So, the other day I was stuck in traffic after getting my oil changed and I noticed my car was getting warmer than usual while sitting still (4 bars instead of 3)..I got nervous and got home quickly and shut it down. I checked all my fluids over two days and it would drive fine unless I was sitting still a lot and then it would get warm. My temp sensor seems to be measuring appropriately in terms of going up down with good air flow. My fans are both working. I decided to change my radiator fluid since it was a dark bluish green and (while unlikely) I was wondering if the yahoos who changed my oil filled up my radiator fluid with something they shouldnt have (and its a reasonable first step to diagnose the problem) So, I drain and refill according to my manual and everything goes (mostly) smoothly. Start up my car and now I notice my boost gauge is only reading -11 instead of -20 at idle and my AFR is reading in the 15s and even low 16s. So clearly I cannot drive it. I guess I have two questions:
1. WTF is going on?
2. anyone know any solid tuner shop I can take my car to in the area?

I am not happy at the moment..

 

If you are in Austin, Chris Johnson would be a good person to take your car to he would be able to help you. His shop is called Performance Motorsports:

http://www.performance-motorsports.com/contact.html

 

thanks for the help! I think I found a leak in my oil catch can which would explain the AFR/boost issue and I guess we will see if changing my coolant gets rid of my overheating problem..

 

Someone help me out here, but since your not saying otherwise I assume you are referring to the OEM temp gauge. I don't think that the AP1's are any different that AP2's in that they won't even go into vtec until the temp gauge reaches four bars. I'm sure that I'm missing something here, or else the AP1's must register temp differently than the AP2's.

 

I think the AP1's allow VTEC engagement when they hit 3 bars if I remember my AP1 right. Our AP2's go up to 7 bars for normal operating temperature.

Bluish green in the radiator? Odd, definitely flush and see if it comes back (possibly oil?).

Justin's s2k and my Miata had the same overheating issue in the dead heat of summer but we had Front Mount Intercoolers blocking airflow to the radiator.

 

yeah..now I have an air leak I cannot find. I had to ditch the catch can I had because it wasnt worth the hassle to find exactly what was leaking (and it was a really cheap catch can). Any good tricks on how to find an air leak? I tried water.. and yeah, my AP1 operates at 3 bars normally and will switch to VTEC at 3 as well..

 

smoke or misting carb cleaner in areas you think the leak might be.

 

Just confirming AP1's engage VTEC at 3 bars. For an air leak try a bottle of soapy water. Look for bubbles.

 

I'm still just a little confused. Even if 3 bars is where the AP1 allows VTEC to engage why would the temp gauge reaching 4 bars be reason for panic? It seems like that would probably be well within the normal operating range.

 

I'm with you, 4 bars is hardly an "overheating problem".