Munzy

I have a 2001 Honda civic1.7 Ł .! I just bought it and I decided to take it on a road trip to my parents which is 200 km away I got 36 km away from departure and my car started over heating!
I let it cool down and started off again! I went another 20 and it did it again! I then went another 30 km with the same result . I did turn on my heat to try and cool it down!
As soon as it turned it over to defrost I went another 100 km at 65 mph with no ptoblems and it ran perfect and my temp was running at normal.
Once getting it home my father and I drained the rad and all the coolent out flushed tge rad over and over ! Took the care for a drive 2 or 3 times just with water in it and finally drained that out!
We then worked our way up to the thermostat and took that apart! We noticed that the bottom half of the thermostat was gone. The person who owned it before obviously was messing around with it and broke it and threw half of it away! And then just put the seal part back in! After all of this we put it all back together! Put the car on a slope and filled it with coolent. I then drove home and it ran at a perfect temp for 190 km and then the heat started to come up a bite er half just under 3/4 on the temp guage!
So the problem is still there but just not as bad! Another thing I did was changed the oil and the oil was black and not frothy looking or discoloured! Also there is no leaks On ground ! So to me that rules out the head gasket !
Could it be as simple as the thermostat? What do you guys think? Also ide like to add that the engine runs like a top and no check engine lights come on or anything! I have a code reader and the car is code free! Nothing comes up!!

jackoncruzpr

You need to fill it and run the heater off and on a few times to purge the air in the system. grab the upper and lower hoses and squeeze them together in the middle to help massage the air out.

Do that a few times to purge any or all air.


if that doesnt help then I suspect you have a bad headgasket. Youll need to run a leakdown test to confirm it or just look at your radiator with engine running to see if you have any bubbles coming up out of it.

MassCivic

An oem Honda thermostat is pretty cheap and easy to install, might as well replace it first since the one in there is ghetto rigged/broken.

mikey1

you most likely have a blown head gasket, the previous owner probably knew that, didnt want to sink the money into it and dumped it on you, thats probably why they removed the thermostat,

what is the level in the overflow bottle doing during all this madness? is it filling up all the way to the top? if so, its your head gasket

ezone

^This.

Munzy

Ok so if it's a blown head gasket what is it gonna cost a guy to replace that ?
Keep in mind there in no evidence that is showing me that is is a head gasket! Like I said the oil was black , so signs of coolent mixed in with it and there is no leaks!

bsmiley

Munzy, PLEASE use the SEARCH function for overheating threads. There are so many.

NOBODY ever believes its the HG. There are tests described by other forum members to help you diagnose further. Anytime someone describes the overheating you have, its always the HG.

The forum members don't mind answering your questions, but do your part by researching and reading about the overheating issues related to HG on these 1.7L engines.

Prices can vary greatly based on the labor rates in your area. Basically since the head is going to be pulled, it will need to go to a machine shop to ensure its flat. There will be additional cost for parts such as the gaskets (intake & exhaust manifolds, HG). It will be a great time to go ahead and do a timing belt, water pump and seals.

The good news is since this is an excellent forum you will find some very good DIY and support if you want to do the job yourself (maybe with a friend, depending on your experience level) and you'll have a great running car when you're done.

You got burned by a person of very low character. Its a bad deal.

mikey1

doesn't matter.....still likely a blown head gasket

wingsfan19

That's awful, but it's also sad that when you advertise a car with a blown head gasket, no one wants to buy it and you're competing with all those other 12 year old cars that are running "excellent" haha.

Scout1

Munzy,

I refused to believe I had a bad HG too. Oil good was good too. Learned a lot on this and other forums. 01 to 04 Civics are prone to hg failure. I tried the exhaust gas test and it passed, rented a radiator tester and it passed, compression test good, finally did the cylinder test where you apply pressure to each cylinder at top dead center and watch the radiator fill neck for any bubbles. Second cylinder the water started coming out. The good news is, if you are a little mechanically inclined the hg is not too bad to replace. I spent extra and had the head redone while it was off but could have got by without it. Having it done at a shop will probably run $800.00 to $1200. depending on where you go. Do it yourself for around $200. if you don't need the head redone.

Ed

Scout1

For some reason Civic hg's rarely fail into the oil system, they usually fail into the combustion chamber.

Ed

Munzy

It's kinda weird! After I flushed the rad like 5 times its been running at a normal temperature. I replaced the thermostat but I still have no heat inside of the car!
Must now be the heating core !
But as for running hot it's not doing it anymore .

ezone

That's because it's full... For now....


No, it's not likely.

More likely it's air locked due to the head gasket problem--- or the cable and valve aren't allowing coolant to flow through it.
Give it time, it will again soon enough if it's got a blown head gasket.

Munzy

Cable and valve?

ezone

Yes....?

Matt_75

Munzy,

Just start firing the parts cannon. Just spend as much money as possible replacing everything that's not the problem until you get through the denial stage. Then when you've come to your senses, return to us for more information on your blown HG.

mikey1

give it a week or two, it will be overheating again

Munzy

I replaced the thermostat because half of it was missing matt75.
I'm not saying it's not the hg! But why would it all of a sudden stop after a rad flush!? When any time I took it on the highway it would act up!

ezone

I would agree that the previous owner did this so it wouldn't be so damn obvious there was a huge problem and the car would sell easily.

Wouldn't be the first time someone did something shady to sell a car.

Because the coolant is full enough right now to keep it from overheating.

As soon as (the) leaking head gasket has caused enough liquid to be displaced out of the radiator to compromise cooling efficiency, it will run hot.

Have you run it a few hundred miles on the highway yet?

Munzy

Yeah Ive probably put 500 +miles on the car since the rad flush!

And before my trip out to my parents before I flushed the rad I had the rad all topped up! Also did a oil change!

bsmiley

I hope the overheating is solved and won't be an issue for you anymore!

Good job getting it flushed and the thermostat replaced.

Happy motoring in your Civic, may the gas mileage be with you!

CraigW

iTrader: (1)

Monitor the level in the coolant overflow when the engine is at temp....then see if it starts dropping over time.