deatheragel84

I own a 95 honda civic. I recently ( within the past month) had the head gasket replaced, a new thermostat put in, a new heater valve installed, all new hoses installed and got a new radiator cap. My car was running fine then today it started to overheat. It usually runs about at 1/4 but today it started getting passed the halfway point. It went from abt 1/4 to above the 1/2way mark within minutes and the car was not wanting to pick up speed and seemed to get a little shakey. Does anyone have any ideas what the problem may be?

BlueEM2

iTrader: (1)

Did you bleed the coolant system properly after doing all the work?

deatheragel84

I didn't actually do the work I wasn't there but I was told it was done.

BlueEM2

iTrader: (1)

When they replaced the head gasket do you know if they checked the condition of the water pump?

deatheragel84

They didn't..but I wondered already if the water pump needed to be replaced because even before when the car would overheat nothing seems to be happening with the overflow tank. It stays full and has a different color antifreeze so I know that when that water is heating up it's not going into the overflow tank, I kept asking the guy who was doing the work if that would be the water pump not pushing the water into the overflow or what but IDK anything about cars so he said that's not it but he can't figure out why the water isn't going into the overflow tank either. Could this be what is causing my car to overheat now?

BlueEM2

iTrader: (1)

It's possible, if water is not circulating properly through the system it would cause overheating. It's possible the water pump is working but some of the fins are corroded and it's not working sufficiently. When you say the overflow is full, is it at the right spot or too full?

deatheragel84

im not sure what the right spot is its not overflowing so id say its at the right spot it has the red antifreeze in it but when the antifreeze was replaced it was replaced with the green antifreeze. another thing is that both my fans constantly run as soon as i turn on the car. whether ac/heater are running or not. so any ideas how to fix this or how i can check the water pump? and did u mean fans or fins? i dont knw what the fins are if u did mean fins....

BlueEM2

iTrader: (1)

Fins, i guess that's how I describe them. They push the water through the cooling system. If they are corroded you will have trouble.



You can see them in that picture. Pop the rad cap when the car is cold, start it up.. top it up with coolant until the rad is full.. let it get to operating temperature and watch the coolant, is it circulating? It will not circulate until it gets to optimal running temperature. If the level drops while your watching it keep filling it up.

deatheragel84

It does circulate it just isn't going into the overflow tank at all someone told me it could have been cus yesterday was the hottest day we've had yet this yr at 88....but id still like to solve this overflow tank problem cus when the car does heat up it should be pushing it into the overflow tank but it doesn't. The guy who did the work on my car said usually there's a tube at the bottom of the tank and at the top the one on top pushes it in while the one on bottom pulls it back out this car only has a top one...again i know nothing about cars so im at a loss.

Riick

Are you missing part #3 in the picture (click for larger)? This would cause your coolant system to draw air from the overflow tank instead of coolant, leaving not enough coolant in the system. Did you unscrew the radiator cap (only when radiator is cool) to check the coolant level like BlueEM2 suggested? Was the coolant up to the top?

Does anyone here know if it's bad to mix different kinds of coolant? If so the red coolant should be replaced with green. (It's not hard to do because the coolant tank just pulls out- the tricky part is discarding the hazardous coolant safely.)

BlueEM2

iTrader: (1)

It's not ideal to mix coolant but you should be ok as long as your not mixing silicate with no silicate. I think red and green are very similar, just green is prestone.

deatheragel84

its hard to tell cus mine doesnt look like that i took video of what it was doing gotta figure out how to post it dont knw if i can though....dont think i can even post an actual picture i only seem to be able to post a pic from the internet?? but its has a small radiator on the left and then to the left of that is the overflow which is a small white plastic container with a black hose going into the top of a screw top lid and nothing else on any side or bottom of it....and i re-checked the circulation of the coolant on a cold start like u suggested....it was topped off first of all then i turned the engine on and let it get to temp and instead of going down and seeing it running back and forth it just started bubbling and spitting out the top so maybe somethings clogged but id still like to find out about this overflow tank and is it normal for the fans to run automattically as soon as the car is turned on i cant seem to find that out in the manual or online anywhere

BlueEM2

iTrader: (1)

The water pump runs all the time. What stops the circulation is the thermostat being closed. I'm not overly concerned about the overflow I'm more concerned about the overheating. Is your car supposed to run at 1/4 or a 1/2 ? I have a 7th gen and it runs at 1/2 on the temperature gauge. It running at 1/4 all the time might suggest that your thermostat is stuck open.

Did you get an OEM thermostat?

deatheragel84

It hasn't overheated since the other day and it only went just above the halfway mark. it is running a little warmer closer to the halfway mark since then however and i dont know what kind of thermostat is in there except he went to autozone told the guy the make and model and they told him what kind he needed and handed it to him. before that there was no thermostat in the car. someone had gutted it. i was concerned with the overflow tank because it was my understanding that when the car heats up the cap is supposed to push the hot water into the overflow and pull colder water in through the cars cooling system to help maintain the temp that is how it was explained to me cus like i keep saying im dumb about this stuff but im trying to understand so i am not so ignorant about my own car lol

deatheragel84

[quote=BlueEM2;4596741]The water pump runs all the time.

