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2001 CIVIC EX COUPE

Anyone have a clue as to why my heat stops working when my car stops moving? It's very odd, as soon as i slow down or sit idle, the car stops producing heat. Does anyone know what this problem can be attributed to? My warranty ran out a few months ago. everyone was telling me that it's probably a thermostat but, I brought it in to a local shop for repair and they replaced all the coolant and a gasket and that was all they could find wrong. But, the problem still exists.

 
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Hmmm.. Have you noticed your car overheating??? My old civic did that and it ended up being a blown head gasket...I didn't notice a difference as far as the car ran (performance wise), but it would overheat when the coolent wouldn't go back into the radiator from the resevior...Check your radiator resevior and see if it is filling up without letting the coolent back into the radiator.

 
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Take it back and tell that shop that they did not fix the problem. But the shop is probably just going to charge you more money. What year is your car and how many KM? It the fan inside the car working? Did they replace the thermostat? If the thermostat is stuck open your heater will never get hot it will say warm. In cold weather you will not even feel the heater. Warm up your car for like 15min put your heater all the way up and your fan all the way up. If your car is not hot at this point then your heater core is not working. Then put your heater setting to cold if the air coming from the vents did not change significantly then you have a problem with your venting system. The switch is not working. Sorry that’s all that I can tell you it is hard to diagnose a car problem if the car is not in front of you.

 
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If you took it to a shop to get it fixed, and they replaced the coolant and gasket, and its still not working, then take it back to where you got it done, and tell them what they did didnt fix the problem.

 
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!!!UPDATE!!!

I replaced my thermostat last weekend and it seemed to help the problem a bit. As the week wore on I realized that I still had the same problem. Driving home tonight my temperature gauge went all the way up to the RED LINE !!! I quickly rev'd my engine up to increase the flow of coolant through the engine. Temperature went back to normal.

I have a strong suspicion that my water pump is f!cked. Pisses me off because I got it replaced last september, along with the timing belt. I'm taking my car into the shop this weekend (if I can make it without overheating). I'll post back once it's fixed!

On a more positive note, my Hayame Coil-overs arrived today!!! Opened the box, they look MEAN.

 
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Whoa, revving your overheated engine? Aren't you supposed to pull to the side of the road and shut off the engine and let it cool a little?

 
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"If possible" always try to cool a motor b4 shutting it down. Sometimes increased rpm (water flow) will work.

 
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I'm 99% positive it's a blown head gasket!!!! The same thing happened to me...The water pump would ware the belt out and you would be able to hear it because the bearings lock up if it was the water pump....Before you spend any more money on having anything else checked, have that looked at.....

 
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I don't think it's a blown head gasket since I don't hear any unusual sounds and my car isn't burning coolant. Driving a car with a blown head-gasket results in a loss of pressure in the cooling system and leakage of coolant into the cylinders. When I turned my car off, the bottom radiator hose was ICE COLD. This implied that I was at zero coolant flow. Even if my head-gasket was blown, I still would have had some coolant flow in my engine. (Don't mind me, I'm just trying to justify the chance that my headgasket is OK since I know replacing one is hella-expensive).

I think, odds are, my water-pump is toasted or my radiator is severely blocked. My car's now sitting at the dealership, hopefully I'll get good (or not-so-bad) news tomorrow morning.

 
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I know, I couldn't tell that there was a leak either...My car even ran good, but I'm telling you...My car was doing the same exact thing your is doing...My friend and I changed out the thermostat, didn't help...WI took it to the dealership to have a pressure test done on the waterpump and on the radiator, they were fine...So, I took it to my friend that has a shop, he swore it was a blown headgasket...I didn't want to believe him, but he pulled the head free of charge just to show me...Sure enough, it was leaking on all for cylinders, especially the second. Hopefully your right and it's not that bad, but it's not your waterpump.....You would know if it was that...Good Luck and let us know

 
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<big freaking sigh of relief>

I just called the dealership. Apparently the problem was a clogged heater-core hose. They replaced the hose, did a full coolant flush, ran the car for 2 hours and everything looks good. I'm gonna go pick it up this afternoon, hopefully the problem has been rectified for good!

(Please God, let my headgasket be OK!) lol. You know I'm desperate when I pray to the HeadGasket God. I'd rather spend my $$$ on upgrades rather than repairs!

 
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LOL!! That sounds good!!! Just keep a close eye on it...You don't want to warp that head like I did. In a way, I'm glad it happened because it gave me a reason to P&P and do a valve job. I got it back yesterday, and WOW!!! I will post the results when I have my VAFC II dyno tuned again...Search for topic "P&P for me" for further results

 
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Well, I think what aggravated the situation was that I did a sort-of quicky job replacing my thermostat last weekend. I've replaced thermostats before on other cars and while doing so I always drained the coolant out of the rad and the engine.

