Rob02Civic

Hello Everyone, I'm new here. I'm having a very rough time with my 02 civic lx. I've had my car for about a year and it has 105k miles. The car has been running great for the whole past year. I have been servicing it like crazy. I had the water pump and belts done as soon as I bought It and I've done a few other minor maintenance things, but other than that the car was very clean. There was a lot of noticeable rust in the radiator. Two weeks ago I was on the other side of town and my car started to get warm. I pulled over and since it was cold out I was able to cool it down and get home. Basically long story short. We've changed everything. Starting from the thermostat to the fan switch to the radiator. The fans work as well. We've flushed the system like crazy and there is still a ton of rust in my system it's not a good thing at all. I don't know if my system is just plugged up. So we changed the water pump my one year old water pump was completely corroded and the blades were gone on one side. Holy crap did the rust do this? So with the new water pump in the car is still getting hot but only sometimes, and it fluctuates and goes up and down sometimes. The heater had stopped working throughout this whole ordeal. The heater core is obviously clogged shut. We flushed the heck out of it. The heater core must be leaking air because coolant was leaking on the passenger side up through the carpet. So we rigged the heater core so it was rerouted and the car still gets hot. Air bubbles are constantly bubbling through the radiator even after purging it for an hour with the nose in the air, Fans coming on 4 or 5 times. So the head gasket must be blown right?? That's what we have considered the whole time but the car runs perfectly. It has never had a problem even in the cold mornings. It never smokes although sometimes it seems that it might be smoking the slightest bit. The car has passed the block liquid test 10 or so times perfectly we did it for a good amount of time with the radiator bubbling well and sucking up all those fumes it never once changed that liquid. We even tried two liquids. So really the cars not showing the signs that it's blown. I have no idea what is going on with this all I know is there was a ton of rust all in my cooling system, it was flushed well many times but its still in there. We are getting close to just pulling the head. Is my headgasket blown or is my system just messed from this rust? I would really appreciate any advice. Thanks

mikey1

sounds like a blown HG to me....

to make sure you need to pressurize each cylinder individually and see if it will hold the pressure or not.....while the cylinder is pressurized look in the rad for air bubbles

Matt_75

IMO, that's your evidence right there.

Yeap.

Rob02Civic

Thanks for your quick replies. My mechanic is going to go ahead and pull the head off and do the gasket and get the head machined. I just really hope that is what's going on with it now that we are doing it.

Rob02Civic

Hey guys, so I just got the word from my mechanic. Blown headgasket at cylinder #1. Also melted boot on #1 and seized the spark plug. Damn what a bummer on my car that still has pretty low miles and I've been maintaining it well. The only thing is all of that rust that was in my cooling system. I think the cooling system got so messed it caused my car to get hot and that's what blew the hg. Anyways I really hope my car is good to go now I will keep you all updated. Just so everyone knows my car was running smooth as can be with that blown hg. It's one of the best running stock civic's I've seen. And I was passing that block test everytime. So it is definitely possible to have a well running motor with a blown hg. It just kept getting hot and we had changed everything else.

ezone

The head gaskets blow without extra help.
Fact of life.
Yours had help, but it is hard to tell how much that contributed to the head gasket blowing, if any at all.

You saying it passed the block test like 10 times is exactly why I can't trust those tests. Seems like they only show the worst of the worst.
I have better tests that have not failed to prove a fault for me yet.

Rust and water pump fins corroded off are probably due to not having antifreeze in it for some long period of time.

Sounds like it was on straight hard water.
Minerals act like a liquid sandblaster
rust acts like a liquid sandblaster
Guess why the heater core "holed" yet?

Water:
low boiling point
Causes rust
more rust
boiling induced erosion
cavitation damage



Now is the time to try to get all the rust out, while the head is off and hoses are easier to reach. You may never get it all out if you can't get it out now.
Make sure proper antifreeze is used. It does far more than protect from freezing.

