percent humidity.

I've found that running straight distilled water with one bottle of water wetter helps immensely. Remember that coolant doesn't help dissipate heat as well as straight water. My coolant temps dropped a good 15 degrees just by switching to distilled water from coolant. Try a higher pressure radiator cap from a Z32 as well. Second on the list would be upgrading to higher CFM fans. Cheaper than buying a Koyo.

I still use a stock radiator with the turbo setup, but have high CFM slim fans as pushers. Works great, temps never above 215F.

GT2871RBLUBIRD - I haven't, are you suggesting a bubble in the system or that it's dirty?? The coolant is green as all get out. Would a bubble only show problems when the temp was over 95 and I was in stop-n-go traffic?? I would think a bubble would show problems at any time... I do not know though, so tell me if I'm wrong..

91GrayDET - the fans are kicking on.. but they might be doing so at the wrong temp, don't know how to test that.. hmmm

TeKKie - i do know that water runs cooler than coolant, (didn't know before this overheating issue, but I did find that out along the troubleshooting steps) I just don't want to have to change whats in my radiator every summer/winter if I can avoid it, because this car was designed to run fine in 95+ temps with a 50/50 mix, so something tells me something else is wrong, that's almost another bandaid.. unless, people who had these cars when new can tell me that they would overheat in 95+ temps.. but wait, I had one new, a black 1998 Sentra SE and I never had any overheating issues through 3 summers, So really there is another problem that's causing this... right??

The high CFM fans might be cool if i do decide to go with a Koyo Radiator... though the radiator and high CFm fans could be overkill, but they'd look good none-the-less....

I would work with the fans. My bro had this exact issue in his Civic and it turned out to be the fans. If they are working, they might not be working at the correct time. I think a lot of people have manual control over their fans (rewiring the OEM unit), which I don't recall to be too difficult. While it would be a pain in the ass to have to keep turning it on and off, it could be the cheapest/easiest solution. Of course, I am suggesting things I seem to recall reading on the old forum a while back, so I could be making this all up! Also, the OEM temp gauge is a POS. I have overheated my engine (as in coolant bubbling out of the overflow bottle) and the temp gauge was still pegged in the middle. Do NOT use that as your guide!

Edit: Found this write-up. I did not read it all, so it may or may not be difficult... HOW TO: Radiator fan manual override - SR20 Forum

My 95 SE (bone stock) overheated here in El Paso with 50/50. My 98 SE-R when still N/A (I/H/E) also overheated here in El Paso with 50/50. Switching from 50/50 to distilled water was more of an inconvenience than anything else, but to each his own I guess. I just attributed it to poor coolant design with the motor.

Hope you sort it out, at any rate!

yikes, i always thought our gauges were very accurate.. I'm thinking about getting a temp guage that gives a read out of the actual temperature so I know what's really going on..

I was running about half a bottle of antifreeze a full bottle of Water Wetter and the rest distilled water last summer which has been way hotter than this year.My temps would be a constant 180-175 cruising and maybe 210 in stop and go traffic.I'm guessing the system isn't properly bled.Let me know if you need a hand.

yeah, i could definately use a hand.. wrenching things I can do, but something like that is beyond me... but I'd imagine not to difficult.. what are you doing this weekend?