Not going to read all this. But have you by chance.... Taken it to a dealership? With all this money you are tossing at it by throwing parts at it, you could have paid for an hour diag at a Honda dealership... Our Acura rate is $105 an hour. They can diag it for $105 and tell you what's wrong. You can either pay them to fix it with genuine Honda parts or take it home and fix it yourself, just pay the $105. I'd suggest you do this before you blow your headgasket and REALLY make it expensive

 

I'm getting closer to get it to the dealer... So far it has just cost me a 30$ thermostat and a 55$ sensor... The rad was changed last fall due to a hole in it from a rock that hit it...

 

@ Sapcecoast,

The light only comes on when I'm driving... Yes the systems pressurizes. Apparently no difference with the new sensor... I think the sensor in the rad needs to be hot also to kick up the fan... I just did another bleeding test with the car on ramps in the part of my driveway that is a little bit inclined to had to the angle at witch the front of the car is raised... There where still some bubles ( I know I didn't bleed it properly right after changing the sensor). I've let it run for at least 20 min, the coolant was fuming hot and the fan didn't start...

 

now i'm excited.. cause you have a curious problem... But do please specify whether right now you're still hearing the swooshing sound or not?

You're saying that even if you jump start the fan, it will still overheat. Then it's definitely the coolant is not circulating or circulating very slowly. Since you have changed your thermostat. Now you need to check for all the coolant lines. You said that you have just installed a new radiator when all of this start to happen. That is a good point to start. Check the installation point, whether the glue is too much and actually blocking the radiator hoses. Check the hoses and reinstall them.

 

Well I did start the car this morning and yes... the flushing sound was there...

I think that I have bad circulation that keeps me from being able to properly bleed the system...

Looking at the thermostat that I have replace, it as some white powder on it... Could my entire system be contaminated and cause pour water pump performance and also more restriction in the lines...

I think I'm going to have to look at the inside of some lines and even the water pump...

 

Sorry that the sensor did not fix the problem. In simple terms, either you have a over-heating issue or false display issue. If its over-heating, then I think you have identified some possibilities. I haven't look at where the heater core hoses are, but if its an issue in getting air fully out of the core unit, I would be tempted to remove the top core hose and fill up the core that way. Using a proper technique and having a helper would ensure that there is no air in that unit. Also, I am wondering if perhaps the computer could contain any useful info that might help, but I wouldn't think so. What could restrict the hoses? You did install the thermostat in the correct orientation? This is quite strange...when the coolant was hot could you determine any type of flow? Is the heater core (hoses, and both of them) getting hot as well...this would imply coolant flow...and so would any flushing sounds.

 

Here's an update...

The car is in a dealer right now... it has a blown head gasket and a warp head. The guys there are claiming that this is a result of some overheating. ok fine...but what did cause the overheating?... Even though the engine is still under warranty, they claim that all this failure is due to my radiator incident that happened last fall some 15000km ago... I'm pissed off...putting some 1500$ on an engine that is still under warranty...

 

When you replaced the radiator I assume the original radiator had a leak. True? So...did you loose a lot of coolant when the original incurred damage? I remember my father ruined his engine when a radiator hose broke...he was on a bridge and couldn't pull over. Only had to drive a short distance, but by that time the engine was ruined. Is the current (new) radiator something other than OEM?

 

The new radiator is a genuine honda part...

The radiator incident happen last summer...(!) on the 4th of september 2011... I did 15000km since without loosing a drop of oil or coolant...

This is what happened: I've left home, went down the road (downhill) after maybe 2-2.5 km the light came on. stop u turned back for 1 km to the garage and stop the car... So how much damage cool there be? How can I get so many mileage done after that?

 

Damn, Honda trying to pull a fast one you on the warranty.

Was the replacement radiator installed correctly?

 

Yes... the job was done right... No issue there... The warranty coverage is still to be solve...