Rob02Civic

Hey guys, thank you for the advice. I really appreciate it. So I got the Honda back a few days ago and it is running better than ever before! I thought it ran well before but wow it is so smooth now. It's noticeably quicker too. My mechanic flushed the heck out of my system again and cleaned it up well while it was apart. The majority of the rust is gone but it's hard to say if it all is. We are going to service the cooling system again really soon and flush it again. The head gasket was pretty toasted and rusty. A little piece was missing around the first cylinder part. It wasn't broken though. Now it is just time to maintain my car really well and especially keep an eye on the cooling system. I need to do a tranny service as well. Other than that my Honda is good to go! This was definitely a learning experience. The best thing about cars is that they can always be fixed. It just takes time and money. So if your car is having the blues hang in there it will all work out.

mikey1

i would like to know what brand of pump this was?

not likely an OEM honda part

ezone

Quote:
Originally Posted by Rob02Civic
my one year old water pump was completely corroded and the blades were gone on one side. Holy crap did the rust do this?



It sure could have done that. The rust particles act like a sandblaster.

Rob02Civic

Yeah it sure was a factory pump. All of the parts that I have put into this Honda have all been factory, even the radiator cap. I just feel more comfortable doing it that way. I was really surprised about the pump as well. I thought for sure it was defective. But just as ezone said that rust is extremely powerful and could definitely do that kind of damage.

Rob02Civic

Alright guys, so unfortunately I'm back pretty soon. So my civic has been running golden since I did the headgasket swap. No problems of any kind. Then out of no where last night on my way home I noticed my car getting warm. I seriously thought I was having a nightmare. I pulled over right away and luckily I have roadside assistance so I just towed it home, I didn't want to risk overheating again and possibly blowing the gasket, again!!! So I am totally stumped. The fans were working, the bottom hose was very hot so the thermostat must have been opening. The overflow tank is full and so is the radiator. Im thinkin maybe there is still a rust issue. But before the rust was changing all of the coolant orange very quickly. This coolant is still pretty bright green. We must have gotten the majority of the rust out, it seems pretty darn clean now. So now I am totally stumped, I have no idea why its getting hot, all I know is I live in AZ and its getting hot outside, not good!

Matt_75

It really sounds like somebody before you used water instead of coolant in your cooling system long before you owned the car or did the head gasket job which rusted your water pump to the point of it having no blades and turning the coolant orange and probably doing severe damage to the water jacket and sealing area around the pistons.

As ezone put it, boiling induced erosion that might have done irreparable damage to your engine.

IMO, that's probably why you still have a problem.


Again, see above.

I live in Hawaii and it's hot all year round. I did my head gasket a little less than six months ago after it was spewing coolant out the over flow/reserve tank. Before then I had never used anything but blue or green(factory fill) coolant before this event occurred. I have no overheating issues what so ever and no rust in my system. I had to do the radiator about a month later after smelling coolant in the engine bay every time I opened the hood. I discovered the radiator was cracked.

mikey1

why is your coolant green?

it should be blue if the proper oem coolant is used

did you change your thermostat? with an OEM thermostat?

ezone

IF the fans were running but the lower hose is still hot (HOW HOT WAS IT?), then you might have lost the ability to transfer heat between coolant and air. I'd look for calcium and corrosion inside the core tubes first, then check for clogged fins in the radiator and condenser (bugs, dirt, sand, whatever).

The fans should be able to cause the temps to drop as the coolant passes through the radiator. It the radiator can't dissipate the heat, you are in trouble.

How much heat can be dissipated will vary with ambient conditions though. In the desert heat, a 20 degree drop might be good. IDK, it varies.


First thought.

Rob02Civic

The lower hose was very hot...Hotter than the top hose...The reason i'm using green coolant is because that's what the car had in it when I bought it. Once the car is switched from blue coolant to green I was told not to switch back to the blue. Yes I have replaced the thermostat with an Oem one....I have replaced the thermostat, water pump, radiator, head gasket job all of the above...Im going to have to scope out the radiator to see if its clogged up.

mikey1

what do u mean its full?

you mean the entire bottle is full? or its at the max line?

ezone

Oh, for Pete's sake. Concentrate, man!



You knew it was coming, right?

Rob02Civic

The only part that I had never switched during this whole process was the fan switch, only because it always seemed to work. It seems as though mine was not working properly. We tested it and It was not working right. The other night when my car got hot I had been driving all night and then I was sitting in the drive thru when I noticed it had got hot. The fans must have not switched on and the car got hot while I sat there. So we switched it out, the car appears to be keeping cool and the fans are working properly. I will keep you guys updated. Thanks