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Seem to have an over heating issue on a 98′ Civic LX. Coolant is good, heat is hot. Basically car overheats when not moving. The fan does come on but is not enough to cool the car. The heat cools it down though. The car was just recently purchased and a pressure test revealed a loose hose connection and I tightened that up to fix my coolant leak. System has been bled twice. Compression test revealed around 180PSI across. The only thing I haven’t done is a block test. Any ideas?
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The most common symptom of a blown head gasket is coolant moving from the radiator to the reservoir and then when the reservoir is full, onto the ground. You don’t say that is happening.
So, what I’d suggest is figuring out why no air moves through the radiator when the fan runs. Is it full of bugs or mud. Maybe pull the radiator and do some cleaning. Lots of times leaves and stuff get stuck between the radiator and the condenser. I had to replace the radiator in one of my cars the other day and found a large mummified bird.
as Barneyb said what can commonly cause over heating symptoms of this kind is the radiator not functioning properly, this can be caused as he stated buy bugs, dirt, leaves, mud getting caked between the radiator and condensor, or in the fins of the radiator, not allowing air too flow through.
another cause is the radiator is corroded inside, or full of crud and cannot decipate heat correctly…
there is also this
[video]http://https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hUzOTnsWImI[/video]and this
http://www.ericthecarguy.com/faq/what-to-do-when-your-engine-overheatsgood luck keep us posted.
#1 cause of overheat issues is air in the cooling system. Therefore the first step should aways be to bleed the air from the cooling system. A video about how to do this, along with other helpful videos and information on overheats, can be found here.
http://www.ericthecarguy.com/faq/what-to-do-when-your-engine-overheats
Keep us posted on what you find.
Additional details.
I noticed the reservoir is empty every three days.
The system has been bled three times.
Sometimes after shutting off the reservoir makes noise like a gurgling sound.
Heater output is hot.
After driving 120 miles mainly interstate, it seems car stays cool at 75-80mph and stays around 200F.
When going under 70 it starts to overheat but turning heat on helps cool it down. I was able to turn the fan on using a paper clip in the fan switch connector on thermostat housing.So basically at high speeds car is fine. It overheats in city.
Front of radiator looks clean but will still pull it to check crimps, and other places for issues.I will be doing a block test tomorrow as well as another pressure test. Also, will review the videos mentioned.
If you are filling the reservoir every three days you may have a leak. Old hoses sometimes get pinhole leaks that will shoot out a stream once the engine is hot. If this is going onto the ground during driving you won’t see evidence later.
Anyway, if the system is leaking then you are driving with low coolant. I suggest you pressure test the system.
Pressure test is on the list for tomorrow. Bled the system with my lisle funnel. Has been running cool all day today. The car lot owner that sold me the car said new radiator hoses along with timing belt were recently replaced. I will do pressure test and look at all hoses to find a bad one.
Did a block test earlier this afternoon and the fluid went from blue to yellow. Just finished a pressure test and it seemed like it held pressure and possibly lost it slowly but not very noticeable. Left it under pressure and checked every hose and joint, no external leaks. It has been difficult to start since last night and today. Still losing coolant though. Part of me wants to just drive it, but another part says pull the head and have it tested and such.
Sorry to hear the block test is positive. The engine is not going to last too long if you leave it as it is. So, its a question of how much the car is worth to you.
It is parked until I can start tearing into it. Oil still looks good. Are head gaskets hard to replace on these? Shouldn’t be a problem for me since I already have experience rebuilding an engine. Just haven’t done much work on Civics.
[quote=”Gamer92″ post=98776]It is parked until I can start tearing into it. Oil still looks good. Are head gaskets hard to replace on these? Shouldn’t be a problem for me since I already have experience rebuilding an engine. Just haven’t done much work on Civics.[/quote]
All engine work requires patience, concentration and attention to detail. You should have at your elbow some sort of manual, either from Honda or aftermarket. For the first engine I built I had an instruction manual I checked out from the public library. The pages got a little greasy.
The head and block have to be flat to within the tolerance stated in the manual. If not flat they require machining. Generally, only the head will have a problem with flatness but not always. If the block isn’t flat the engine has to come out.
Surface preparation and cleanliness are essential. I’m going to post a video of a mechanic working on a Subaru and notice how careful he is with surface preparation and measuring flatness.
At assembly time be absolutely certain of the engine belt timing or risk negating all of your work.
I have a Haynes and the Helms or something from a Honda forum I found. As for the belt, that will be the scary part for me since I’ve only worked on a non-interference setup and not a interference. I will just have to be real careful with the belt.
You probably have a head gasket leak. The best solution is to take a day and $80 and replace the head gasket. Not too hard but there’s always the possible gotchas of breaking exhaust manifold bolts and getting the timing belt back on right.
If the car isn’t worth that much effort you can try the shaky way out- turn up the torque on the head bolts 15% or so. It worked for me on a rusted out VW which wasn’t worth the whole meticulous routine. Plus it was 20 degrees out that time of year! That “fix” worked fine for the year or two more I had the car. Not recommended by BMW and Rolls-Royce mechanics, but, hey.
Sorry to hear that you found a head gasket leak. At least you know what the issue is now. It’s not that bad really. Just disconnect the intake from the head and leave it in the car. Disconnect the exhaust and remove the exhaust manifold. After that, it’s pretty easy. The head bolts are reusable so don’t worry about that. Just make sure you torque them down properly and install the belt correctly. You don’t need to remove the entire belt. Just loosen the tensioner bolt behind the rubber cover in the timing cover and pull the belt off the cam gear. Make sure you do this at TDC. You can also mark the belt and pulley before you remove it to make for easier installation.
Here’s some videos you might find useful.
Here’s part 1 of the series
Good luck and keep us posted.
I would still have a leak down test done. Those test kits are not 100%. Would suck to change a head gasket if you don’t have to. If you talk nice to the machanic, they will sometimes throw in a free compression test. My local guy did both for $25.
Here is a video on leak down test:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ofSiTGeLXvc
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