What about the fans like the radiator fan and the other fan as soon as i turn on the car whether the ac or heater are on or not both fans turn on and run constantly is that normal?

Riick

I have a 93 civic; same generation as yours. On mine the radiator fan only switches on after the car has been running for a while. (My AC is broken so the condenser fan doesn't turn on at all.)

The hot water flows into your radiator through the fat hose at the top. It cools off as it flows through the radiator. Then it flows back into your engine through the fat hose at the bottom. That's how your engine stays cool.
When the engine is warm the coolant expands and takes up more space than it did when the car was turned off. The plastic reservoir gives it a place to expand to. So as the car is warming up and the water is expanding, some of it should flow into the reservoir and you should see the level in the reservoir rise a little. (Then when you turn off the car and the engine cools down, some of the coolant should get sucked back into the radiator.) That's how the coolant stays at a constant pressure when the engine warms up.

Hose #3 in the picture is a little hose hanging down from the plastic reservoir cap; its tip should be submerged in the coolant. You might not see this hose unless you unscrew the reservoir cap.

BlueEM2

iTrader: (1)

The radiator fans run under certain conditions. They will both run when your using the defog setting and they will both run if your using your air conditioning. If your heater / fan are turned off they will only come on when it's very hot out.

The reason that the "Defog" setting uses the air conditioning is it pulls the humidity out of the air allowing far superior defogging than just using regular air.

deatheragel84

mine just run constantly no matter what.....do u knw how to fix that?

deatheragel84

ok so nothing is going into my reservoir or overflow tank whatever u want to call it....i know this because the overflow is full of the red fluid and i have had the green stuff in my car and the overflow would have some green antifreeze in it if it was going in there right? do u knw what the problem could be why it's not going in is it my cap or is it the pump maybe?

BlueEM2

iTrader: (1)

Is the hose that runs to the overflow plugged?

deatheragel84

I guess that is the question to answer then guess I know what to check today....

deatheragel84

sorry havn't been on in awhile...anyways so here is what my problem is.....when the water heats up it has no where to go so is building up pressure in the engine cus the radiator cap is not pushing the water into the reservoir. the cap is brand new but isn't doing the job so ive been trying to find an old honda like mine to get the cap off and see if that helps. the car runs warmer when it's hotter outside but hasnt gotten over 1/2 marker usually runs abt 1/4 and i was told the thermostat is whatever autozone says was the type it needed and its brand new also. the car runs kinda slow sometimes....for ex i will push on the gas all the way down and it takes awhile to build up speed especially if im going uphill...it's automatic, not manual. it also surges at times on idle. that stuff may be fixed with a tune up since it hasnt had one since the head gasket was changed and the other work done and parts replaced. so im thinking a tune up and new cap and it should be good.....just having trouble getting a cap like the older one....

deatheragel84

no matter what both fans run all the time as soon as the car is turned on. even if i turn the ac or heater off. i have noticed that if i have car turned to heater even if i have it switched to off hot air is still coming from the vents but if i have the temp turned to cooler and the switch turned off no air is coming in hot or cold like it should

Riick

Still sounds like you might have a clog between the radiator neck and the overflow reservoir. Test this as follows: 1) Remove the coolant reservoir cap (with the hoses still attached to it) and the radiator cap. 2) Try to squeeze air through the end of the hose by cinching a partly inflated plastic bag around the hose end and squeezing the bag. 3) Look into the hole where the radiator cap was while you squeeze the air. You should see coolant or air sputtering into the radiator where the overflow hose attaches to the radiator neck. If the overflow hose is clogged that may indicate that other parts of your system are clogged too.

Note: coolant is toxic- never put your mouth on a hose, and wash your hands after handling coolant.

Sounds like something is screwy with the electrical system that controls them. By the way, one of those fans is supposed to be just for the air conditioner.

deatheragel84

PLEASE I NEED HELP!
Ok so last I was talking about how my car only overheats if I've been driving it awhile and it loses power as I accellerate. The fans run constantly and I found out that is because someone rewired them that way instead of taking care of the head gasket problem they had gutted the thermostat and rewired the fans as a quick fix which didn't help of course. so I had the head gasket done that fixed the overheating and had a thermostat put in. The car started overheating slightly when I would drive at high speeds or after being driven for long periods. I took it for a diagnostic and got screwed over. I paid 75 bucks for them to say that I needed my fluids changed, even though I told them I just had them changed. They also suggested I get a new thermostat even though I had just had that thermostat put in. They said they couldn't complete diagnostics because of the fluids being dirty and low but they aren't low at all and the oil is fine, the coolant they say is 75% water but all that was put in was 50-50 coolant and they said the transmission fluid was low and dirty but it's full although it is dirty. They also said that the car felt like the transmission was slipping. I took it to a transmission shop who does a free transmission check and they said it's not slippin that its a loss of power issue due to a catalytic converter. The shop I took it to first is the same shop that did the smog work on it less than a yr ago under cap but they had charged me above the cap amount 300 for a new one and i still have the paperwork so I called them back up and told them and they said the rpms go up so that means that it cant be the converter. I cant get them to even finish the diagnostic cus they claim the oil is sludgey even though three others say it's fine. IDK what to do cus I paid them for a diagnostics and they aren't willing to even complete it but charged me for a full diagnostic! Also they are the ones who put the catalytic converter in and its still under warranty but if they aren't willing to look at it without me doing the other stuff again idk what to do. BTW they wanted nearly 600 to exchange the coolant, to an oil change, and change the transmission fluid and the fuel filter, oil filter and the transmission filter! PLEASE SOMEONE HELP ME WHAT DO I DO TO GET THEM TO DO WHAT I PAID THEM FOR AND STOP TRYING TO SCREW ME OVER? DO I NEED TO TAKE A FREAKIN MAN DOWN THERE WITH ME SO THEY WILL STOP TRYING TO BULL$H1T ME???

