When writing of "bars" on the temperature gauge please indicate AP1 or AP2 engine. " 5 bars, 6 bars.... " is when my engine is warming up and no cause for concern. About half the cars imported to North America were AP2s.

-- Chuck

 

It's a 2002 AP1, so about 15 yrs on the hose, and 92K miles. I bought it at 72K or so, and most of the last 20K miles are track miles...or traveling to track miles.

Mine's an AP1. Here in TX, even on a June track day, I've never had 5 bars that I can remember.

 

Just curious: Did the new radiator involve using a new radiator cap?

At those temps, I'd keep an eye on your oil and coolant for a while and make sure there is no coolant on your dipstick and no oil in your radiator.

 

Yes, new cap. Will keep an eye out, thanks for the tip. How might coolant wind up in the oil or visa versa?

 

What is the pressure rating on the new cap? In my mind, I've been against rad caps that run at higher pressures than stock (for reasons like blowing old coolant lines). Just curious.

Oil and coolant mixing would be a sign that you cooked your head gasket during the overheat.

 

Here's the radiator: https://www.mishimoto.com/honda-s200...nce-00-05.html

torque the cap to 19lbs, pressure 1.3 bar (you can see it in one of the pics: https://cdn.mishimoto.com/media/cata...S2K-00_4_4.png)

Would the cracked head gasket cause heat issues? It's still unclear what caused the initial buildup to me.

Edit:

Got the car back. New upper and lower hose, passed block test, drove it 4 hours no further issues yet. Possibly going to track this weekend, and then again in another couple weeks, so we'll see how it does.

Moral of the story, just replace the things every 5 years. You can feel them to see if they're brittle, but mine split in a spot you really can't get your hands to without removing parts. My guess is when I went to install the radiator, and had to wiggle the tubes to get them off the radiator, that was enough to start a crack on the old hose.