Macalroy38

Hey guys. I have a 2003 Civic EX Coupe, and it has that a most wonderful problem, overheating. I have had just about everything replaced on(i.e. Fans, thermostat, head gasket, water pump). After all this the problem is better but still persists. I talked to guy at my college who is a BMW tech, and he said the problem could be that the heater core might have a leak, and that can be causing the issue. Does anyone have any thoughts on this idea?

ezone

(Moved your post to start a new thread of your own)

How many miles on the car?

What do you see that causes you to say it's overheating? (smoke, temp gauge high, bad smell, firemen spraying water on you, etc.)

Is the coolant in the radiator full to the top?
Is the reservoir full to the MAX line?
Does it lose coolant? Does it gain coolant?

Do the radiator fans run?
Are they running when it overheats?


Under what conditions does it overheat?
Sitting still in a drive thru? Driving at 30 mph? Driving at 70mph?
Only happens after driving on the interstate for a few hours?

Macalroy38

Car has 89000 miles on the clock and the overheating happens after the car has been running for a while. Sitting in a drivethru for extended time, stop and go traffic or about a half hour on the freeway. my mechanic has been completely baffled by the problem. and like i said he has done just about everything. And the fans seem to have a mind of their own. sometimes they run sometimes they don't. And there is the occasional smell of coolant. Along with its singular ability to make its coolant magically vanish. Have to refill the radiator once every two weeks.

ezone

Let's evaluate how much of this is due to low coolant level?

The radiator is designed to stay completely filled to the top under all conditions, that means the reservoir needs to be half full or to the max line, and the radiator cap and the small hoses need to be in good shape.
If the liquid level inside the radiator gets low, it can overheat quickly. Under some conditions it can overheat with far less than a quart of liquid lost.

If the radiator and reservoir are filled to the proper levels, does that take care of the overheating problem? (until coolant gets too low again, of course)

If coolant level in the radiator is too low, it can delay fan operation to the point of overheating..

If it overheats, the expansion of the liquid in the radiator area can overflow the reservoir, spilling and splashing toward wherever the little hole in the lid is pointed.



Even though you say the head gasket has already been done, an overheat event can still cause damage again.
If the head gasket job was poorly done, it may still have the same problems.
Sure sounds like a head gasket problem, plus the possibility of fan problems such as a intermittently faulty thermoswitch or intermittently faulty relays.