rad/thermostat

hey guys i have a 2000 civic sir 1.6 DOHC VTEC and i just recently changed the rad and thermostat.

after filling up the rad i let it run with the rad cap of to bleed the air, after 20 minuets no bubbles so i capped it up. now after driving to work i checked the rad hoses and noticed that the upper hose was hot as hell and the bottom one was cold, what did i do wrong? and the hoses were really stiff with pressure, too much pressure.

so i changed the thermo stat again and the same thing both time i used a aftermarket thermostat ("stant" i think)and the rad was an aftermarket as well (Honda wanted 500 bucks)

i just looked over the bill for the rad and it says 98 Honda civic now i went back and told the guy he said that it was the same rad is that true?

sorry for essay guys but im really stuck here :banghead: any advice would be great

thanks

Radiator shouldn't matter. My friend used his stock Civic radiator (1.5L 92hp sohc engine) with his H22a swap for years without any problems. Is your fan turning on? What is your temp gauge doing?

the temp never goes past half and haven't heard the fan kick in yet is there a way to test it? but i think the thermostat is stuck closed the hoses are very stiff and the upper one is hot and the lower one is cold this is the second thermostat in a week ans a half. should i go with a $50 Honda?

Both hoses were stiff with pressure? I just read another thread that spoke of something like this...

check your radiator, sometimes they can get clogged in the middle and it will be hot on the top side of the radiator but cold on the bottom. its not a very common problem but i have seen it happen. use a temp gun if you have one to check the difference in temperature from top to bottom of the radiator.

I would put up a link to the thread, but I don't know how to do that.:icon16:

retracted