midwesta

Okay so I just replaced the motor in my 2001 S2000 with a F22 from a 2005 S2000. The motor has just over 15k on it.

Along with the motor I installed Samco hoses and a Koyo radiator.

When I tried to bleed the coolant the car was idling for a LONG time and that is usually the case with stock radiator coolant bleeds that I have done so I figured the Koyo would take a bit longer. After a while the fan never seemed to kick on and the radiator was full and was not taking anymore coolant. I put the cap on and shut the hood and let it idle like this to see if the fan would ever kick on. It never came on. Then I looked and the car was at 4 bars! (Should normally be at 3 bars) So I shut the car off. Everything seemed okay. It was late so I just let the car sit and came back to it the next day.

The next day I tried to bleed it again. Same thing, hit 4 bars, no fan! Shut it off and I heard hissing from around the Intake Manifold and noticed some coolant in the area around the runners. So I thought maybe I blew the Intake Manifold gasket and the thermostat was bad.

I pull the motor back out. Cause there is no way I am doing the IM swap with the motor in the car, easier for me just to pull it back out.

I took the IM off and it didnt seem like it was leaking and maybe the coolant was just dripping from the little pouches in the head casting cause it was in there from when coolant got all over the motor.

I also removed the thermostat and tested it in boiling water. It opened at 180deg F so that is fine.


I unplugged the fan and hooked it to a battery, it worked fine.


So my questions are:

The motor has hit 4 bars twice now, could I have blown the head gasket? The oil on the dipstick is not milky. There did not seem to be any oil in any of the coolant that has come out of the motor. The only thing that would lead me to believe the HG is blown is there is a little coolant on the exhaust side of the block that may have seeped out of the head. Or it could again be from when coolant got all over.


Is it possible that the fan relay is bad? The fan obviously works when hooked to a battery so maybe the relay is bad? Another thing I have noticed is my interior fan is acting goofy. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. Could these be related?

If my thermostat isn't bad and neither is my fan, what could be causing it to overheat? Is my fan switch/sensor bad?

I already have the motor back out and I am installing a Hondata IM gasket cause its cheap and I might as well since I did all this work. Should I just go ahead and do the head gasket as well and replace it with a Spoon just to cover my ass and not have to pull the motor back out again?

Crisgo

Do you have any info about the motor you put in? Seems unlikey that a motor with that many miles has a headgasket issue. You could have a relay issue or a temp senor issue. What happen to your motor. Did it over heat? Make sure your fuses are good. Your fuse 20 7.5 amp in the uder dash fuse box. Your fuse 57, 58 in your under hood fuse box. Make sure you have good ground at the fans by checking continuity to ground on you black wires to the fans. Make sure your radiator fan switch is good and pluged in at the bottom of the radiator. Good Luck

Tech7427

bleeding the s2000 cooling system can be a pita, i suggest placing the temp control to full hot and fan on.

jack up the car about 2 feet in the air and start and run the car with the radiator cap off and the coolant bleeder open.once you start to see a stream shut the bleeder. replace the cap and let the car run some more.

shut the car off and open the bleeder..see if any air comes out..

remember the bleeder on the heater core lines on the back of the firewall too. that one helps alot.. you can get a coolant funnel and fill that all the way to the top and open the bleeders until coolant comes out, then shut them and start the car..

Mister Jew

bleeding an s2000 cooling system is more time consuming than lets say a civic or integra. There is a good write up on s2kca.com on how to do it. just bleed it and make sure you crack open the bleeder valve there is 2 valves but the one next to the cylinder head is good enough. Turn your heater to hot you actually dont have to turn the fan on. just remember after you bleed it drive the car around. waiting for the car to heat up idling with the hood open will take forever.

midwesta

I am not saying it had headgasket issues,I am asking if I could have messed up the headgasket when it hit 4 bars on the temp gauge?

midwesta

How can I test the fan switch in the radiator?

Kdlopez01

I just installed samco hoses and a koyo radiator and I bled the air with my brake bleeding kit. No issues at all surpised me since I was worried about all the horror stories about over heating.