Rep Power: 0

Im not sure where I am supposed to post this type of question but this seemed closest. Well for starters i know nothing about cars. I have a 95 honda civic and it just started acting up. When i am idle the temperature gauge rises up to hot but when i am driving it goes back to normal. The other day i checked the antifreeze and it had absolutly none in it so i filled it up thinking that was the problem, but my car still does the same thing. There is some kind of leakage under my car. i have no idea what it is leaking but the leak is on the drivers side under the very front of the car. If anyone can help me figure out what could possibly be wrong with my car i would greatly appreciate it!

 
Rep Power: 236

First you should check to see if your fans are working, they should be right behind the radiator. If they are not working then that could cause overheating at an idle (warm ur car up then let it idle they should run at some point during 5-10 min of idle and if it is hot outside they should run a-lot). It could also be your water pump, but i imagine if it was a water pump it would be overheating all of the time. Definitely make sure your car has the correct amout of antifreeze/coolant. When you top off your radiator make sure you put in about 50% water 50% antifreeze. As far as the leak that you are having; if it is an antifreeze/coolant leak it will smell sweetish and possible be colored orangish or greenish (that is the best i can describe it).
Good luck there are a lot of knowledgeable people on here, hopefully you can solve your problem fairly easily.

 
Rep Power: 388

^ this guy covered it pretty well.

What color is the leakage?

 
Rep Power: 0

it might be ac condensation dont turn the ac on and let it warm up. if something is still leaking it sounds like antifreze but the radiator on our 5th gens are on the passenger side......interesting come back with more info or pics if you can...

 
Rep Power: 0

Well i just went outside to see what color the leakage is but i cant tell cause its dark. but it appears to be clear. Also i posted that i put antifreeze in my car 2 days ago because i discovered it was all gone...well Its ALL GONE AGAIN. in just 2 days?? i hope this gives yall a little more info. to help me! I appreciate it alot!

 
Rep Power: 0

Out of curiostiy, do you guys know how much it will cost to replace the water pump??

 
Rep Power: 236

My girlfriend has a similar problem as you, it sounds like... she has a blown head gasket though. Right now we just put water in her radiator every few days because she is just getting a new car soon anyway. It is possible you have a blown head gasket, and if that is the case you need to assess whether it is worth fixing or looking for a new car. It is hard to tell by your descriptions because the cooling/heating system of a vehicle has so many leak/fault points. It is almost impossible to diagnose online without much more detailed description. If you know someone who has knowledge or a trusted mechanic i would get them to try and come troubleshoot your problem.

usually water pumps have what is called a "weephole" and when they go bad water will leak out of this hole. i would not recommend just throwing money at your problem unless your sure the water pump is really the issue at hand.

 
Rep Power: 0

it depends on if you do it or get it done by a shop. when you replace the waterpump its a good idea to replace the timing belt since its already torn down to that point. if you do it urself a good timing belt would run you $30 -40 bucks and a waterpump runs about $45. if you get it taken in itll be parts and hella high labor

 
Rep Power: 0

Well my fiance has been trying to figure out the problem and hes stumped bc my car is leaking on the left side, which makes no sense (i guess i dont know about cars lol) but he asked his uncle and some guys at work and they said the water pump. But i read on the internet it might be the head gasket as you said. we are gonna take it into the shop, its just gonna be hard bc he works and i work and he needs his car. but thanks for your help!

 
Rep Power: 811

it sounds like a blown head gasket, which is a big job to fix. if coolant is being burned, im almost positive thats the problem. are you getting any white smoke out the exhaust, and how does your oil look, milky? a cheap way is get a $40 compression tester and test each cylinder. make sure they are all within a close range of each other. if one is alot lower, blown gasket. although if its a small leak, you might not be able to pick it up this way. how does the car run, any misfire, trouble starting, etc?

 
Rep Power: 0

Well my car has no trouble starting, not sure what misfire is (??), umm it honestly seems to run okay. When it is idling it seems a lil shaky. i mean my car seems normal other than the fact antifreeze is completely gone after a day and its leaking something and it raises up to hot when its idle but not when im driving. if you need to know anything else about it i didnt add just let me know and ill try to answer it.

 
Rep Power: 236

Yeah now it is really starting to sound like my girlfriends Acura Legend. It starts and fine runs fine, but it occasionally overheats and has a rough idle sometimes. From your descritption it is sounding like blown head gasket, look for white smoke (steam) out of the tailpipe and that is the icing on the cake. In the case it is a head gasket, that is a pretty big job, there are a few home wrenches that would take that on and a shop would porbably rape you to replace a head gasket. I know in our case we just decided the hassle of fixing my girlfriends car wasnt worth it and we are just getting her a better car.

 
Rep Power: 0

yeah my fiance just called from work and he said to start looking for a new car lol...but on top of that he needs a new car as well. So on top of all of our bills we already have i dont know what Im going to do.

 
Rep Power: 236

Yep it is brutal . If you need to make it work you probably can, in my case we have been able to keep the car running for a couple months now. Just no long trips or anything obviously. Good Luck.

 
Rep Power: 0

as a quick fix you could try going to autozone and pick up a bottle of headgasket repair fluid. i hear great things about it some people have great results but by no means would i trust it. its a last resort before selling the civic hey it might work its worth a try!

 
Rep Power: 0

Thanks for all your help! I am taking it in the shop monday so hopefully not too much is wrong with it....but we'll see.

 
Rep Power: 331

if you dont mind, where are you located? if the car appears to have an actual leak, you probably just need a new hose or radiator, i doubt a headgasket. If youre near me, i'd take a look at it.

 
Rep Power: 0

Well i live in GA and your thing says you live in maryland, thats kinda far away lol. but i appreciate the help... im gonna take it into the shop tomorrow to have it looked at. Hopefully its not over a $1000...but we'll see!

 
Rep Power: 811

alot of times if its the head, they can resurface the old one and reuse it with a new gasket. should not be more than $1k. rough idle like the car is shaking? thats misfire from coolant leaking into the chambers.

 
Rep Power: 0

Just to let everyone know i took my car into the shop today. They have to replace the water pump, change the timing belt, change some valves or something like that..i have a oil leak as well. Its gonna cost $400 which isnt bad...anywho! thanks for yalls help!