shamilton1975

Hello All,

I have a 1992 Honda Civic 1.5 with 219k miles. I bought it a couple weeks ago cheap knowing that it needed a new head gasket.
I changed out the head gasket and everything seemed to be fine (running good, no more white smoke coming out of exhaust, hot air started coming from vents when heater on, wasn't overheating, etc).

This past weekend I decided to take it on a longer 70 mile drive (mostly all highway). It did just fine up until about 65 miles and then the temp gauge started going up then back down a few times before it stayed towards the top. I got off my exit and about a half mile later I heard a loud noise almost like a shotgun going off under my hood and the temp gauge dropped all the way down below C.

I pulled in to a gas station, shut the car off and popped the hood. The heater hose coming from the block had exploded and coolant was everywhere. I had a friend pick me up and took me to get a replacement hose and replaced the one that exploded.

The next day I started making the 70 mile trip back home. The temp gage is still not working for some reason so I stopped at many exits along the way to check on it (usually not more than 10 miles between exits). Each time the resevoir was bubbling and hot, the top and bottom hoses were stiff and hot and I was losing coolant from the somewhere on the bottom of the radiator. I just kept stopping letting it cool down and filling the radiator the whole way home as well as putting some stop leak in the radiator as well that I had left over from putting some in before the head gasket change. What should have been an hour drive ended up being close to 5 hours!

I know one of the obvious things I need to do is replace the radiator. Are there any other suggestions as to what may have caused this or what I should look for or check? What would make the temp gage quit working after the hose exploded? What could have made the hose explode like that after starting to overheat? What could make it start overheating like that after running fine for a bit after the head gasket fix?

Thanks in advance for any input any of y'all might have!\

Shawn

ezone

Did you check, or have the head checked for warpage? A new gasket won't seal correctly if the head is warped.

Even if it was straight before, now that it has blown a hose and lost coolant, it may have warped the head and blown the head gasket all over again.


Your description of the reservoir bubbling leads me to "head gasket breach" as primary suspect.
Testing should confirm that suspicion.
If so, then take apart and see how bad, measure warpage, look for cracks, etc.

I'd suspect the sending unit for the temp gauge may have gone bad during an overheat, or if you are really lucky it's just a simple poor connection at the sending unit.
A few tests should be able to confirm if the gauge and wiring are still ok.


What was the root cause of the first head gasket failure? Overheat?
Does the radiator fan operate correctly, and does it come on at the right engine temp?

Whatever it takes to fix that.

Poorside80

Well, for me, there's thousands of people out there, trying to sell a car saying: "It's Just To Replace the Head Gasket, & That's It!" i say It is BS!
1.- suggest to check for every single reason why a car overheats, Starting for the Thermostat. what i done to my car when it start overheating, i removed Thermostat & Broke it, i remove moving inner part (the part that opens when hot) cause they stop working properly, this way, water always runs freely buy less than without the whole Thermostat!
2.-check if radiator is Clogged/Obstructed, when cold, fill it up, keep engine running, you can find it out, when water is running, ok, when water is boiling, Clogged! in this case, (of clogged) water is not free to run, when it reaches boiling temp, water turns in Steam, & Pressure gets Higher, looking the way out of the engine, for example, Weak or Weared Out Hoses, in some cases, Rusty Radiator!
3.-check for leaks! a bad water pump start leaking water, sometimes sounds like a running Blender! it is possible gauge stop working if is unplugged, or bad, this usually goes in the water hose connector, the one in the front side of the engine, the one that goes netx to thermostat, it looks the same, but it is the Cooling Temp Sensor!
4.- check if Cooling Fan is working properly! keep car running, check temp, and check if turns on, about 15 minutes running, if it doesn't work, probably a bad Cooling Temp Sensor, this is a Heat-Activated Switch that turns on fan when reach certain temp, when they Rusty or Dirty in the inside, they stop working properly! Good Luck!!!

ezone

It just needs a tune up, it'll be cheap and easy for ya!
It just needs a sensor, it'll be cheap and easy for ya!
It just needs a little freon, it'll be cheap and easy for ya!