I have a 92 civic hatch , with the 1.5 16valve enngine (D15) . My wife called me about 2 months ago while she was driving to work and told me the car was spewing steam and overheating . I went out and checked and found the coolant was very low . I topped it up and bled it out throught the bleeder screw . She drove it to work and then home after . It was fine until she was almost home , and the temp gauge went high . I replaced the thermostat and rad cap . Ever since I have had to add coolant on an ever increasing rate . I can't find any signs of a leak , there is no white smoke from the tail pipe , there is no cross-contamination , and I get no bubbles in the cooling system while the car is running . I get a lot of steam coming from the overflow tank , and the rad is almost empty after driving for 20-30 mins of city driving . I have assumed it was just the headgasket , but now I'm not sure . Any thoughts or suggestions?
Overheating , and not sure why?
- Thread starter Dakota
- Start date
waterpump... i had the same problem last year.
Is there any way to test that?
yeah sounds about right, those hoses will be quite warm.
i had the same problem last year and my radator was cloged. changed the radator and all went well
check the oil cap for condensation. If its really bad it will be milky and smell like coolant. Sometimes white smoke will be puffing out of the oil filler hole.
well its time to burst your bubble. if your car over heated, chances are your headgasket is screwed. its could be anything that these guys just said, water pump,radiator, etc etc. all i know is that when hondas are baked, came seals get brittle and leak oil, you eat up anti freeze (from a blown head gasket). yea it might be your water pump, but if your going that far do cam seal and a crank seal also. take your rad out and put some acid in it (forget witch kind works best) and see if you fix the problem. or better yet do a leak down test to see if its just a hose or somthing.
Thanks , everyone for your input . Going camping with my son this weekend , so I will be tackling this next week in my driveway (wish I had a garage , but couldn't afford a house with one when I bought this house). I have some of the acid for the rad at work . Any hints on how to loosen off the crankpulley bolt with no air tools? I have a good selection of hand tools , but can't use my airtools at home (no compressor).
yea, for one, 3 out of four times for me, when i left the spark plugs in, i could still get it off with a half inch drive. (by hand) idk maybe it was luck or just not tight, either way, that make a tool, (link below. there should be some holes drilled in the pully. thass how i did it. (then again my dad owns a shop ) it was a little different but its the same concept. and if you have air tools buy a compressor so you can use em.
http://buy1.snapon.com/catalog/item.asp?P65=&tool=hand&item_ID=68772&group_ID=1552&store=snapon-store&dir=catalog
http://buy1.snapon.com/catalog/item.asp?P65=&tool=hand&item_ID=68772&group_ID=1552&store=snapon-store&dir=catalog
take off the flywheel cover off the side of the tranny and stick a tire iron in the teeth and get it to stop spinning then just use a socket and ratchet and it should come off thats how i did mine with no air tools.
and remember to not lose the crank pulley key. i used a haynes manual to do mine... it had good step by step instructions for this task.please change the radiator cap. it will solve the problem.the reserve tank never gonna get flow from radiator if the radiator cap is working fine. my civic had the same probs, i hv changed the cap and tht solved my prbs.
Already changed it , along with the t-stat . I have looked at the basics already . I am familiar with how the cooling system works , but I am not overly familiar with the little nuances of the Honda . I'm just hoping to get some thoughts from people who have been there before .
RonJ
Banned
Does the lower radiator hose remain cool when the engine is hot? If so, start by thoroughly bleeding the cooling system (see below) and, if this doesn't help, consider replacing the radiator.
Bleeding the cooling system may take 20-30 minutes:
1) Park the car on an inclined driveway with the front end higher than the rear.
2) Push the dash heater lever/knob to MAX heat.
3) Follow the directions in the diagram below (hint: the bleed bolt is located where the upper radiator hose connects to the engine):
Bleeding the cooling system may take 20-30 minutes:
1) Park the car on an inclined driveway with the front end higher than the rear.
2) Push the dash heater lever/knob to MAX heat.
3) Follow the directions in the diagram below (hint: the bleed bolt is located where the upper radiator hose connects to the engine):
The same happened to my civic, it was over heating, changed the thermostat, still over heating, checked hoses, still over heating, So I called the auto shop and I was told it was the gasket and needed to take it in right away, so got off the phone with the auto shop, went to my car to take it to them, as soon as I turned my engine on I heard this loud bang and my engine died. Tried it again and was able to take it only to be told the next day that the loud bang was one of the piston rods bending because of fluid in the piston shaft so I ended up replacing my engine with an original JDM engine. 
Moral of the story: If you haven't taken your car in by now DO IT BEFORE IT'S TOO LATE! It's cheaper to replace the gasket than to replace the whole engine.
Moral of the story: If you haven't taken your car in by now DO IT BEFORE IT'S TOO LATE! It's cheaper to replace the gasket than to replace the whole engine.
hi guys, I'm new here , found the forum searching for answers to why my civic is overheating.
I think I've done almost everything that I thought it could be the reason for overheating.
First off I changed a leaking hose when it overheated for the first time, and then the radiator fan wouldn't turn on, so I changed the fan switch, it wouldn't turn on, still overheating, changed the thermostat, still overheating , wired in a toggle switch to turn the fan manually and removed the thermostat and it ran fine for like three days, and it started to overheat again, the I noticed that the lower radiator hose had a pin hole leak, so I went ahead and changed both radiator hoses, and a new radiator cap, and put the thermostat back in, and new coolant, but it still overheating.
I've own Rx-7's for the last 12 years, and still do, lucky for me can still get to work and back on my 7, and this is my 2nd civic in the last year and a half, got rid of my EF 4dr, for a EG 4dr, and after 6 months of awesome driving this happens, will have to check heater core, and haven't tried to bleed the coolant though, didn't know
, will give it a try and see if it's the problem. Thanks for the help
Roloracer
I think I've done almost everything that I thought it could be the reason for overheating.
First off I changed a leaking hose when it overheated for the first time, and then the radiator fan wouldn't turn on, so I changed the fan switch, it wouldn't turn on, still overheating, changed the thermostat, still overheating , wired in a toggle switch to turn the fan manually and removed the thermostat and it ran fine for like three days, and it started to overheat again, the I noticed that the lower radiator hose had a pin hole leak, so I went ahead and changed both radiator hoses, and a new radiator cap, and put the thermostat back in, and new coolant, but it still overheating.
I've own Rx-7's for the last 12 years, and still do, lucky for me can still get to work and back on my 7, and this is my 2nd civic in the last year and a half, got rid of my EF 4dr, for a EG 4dr, and after 6 months of awesome driving this happens, will have to check heater core, and haven't tried to bleed the coolant though, didn't know
, will give it a try and see if it's the problem. Thanks for the helpRoloracer
Well , a new twist that may help me with nthe diagnosis of my overheating issue . The weather here has just taken a turn for the worse , and the temps have dropped to below freezing . Now , the car does not overheat , and isn't even losing coolant . I am thinking that I may have a plugged rad , that in warmer weather is not cooling the coolant down enough , and causing it to boil over . Am I on the right track with this , or am I missing something ?