It was freaking cold and windy up here in Toronto, so I said screw it. I simply removed the housing, took out the thermostat, replaced it with a new one a hooked it back up. I lost about 1/2 a pint of coolant in the process, which I promptly hosed off thouroughly from my brother's driveway. After that I topped up the coolant. The correct way to do it involves bleeding the system to ensure there's no air trapped in it. Ahh well, I'll have to add this to my Lessons Learned list.

 
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do you have a cold air intake?

if so it might be bolted wrong. when i installed my intake i bolted it on a ground and it caused problems with the temp gauge and lights and all kinds of electrical stuff. Just check that if you have one.

Injen

 
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Na, he probably just stuck some o the maple leaves in there. LOL

 
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Stock intake and exhaust system. I picked up my car mid-afternoon and drove about 50 miles today, both highway and city driving. The issue is completely fixed. Heater works when the temperature gauge moves up a 1/4 inch, no overheating, it's all good.

Hopefully that was all there was too it (knock on wood). Ended up costing me close to $100, since they tested the water pump and radiator, both worked fine. Simple coolant flush, new heater core hose and all is working...

 
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Awesome...Good luck, but it does seem to be fixed...

 
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cwick187 - I'm sorry for shooting down your advice. My car does indeed have a BLOWN HEAD GASKET. Only has 70,000 miles. It's in getting done, although I'm going to fight it.

I started a thread in Vehicle Problems/Issues, hopefully I'll get input from other members.

 
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I never did hear of a cloged heater hose,but then I.m an old-school mechanic

 
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CIVIC187 How did you warp your head? and how did you know it was warped???

 
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No abuse, no forced induction, no nitrous. I've researched a lot on this forum and on the 'net, and this is NOT a common problem with 7thgen civics. I have a strong suspicion that this was a manufacturing defect - I have no other explanation!

I've been maintaining my car meticulously, never late for an oil change, flushed/filled the rad per the service schedule.

Needless to say, I'm going to fight this until the end.

 
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Hey!! It's no problem...I knew that was the problem, but I was hoping that it wouldn't be at the same time....I think it might be a defective head gasket, but there is really no way of having proof. I happened to warp my head when mine blew, but I was going to get a P&P anyways, so they shaved my head down and raised my compression. Keep us posted

 
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definetly keep us posted, hopefully this isn't going to become a serious problem that more of us will have to worry about. A defective head gasket could mean some serious #'s of 2k1's breaking down.

 
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last i checked they were around 90 bucks and takes about 2-3 hours of work heh i would do it jut for the fun of poking around in the head lol

 
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I have a (partial) update. The problem is indeed a leaking head gasket. Since my car is only about 8000 miles past warranty, Honda will most likely help me out. I faxed them all my service records and they deemed that poor maintenance was NOT an issue.

The Honda Service Representative told me he'd call me back this afternoon with a final verdict on how much, if any, Honda will cover on the repair. Right now my car is at the Acura dealership with the head off, it's under-surface is being machined.

 
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That sounds good man!!! I hope they will work with you on this. Good Luck!!!

 
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wow, the more threads I see like this the more I thank GOD I got the 7 year / 100K mile warranty. WTF happened to Honda reliability,and I guess all these problems ave been fixed, since the 01s have the tranny issues (auto) head gasket, electrial issues. Ive had my 03 for 1 year, and 23K miles, and Im hoping I wont start having problems....


BTW,head gaskets are not that hard to do, make sure youve got a service manual, and ALL the tools needed before you start.

 
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UPDATE: Honda has agreed to pay for parts (~$100CDN) and machine shop charges (~$400CDN). They're negotiating with the dealer to reduce the labour ($600).

I have to say I am left with a bitter-sweet taste in my mouth. Honda did do quite a bit to ensure my satisfaction, although the fact that my head gasket went at 111,000kms is truly disappointing. The way I see it, the reason I bought an Acura was for the ENGINE. At that price point, there were many other cars with more features and power. But I went for Honda reliablity and quality...

I'll let you know how much this ends up costing me when all is said and done. But I now will think twice about buying another Honda product. If I do, I will most definitely invest in the extended warranty plan!

 
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I got my car back today! So here's the story - keep in mind that all costs are in $CDN.

The head-gasket work would have cost me a total of $1150. Acura decided to front up parts, machine shop costs and part of the labour. My total bill was just over $500. I gotta say I'm pretty happy about the service I got, overall. While my car was in, they also replaced a Front Right suspension bushing that was causing a clunking noise when I went over speedbumps, free of charge.

Moral of the story - if you have problems with not getting heat at idle, bring your car in ASAP to get it fixed. Especially if you're still under warranty!

I'm still shocked that my headgasket blew, but I'm glad that Honda does stand behind its products.

At my last job, I had a buddy with a 2000 Cavalier. Car had 82,000kms and the motor blew. When I say blew, I mean he picked up pieces of cast aluminium off the ground. Car was still stock, no mods/nitrous/turbo. GM didn't pay a cent to have the engine replaced and he ended up sinking in $3000 to get it fixed...

 
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Good to hear ELaudio....

Still on for Thursday btw? Email me!