Btw... I don't know if all fit are the same but... there is no protection for the radiator for the lower portion of the bumper... there is nothing stopping a rock to hit directly the rad... I'm going to put a screen to cover that... I love my car but this is a weakness I think...

 

See, the problem with this overheat light, is whenever it comes on, most likely it's already too late for your engine... That is why i installed a dedicated water temp gauge in my dash. I told you earlier that I had an experience like yours. My temp goes past 101celcius, and i immediately pull over, and there are no overheat lights on my dashboard. If I hadn't got my water temp gauge back then, probably i will be in the same place as yours with a warped head...

sorry to hear your problem though. but did the radiator replacement done on the dealer? they should still honor the warranty if it did...

 

I have a 2002 fit and have that same problem also with my red over heat light now coming on as I start my engine. At first it use to come on after some time of driving 15 to 20 minutes. My fan is working ok and the coolant is ok I am sure I don't have a over heat problem but I can't get rid of the light. It happen twice before and I change the fan switch once and the thermostat once, on both occasion the light went away untill it rains and it starts again. Now it comes on as I start.

 

well, i'm not sure what causes it, but i had similar problems with sensors, lights coming on, mechanics check it, it's not actually getting hot....eventually, it's a head gasket and it really is running hot, and it's the driver's fault for "letting" it run hot...and it runs hot BECAUSE of the head gasket, but the head gasket is bad because it ran hot? um..circular logic....after they fix the engine (still trying to gather enough money to pay for it, the warranty only goes to 36k miles and it's got 71k), i will have a real temperature gauge installed in addition to the obviously flawed system honda already has in the car....if anyone can find out what causes this BEFORE it ends up with head damage, let the rest of the suckers who bought fits know! all i can advise other people who are experiencing this problem is to take it to the dealer and tell them you KNOW if they don't figure it out, the car WILL have to have at least a new head gasket....at least then, when it happens, you're on record....oh, and the diagnostic test you pay $100 for? it won't reveal whatever this screw up is....i'm still rather nervous....if it still has this problem when i get it fixed, it'll just tear up the engine i'm having put in....well, with an extra temp gauge i should at least be able to prevent that from happening.....i could have bought a chevrolet! the cavalier sure is a reliable car, but no....i just had to have a honda cause i believed the hype about reliability

 

4 days ago I noticed a antifreeze smell coming from my car when it gets hot. About a day later I noticed the swooshing sound starting to happen. It only does it when I first start the car and it's cold. Now today my red engine light came on for a brief second and went off. I turned my heat up on full blast to avoid it coming back on.. Now another thing I noticed is I have lost power and the valves are knocking a lot louder then they did before all this.. My coolant is fine. I'm going to try and flush the radiator tomorrow to see if that works.. Now my symptoms are kinda like yours except this just started happening 4 days ago and hopeing it's something simple.. I have a 08 fit base model with 91,000 miles. And my heat doesn't seem to be as hot as it was last winter.. And no leaking that I can see I have checked under the car and on both passenger and driver side floors. Any ideas with this problem?

 

Once on the open road and doing anything over 50 mph the overheat warning light comes on then the aircon pump cuts out. Went to Honda they checked and tested the car on a computer that came up to say a amperage drop across the battery caused the aircon relay to cut out. So they put in a new battery. I said, what about the overheating, they said it didn't overheat. With new battery installed and hundreds of dollars out of pocket I hit the hi way and again the ac went out and the temp light started flashing. Back to Honda. We will replace your water pump, then replace the thermostat, then fit a new radiator. I said 💥💥💥 Then went home and hit the fit forum. Where I found info regarding a thermal switch in the air con system that will turn off the pump at an overheat situation. So I replaced the thermostat. No luck. The heater was fine so I fitted a new radiator rather than a water pump, WAMO it worked. No more overheat, ac is fine. Then I had a radiator guru open the old radiator to find it was blocked with a tooth pate substance. He explained that happens from mixing two different brands of fluid. I said I only ever toped it up with the same value fluid, but he said no you must stick to the same brand either castrol all the time or whatever, just the same brand name.