ok ive been trying to rebuild a 97 honda accord se, 2 dr. 2.2 4 cyl non vtec engine since october. the car hasnt seen the road in well over a year

i have put a new engine in it and had the cv axels re-done. so it runs and drives.

but, the check engine light is on, and when it starts up it runs kinda rough when the idle is up but when it warms up it kinda calms down, i was letting it run the other day with the radiator cap off cuz there is some air in the coolant lines that im trying to get out......i turned to do something else and turned back around and i saw steam coming out of the radiator. looked in the car and the temp gauge wasnt even near half way, so i turned it off and then the coolant started splashing out a lil bit. the engine did feel a lil hot but engines do get hot....so i need to know if its over-heating or is that normal? and the cooling fans never did come on.

 

You should find out the stored code(s) in the ECU by jumping the blue two pin connector under the glove box. Use a thin paperclip or a piece of wire. See: http://www.dhost.info/accordinfo/howto/cel.html Your 97 will only have the two pin connector. You can also stop by a parts store and have them read the code(s) using the OBD2 connection behind the ash tray. Post any code on here.

A number of item could cause your coolant problem. How much steam was coming out of the radiator? Are both hoses hot? Is there any oil floating in the coolant or any coolant in the oil? A compression test would tell you if something is wrong with the head gasket.

I would probably drain the coolant, replace the thermostat with one from the Honda dealership, then refill the system.

Here is what to do o get all the air out of the system. Drain coolant, open the bleeder valve on top of the thermostat housing using a deep 12mm socket, fill the radiator with coolant, close that bleeder valve when all the air stops spitting out of the valve and a steady stream of coolant flows out. Top off the radiator with coolant.

 

i dont have coolant in the oil or vise versa, that was the first thing i checked, there wasnt alot of steam coming out but it was enough to get my attention. the temp gauge never got over half way tho.

i need to clean the engine up some too