Rep Power: 0

99 Acura 1.6 EL aka 99 Civic with a nice interior. Made at the civic factory in Canada.

I am going to set this in chronological order. Try to describe it in detail enough to see the issue but not bore anyone to death.

My car over heated on the freeway a while back. I called a friend who brought water. By the time he arrived the engine had cooled a bit and I added the water. Then started up and finished my drive to work. Just as I was pulling up it started to overheat again. Someone I work with said it was the thermostat ans he removed it, cut it in half by cutting the thin support bars and replaced the piece saying that water will flow 100% of the time now.

Well that didn't fix it. If I start the car from a cold start i can drive about 15 miles before the water boils out. Then I just pull over, refill the rad with water once i can get the cap off with a thick folded towel. In the reservoir you can here the bubbles from the steam leaving the rad. After filling it with water, all is fine for another 10 miles or so then i have to repeat this process. I live about 15 miles from work so if I dont drive anywhere else, i can get to work and back without issue.
Sometimes, after driving home and not hearing the water boiling, the next morning the rad is full still and I don't have to fill it.

For the next 3 weeks I have gone to several mechanics and they all just shake there head and say they cant figure out whats wrong. There's no oil in the water. As well as no water in the oil. Been through that before and nothing looks like milk.

Today I replaced the thermostat, the rad cap, and flushed the radiator after removing it from the car. The rad seems fine. It doesn't leak. The rad fan, which I thought was the issue, I rewired it so that its on when I want it to be just to see if that was the issue. After getting everything back together, i filled the radiator and started it up. All was working well so i went for a test drive.
I only drove around the block a few time but the temp needle stayed in the normal running spot so i thought well maybe its fixed. When I got out, i heard the bubbles of doom and sure enough the water was boiling again.

I really don't know what to do next. A few of the mechs said "replace the engine". That's easy to say when its not your pocket from which the money comes from. I have not made the trip home yet since replacing the thermostat and rewiring the fan. I am typing this right after the above drive around the block. So I guess ill find out tonight if i make it home or not.

Anyone have a clue? If there is a person out there...

As of now I have no clue.

 
Rep Power: 367

during the first boling, your head deformed and now does not seal the gasket.
You don't need to refill because you have combusted gases in the cooling fluid.
you need to take the head off and take to a machine shop to check the faltness of the head, machine it down and replace the head gasket.
Do a gases test in the coolant - don't go to the shops that did not know what to do - if they did not do the gases test, they fail.
likely your head is twisted, so no easy fix there, i am afraid...

 
Rep Power: 0

Thank you for your response. I have been searching just never found any thread from any fourms that matched my issue from my point of view. Thank you though, ill take it apart and see what i can do.

 
Rep Power: 367

g'lucky - hope you get back home without issues... try extracting as much gases as you can and try to drive it home. Don't keep it too long or you will need to replace the head if twisting it too much.

 
Rep Power: 0

Not sure how you mean extracting the gases

I always just carry water with me an when the needle starts moving from normal operating temperature i pull over and refill the Rad and off i go. Works fine for a little while then rinse and repeat. Your diagnose of the issue is the first that I have gotten that even mentioned the head or anything near that. Thanks again.

 
Rep Power: 367

remove the rad cap when the engine is cold, turn-off the heater/AC and let it run until it reaches running temperature - you will see the bubbles coming out - let run for some 15 minutes and it should let the gases come out of the system - prolly will not get everything out as the engine runs, the gases from combustion will keep flowing to the system. Close the cap and try to get home.

disassemble the head asap - don't drive car anymore until fix or you could end up with worse than machine down the head (as in new head - much more expensive)

 
Rep Power: 0

OK thank you for the response to my lack of knowledge. Made it make more sense to me as car engine are not my thing.

I did make it home. It was the first long drive since i put the new thermostat in and did all that i mentioned before. Just for the sake of anyone else and sdai....i started the card and after making sure all the water was in the rad and checked my connections. After 3 miles or so the temp started moving toward hot. My thoughts were "i'd have been better off leaving the cut thermostat in. Then the temp gauge went back down. Almost like the thermo opening to feed water to the heat. It did the same thing about 4 times.
When I got home and turned the car off and i heard the bubbling in the reservoir. The next thing I said was a four letter word.
Then after 20 seconds it stopped. Usually, before today, it would take 5-10 minutes before it stopped. Improvement? From someone that used to rebuild dirt bike motors in 20 minutes between motos. Think ones been a doosy. I probably have already done more damage, as its been at least 3-4 weeks.

Going to pull it apart and see whats what. At least by the end of this ill know more about theses engines. I have a mech that can shave if needed. Depending on how bad it is, I may use the time to add some goodies and polish the engine so it shines.

Once again, thank you

 
Rep Power: 313

Hmmm, your head might not be warped but your head gasket is probably shot... start a head gasket job and make sure you get the head checked by a shop for eveness and damage.