totravska

03 civic ex auto 116k miles

Been losing coolant since I got it, overflow cap was missing upon purchase.
I've replaced radiator cap, overflow cap, and the overflow reservoir hose.

Today after driving up a mountain that I had previously overheated on, I checked under the hood and saw coolant leaking from the overflow cap.
Tried screwing the cap on tighter, but it slipped a bit and got looser, so I tightened it to just before the point of slipping. So I think the tank is stripped?

Would that be enough, or are there gases getting in there you think? I mean, it was still pretty tight.

Car seems to run well besides that. Haven't used the heater yet as it has been so hot.

Thanks for any input!

mikey1

yes that sounds like a head gasket, check for coolant in your crankcase/oil

pull the spark plugs and see how they look, if they are grey or wet it most likely means coolant is seeping into the combustion chamber

cja3455

I had same symptoms in my car and it turns out to be the water pump, it could have been the head gasket as well, it could be a leak anywhere in the system as well, I would say keep an eye on the water level in the radiator and wait on it until the leak get bigger and more symptoms start showing then you can be sure that you are replacing the right thing unless you want to go for a real diagnostic and start pulling things out