CBrooks

Car: 2001 Honda Civic EX

So I've finally got my car running almost back to normal now with a transmission change, top dead center sensor and crank position sensor changed. My issue now is that when I drive the car at around 20-30 miles an hour the temperature guage goes all the way to H and a little past it..

I stopped the car when the needle got to the H and monitored it while idling with the needle still passed the H and the fans don't turn on.......... They will both however turn on if I turn the air conditioner on.

Am i getting worked up over nothing?

BlueEM2

iTrader: (1)

Ohhhh man that's not good. Those fans should turn on every once in a while whether the AC is running or not. Your car should never go into the red zone or anywhere near it and if it does pull over immediately. Even if it creeps higher than normal shut the car off to avoid damage. If you have ran the car for a period of time in the red are chances are you may have blown your head gasket or maybe even caused more damage so let's hope you dident do that. It might be a result of air in the system, a bad thermostat, the fan or fan relay failing. Get your car checked before it gets destroyed.

The other thing is if you notice that the car is starting to overheat you can try to turn the heat on full blast, that might cool the car down. This is NoT a long term solution though.

CBrooks

Great.

A few things i think i should add:

The needle on the temp guage will go back down to below half-way after driving it going 20-30 mph but then it will go back up for another minute or so.

Also, I havent owned this car that long (6 months) and havent changed any fluids.. What's the normal life for coolant?

CBrooks

Another update:

I took it to autozone and explained my whole situation to a guy and he told me to drive it and wait for that needle to go back up to the H and see if when I turn the heater on it blows hot air. So i did that and after almost giving up driving around town the needle finally went up to the H and I turned the heater on(i was only going like 15mph) and it blew cold as ice air(It's like 45 degrees outside)

So i went back and told him and he said that the dealership that replaced my crank position sensor and top dead center sensor could have bumped or knocked the temperature sensor on accident..

What do you guys think now? Lol. I appreciate this!!!

BlueEM2

iTrader: (1)

Autozone are idiots. You probably have air in the system, or a serious lack of antifreeze. Get a small shop to look at it and they should be able to tell you what the problem is. They should not be telling you to overheat your car That's terrible. Also your heater core may be clogged up.

04 Honda Civic

iTrader: (2)

Yea its poor circulation of coolant somewhere, or lack of coolant all together.

Fill your car with coolant with the nose up and heat on full blast (Fill the radiatior not the resivor)

CBrooks

Alright I'm going to try and top off the coolant. However it does look like the reservoir is full.. I unscrewed the cap directly above the radiator and it looks like it might need some? Do i just fill it to the top?

Anyone coolant should work and don't mix it with water to top it off or? I'm sorry for all the dumb questions but I know nothing about cars..

04 Honda Civic

iTrader: (2)

Any 50/50 mix will work but its usually best to use Honda coolant. Whatever you do just use a name brand coolant like prestone if you dont want to get the Honda stuff. Dont fill the resiviour, fill the radiator and fill it till you cant fill it no more. Once you fill the radiator then you can fill the resiviour. Do it with the nose up ( park on a hill or jack the front up) and do it with the heat on hot and fulll blast and the car running. Dont open the radiator cap when the car is hot, it will squirt hot coolant everywhere.

gotduhka

if your heat isn't working and your car is overheating it sounds like a thermostat issue. Probably the easiest and cheapest part to fix on the coolant system. Should be able to get a new one for 15 or 20 bucks. When installing it go ahead and do a coolant flush as well. Get the haynes manual. Don't do the fill run drain fill run drain flush. Use a garden hose and take out the thermostat and replace the housing (if they aren;t integral) and the put a garden hose to the radiator return hose coming off your engine block to your radiator. Flush with water until no more coolant comes out. If you can take out the engine coolant drain plug, its a bitch though. GL!

BlueEM2

iTrader: (1)

I'd rather use distilled water over a garden hose but I guess it's no big deal.

gotduhka

how would you get distilled water to build up enough pressure from a hose to flush the system. I'm not talking about filling up the radiator, running the engine, then draining it. I am talking about flushing as much of the system as possible without even running the engine using water pressure

BlueEM2

iTrader: (1)

Ahh okay, sorry misread it.

CBrooks

I think its fixed!!

I went to walmart and bought some prestone 50/50 coolant and came home, waited for about an hour and took the car and parked it on a hill and filled the radiator up. (it only took about a little less than 1/3 of the bottle) The fluid would rise to the top and I waited for a few seconds and was able to fill it with a little more and more each time.

I drove it around for like 40mins and the temp guage stayed at below half and normally the temp guage would rise to the H within 10 mins!!

BlueEM2

iTrader: (1)

Umm, I think your year honda your supposed to use Type 2 Honda Coolant. It's blue not green. I'm not sure what year they started using it but you might want to check. Your not supposed to mix the coolants.

CBrooks

The fluid that is in it was green.. :O

The prestone I put in it was yellow It says "for all makes and models"

CBrooks

Straight from manual:

Always use Honda All Season
Antifreeze/Coolant Type 2. This
coolant is pre-mixed with 50 percent
antifreeze and 50 percent water. It
does not require any additional
mixing.

If it is not available, you may use
another major-brand non-silicate
coolant as a temporary replacement.
Make sure it is a high-quality coolant
recommended for aluminum engines.
However, continued use of any non-
Honda coolant can result in
corrosion, causing the cooling
system to malfunction or fail. Have
the cooling system flushed and
refilled with Honda antifreeze/
coolant as soon as possible.

Wow so whatever that green crap coolant is in my radiator it's not supposed to be there. (Like i said I've only had the car 6 months)

Should I go buy the type 2 honda coolant and get my system flushed where i get my oil changed?

BlueEM2

iTrader: (1)

I only use STRICTLY HONDA coolant. It is blue, and its the best stuff you can get. If you want your car to last I'd change it over to the Honda stuff.

CBrooks

Is it possible I have an older version of honda coolant that is green?

BlueEM2

iTrader: (1)

I'd go with what the manual says and assume it's Type 2.

CBrooks

So the green fluid that is in my radiator is type 2? I'm not understanding..

BlueEM2

iTrader: (1)

I'm not sure if aftermarket companies make type 2 fluid. So at some point someone may have changed the fluid (possibly when doing a timing belt or something) and used normal stuff. Change the fluid, there is a DIY on this site, if you do it yourself it costs about 15 bucks for a jug of it. You might need 2 jugs of it.

Silver02EX

iTrader: (3)

Has the coolant ever been changed? if not, It's stock coolant (which is green) It's still type 2. I know when i changed my coolant on my 2002 the stock fluid that was drain was green. I don't know what year Honda switch it from green to blue for their stock coolant. If you are not the original owner of the car, it's possible that the last owner took to car to a quick lube place or a small garage and had it change with some cheap green coolant. I would drain the old one out and put Honda OEM (blue) in there just to be safe.

BlueEM2

iTrader: (1)

^Okay so it WAS green at some point. That's good to know. But now that you have mixed it you want to drain it anyway.