Rep Power: 0

this is a $2000 car i bought while my subaru is in the shop, have never owned a honda before, and it seems like a huge headache. please, convince me otherwise and help me troubleshoot this devil car.

2002 HONDA CIVIC EX, automatic, 1.7- 1HGES26762L075384
Robinson's Automotive in Pacific, MO replaced water pump and timing belt, and sold me the car. said he repaired and OIL LEAK, and i asked him if the car was ran without oil and if i was gonna drive it for a month and have a motor blow. he said no, and here we are. i also asked why the SRS light was on, and if the car had been wrecked, he said ABSOLUTELY NOT, but here we are. Rod's Muffler Shop in Union, MO replaced catalytic converter after the car had idle issues and died once or would not exceed 3000rpm, seemed to fix problem.
don't know if it relates, but SRS sensor has been lit since i bought the car. paint is flat on front and rear bumper and some surrounding panels, sparkle on the majority of the car, so it has obviously been wrecked and hidden via carfax and mechanic's word...for a reason. also, has been running green universal coolant since purchase.
have to kick-start the car by pushing the gas pedal while cranking, to start, on a regular basis.
so far, here is everything else that has been replaced, IN ORDER: camshaft sensor- TDC (top dead sensor) sensor code, seemed to fix problem. car started to overheat. replaced thermostat- immediately overheated, was pressure filled, pushed air out of lines, drove fine for a few days, and slowly started to lose coolant again. then started blowing coolant out in about 5 miles and would overheat. fan relay switch, kept fans on and was fine for a day or two....fans are still going, but car is losing coolant in some mystery place. did a radiator pressure test, and went from 14/15lbs of pressure to under 13lbs in about 6 minutes, bought radiator. top temp sensor and radiator replaced today, and the car drives for a few miles and is either cooking coolant or blowing it out in some invisible mystery place while driving, and overheats. hoses are solid and have no leaks, no coolant in oil, no coolant dripping from exhaust, no white smoke coming from radiator or exhaust, no coolant on pass side floor OR behind glove box, heat works, defrost works, a/c blows cold, car starts but idles rough, and starts to get hot when above 2nd gear or gradually after a few miles of driving. transmission fluid and oil are at normal levels, and i pulled and checked every individual FUSE in both fuse boxes and 0 were blown. still overheats, and coolant DISSAPPEARS after about 5 miles of driving at temp. WHAT DO YOU GUYS THINK?

ps- do you guys think the mechanic that sold me the car used some blue devil as a bandaid to sell the car, gummed up the cooling while covering up a blown head gasket/cracked head, and totally screwed me? or is this some mystery that i just don't understand

 
Rep Power: 367

we have a section specific for loss of coolant/overheating. Moved your post to the section.
Guess why?

take a read here:

https://www.civicforums.com/forums/3...r-blowing-cold

 
Rep Power: 224

Yep, almost certainly got one with a bad head gasket. And I hope that camshaft sensor was from Honda and not a cheap parts store replacement.

 
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i understand that it probably has a bad head gasket, but i do not understand the chain of events leading up to the overheating or WHY it overheated

 
Rep Power: 224

The head gasket goes bad allowing combustion gases past it and into the coolant system. This displaces the coolant pushing it into the reservoir tank eventually overflowing. Air doesn't make a very good coolant. Depending on how bad the head gasket is determines how quickly it will overheat. If it is small enough it could take a week before you start having issues, if it's bad enough you could have issues in a few miles. I had a Civic that I properly filled the coolant system, let it idle in my driveway for an hour with no indications of head gasket issues, then drove it 3 miles down the road and back and the reservoir was almost overflowing.

When the thermostat was replaced there was more air let into the system and I'm guessing it wasn't properly bled causing a quick overheat. It could be the dealer didn't notice cooling issues because when the water pump was replaced they properly filled/bled the system, it could take a few days before overheating issues start to happen. It's also entirely possible they knew there were issues and dumped it on you.

 
Rep Power: 367

it's losing coolant through the reservoir. pushed by the combustion gases leaking through the gasket.
Like said, we created a section specific for this because it is very very common.
mine leaked.

 
Rep Power: 0

the first thing i replaced was the cam sensor (unrelated to cooling) after the mechanic i bought it from replaced the timing belt and water pump. from the top here it is, in order:
bought car, car stalled/shut off in idle. catalytic converter, windshield, overheat, fluid gone, fill with fluid, keep fluid in car, TDC code, overheat and clear, top off and replace sensor, top off every couple days, doing alright, overheat, top offs get closer together, watch coolant and keep jug in car, top off every few days, overheat, thermostat and pressure fill, overheat and then....boom- it's all downhill from the time i bought it, to now.
the car overheated before i touched the thermostat AND a shop pressure filled the coolant to keep air out of the lines, so i think he either 1 knew it was bad and sold it to me or 2 didn't bleed the system, causing the air in the lines to overheat the car. and the small crack got bigger. or 3 genuinely had no idea, but since he also repaired an oil leak and i asked if it was going to blow a motor, and if it was ran without oil, before i even went to look at the car, that seems suspect.
as for the coolant pushing into the overflow... the breach between the gasket and coolant creating combustion makes sense, but this car is cooking it. the overflow and radiator are empty, and there is no coolant in the oil. abnormal and confusing in terms of blown head gaskets.
so my other question is...could the timing belt being loose or water pump installed incorrectly/bad gasket be the cause of this huge mess?
AND would blue devil hide these issues for long enough for him to sell me the car?

 
Rep Power: 0

did you just throw a head gasket on there? i may as well try the $54 head gasket kit and see if it works

 
Rep Power: 222

Only use an OEM head gasket

 
Rep Power: 0

Timing belt was not installed correctly, this explains literally everything