Riick

Ugh I feel for you. This kind of bs is exactly why I try to do my own car work whenever I can.

If you're handy you might try diagnosing it yourself. Expect it to take a lot of time to figure out what you're doing and also some $ to buy equipment (maybe over $100 until you've got everything you need just to diagnose this problem?) Also expect it to take a few tries until you actually find the real problem. The nice thing about buying equipment though is you can use it again afterwards. And if you do it yourself you know no one is trying to screw you over! If you want someone else to do it for you then I'd suggest asking everyone you know if they have a mechanic who's really good at diagnosing. Then make sure that mechanic himself does the work, not his co-worker, and expect it to cost more than you think it will.

As for this scam shop I wouldn't go back to them unless you think you're going to be able to make them to fix something they messed up without additional charge. I know you were joking about taking the man (I hope) but I really think you should post as many bad reviews about them as you can on the internet. Maybe you'll save someone else some grief or even give the shop some incentive to clean up their act at a bit.

Let us know what happens and also let us know if you're going to try to figure this out yourself.

deatheragel84

I really wasn't joking lol men see a woman go in and think they can pull a fast one! I filed a complaint with the beareau of auto repair. I know it's the catalytic converter now because ive had everything else looked at by other ppl. I had the transmission checked out, the cooling system checked out to be fine the thermostat is running and opening fine and i researched online and through talking to other ppl and found out that if the catalytic converter is bad or clogged it will do exactly what my car is doing. it lags when u hit the gas and u lose power the more u drive it this way it heats up. im planning on taking it to a friends shop where they are going to check out the catalytic converter and give me a paper showing it is for sure that and that there's nothing wrong with my fluids cus i checked them as well as like four other ppl and everyone says my fluids are good except the transmission fluid is dirty but it's not low at all it's full actually so idk they really must've thought I was dumb as dirt. after i get paperwork that shows what the problem is i plan on taking it back to the shop that charged me 300 for a converter and tell them to replace it and give me a parts number and i'll have the other shop get the part number off the one that's in there to make sure it gets changed this time.

Riick

Sounds like you have a good plan. Clogged cat does sound like a match for your problem- nice sleuthing! (Be aware though there are other things which also cause an engine to bog when it is warm- electrical problem, vacuum leak, etc.) Let us know how it goes...

deatheragel84

Well I took it to another mechanic and he looked at it after listening to me tell him what was happening with the car and he checked my fluids and said my tranny smells like it's burnt up then he got in and said the tranny was holding up didn't seem to think it was that anymore then asked if the timing had been done and looked more closely at the car and saw that the distributor was turned all the way when it should be in the middle so he said that was part of it then he checked the timing and i was set to 2 when i should be at 16 but after he set the timing because the fan had been rewired he realized they'd rewired it to the distributor so it's bleeding power from that and after he did the timing it caused it to jump up after he set the timing to 16. so he wanted to rewire the fan to work properly and not to run constantly off the distributor but he said it would be anywhere from 500-1500 depending on if it needed a new computer. well i didnt have the money so i just took my car and it runs good now but i need to go get the oil changed cus he said it's dirty but it aint sludge and he said that my transmission could just be dirty and low so im gnna get that changed and there's this place that does a free transmission check and i'll have them check it out make sure nothings wrong with that. he also told me that after looking at my paperwork from the first place from my smog last yr that they ripped me off to get the cap money cus based on the numbers i should have passed the first time then they put in a new catalytic converter for no reason and probably were the ones who rewired the car cus after that it failed and they didn't say anything abt it being rewired at the time and if it was rewired before they touched it they shouldn't have done nothing with it cus it should have failed due to being modified. so now i need to have someone rewire my fan and i gotta hope i dont need a new computer and that my tranny is fine.

Riick

This mechanic seems to know what he's doing. Remember him for the future.

Free transmission checks can be a rip-off. Sometimes they tell you something is broken when it's not. If they say the transmission needs work you should double check with someone like that mechanic to make sure they're not just trying to take your money.

This whole wiring thing is strange; I wonder why the people wired it wrong in the first place. I also wonder how. It is pretty impossible to wire these things wrong because the plugs on the wiring harness are designed to only fit where they're supposed to fit. It would be interesting to find out the history of this car, but I suppose we'll never know!

Glad to hear you're making at least some progress on it!