Hostel

03 honda civic lx overheats when in park or at idle. It cools when driving. After researching the web I checked the fuse under the hood and the 20 amp fuse was blown. I replace the fuse then come to find that it was blown again. The fan did kick on however when I replace the fuse again with a 30 amp the fan remained on. I took a ride in my other car came back and the fan was still going about an hour later. There is no AC compressor on the car so I can't test the compressor fan Theory.
There are many different problems and solutions online for these problems individually. I needed to post my problem for my own Solutions.

Any ideas? Please help. Thank you on Advanced

mikey1

how are the coolant levels in the rad, and in the overflow bottle?

Hostel

I didn't check. But in past instances the level was low and had to top of the radiator. The Overflow was low.

ezone

Your girlfriend bought this without your approval and shes still your girlfriend? You HATE this car?
Kick her to the curb, then you can get that Camero you had your eye on.

Oh, and tell her I said hey.

mikey1

if its still overheating after you top up these levels its most likely a blown head gasket

Hostel

Help me understand. Wouldn't there be performance issues? The fan never kicks on. Is there a way to check if it's blown? Thank you for your time.

mikey1

no



fix this issue first

Hostel

That is my original issue. The fan works but it blows fuses. With a higher amperage fuse the fan just stays on with the car off an hour later. So I don't know if it's a relay switch or a temp sensor or crossed wiring.

ezone

Why'd you bother to edit out the good stuff?


Blows 20A fuse: Bad fan motor

Fan runs after car is shut off: Probably stuck relay for whichever fan was on.....unless someone hotwired it up to run all the time.
Do BOTH radiator fans run? They should always run together.

If it didn't already have a blown head gasket before the bad fan motor caused it to overheat, it sure could now. Plus anything else that could go along with a severe overheat event.

This blown head gasket could pass every check most people can think of while the problem is small.
There is only one test that reliably proves it good or bad for me.

Hostel

No. Only one fan runs. What is the test that you have in mind? What are long term issues from a blown head gasket? Is it something I can repair myself with intermediate skills, basic stsndard tools and no shop.?

ezone

So more than one problem with the fans.....One blown fuses, other doesn't work at all, and something has caused one (or both) to be stuck on all the time.

You need to fix these multiple fan problems first.

If you can't fix those, then there's no point in fixing a head gasket problem, if it actually has one.

ezone

https://www.civicforums.com/forums/3...reference.html

Hostel

Thank you very much.

ezone

Some people can DIY the job.
Other people shouldn't ever open the hood of a car.

The job will require metric tools though.
There's a head gasket DIY thread somewhere in this site too. Search.