Rep Power: 251

hey guys i just started having a problem about a week ago or maybe a little longer. i noticed one day that my heat was blowing cold air but if i drove at higher rpm's it would be warm. otherwise if i sat or when it was warmed up at idle it would only blow cold air. so i opened the radiator added more coolant and it worked fine for the rest of the day. than the next day it started happening again so then i bleed the cooling system. i opened the radiator cap when the car was cold and then turned the car on. gave it gas to get to operating temperature faster and when it was i turned the heater on full blast. waited until all the air bubbles were gone and kept topping off the radiator. then put the cap back on and shut off the car. it worked for awhile and then my heater began having the same problem. so then next time i changed my thermostat and than bleed the system again. it worked fine for awhile but than today i noticed that my temp gauge was acting weird. it went up to the second line and then i turned on the heat and it went back down than i drove for awhile and it got to full operating temperature. then when i would slow down or drive in the city it went back down to about 3 lines. then when i got out of the car i could smell coolant on the outside. everytime i checked the radiator when the car was cold the fluid level was not to the top and i always had to add coolant. also i can see fluid on hoses and such but i dont know where its coming from. i think i have a leak somewhere but im having a hard time finding it. the heater always works fine if i fill the radiator up to the top, it blows as hot as the day i first got it. also through all this the reserve tax has been full. by full i mean like a half an inch from the top of the tank, way past the max line. i dont know if its been like that since i got the car but ive just been watching it for the last week. in that week it hasnt moved anywhere its still a half an inch or so from the top. i bought the car with 44k it now has 78k and its never overheated once on me. the coolant and oil are both fine and i have no white smoke from the exhaust. i did notice that when i had the radiator cap off and the engine was at full speed and if i rev'ed the engine the coolant would shoot out of the radiator. i just changed my oil 4 days ago and it came out black but it wasnt a chocolate mousse color. every thread i read/searched said it would be a blown head gasket but i dont have any of the symptoms of them at least not that im aware of. i can smell coolant at times though so i know i must have a leak somwhere. any help would be great since this is really annoying/bothering me.

 
Rep Power: 266

since you got a new thermostat we can rule that out, does the radiator fan turn on when the car is at its operating temperature? You can do a radiator pressure test and make sure the radiator cap is holding pressure as well as a drop in pressure in the radiator wiith a pressure tester, also make sure there is no oil and coolant mixing in your coolant...and also might want to get your water pump checked out. Hope everything works out

 
Rep Power: 251

yeah oil and coolant are both fine, their not mixing. water pump seems fine. all the hoses get hot even the heater hoses. it seems like theirs a leak coming up by the reserve tank. its kind of hard to tell but im definetly losing coolant someplace. if i fill up the radiator the heat is fine but then a few days later its blowing cold air again. so i know i have a leak somewhere

 
Rep Power: 251

put in a brand new thermostat and the car is still blowing cold air but only when i stop. im going to check the hoses and the radiator for any cracks or leaks. any else know what i could try.

 
Rep Power: 0

dude Im thinking this is a very common issue with our cars. mine does the same thing.

read this thread and go to my post at the very end.

https://www.civicforums.com/forums/3...heating-5.html

 
Rep Power: 0

i got the same problem with heat fu@%en civics lol

 
Rep Power: 0

I have an 05 Si (US EX) with 70000 kms and I just started having this problem on Wednesday. Is this something to do with the cold weather? The coolant in the reservoir is overflowing and spraying out. The car was working perfectly until the weather started reaching freezing point.

 
Rep Power: 0

i had the same symptoms. if you've changed the thermostat, and overheating still occurs, there's a good chance you've blown the head gasket. a telltale sign is the coolant spraying out of the reservoir bottle. with the honda, there's no obvious mixing of oil and coolant nor white smoke unless the leak in the gasket is really bad. by the time the gasket gets bad enough for oil and coolant to mix, i'll bet you you would have overheated the car 20 times. it just not worth damaging the engine even more by delaying the inevitable. a head gasket determination is done by exluding all other alternatives.

i took my car to the dealer where they wouldn't believe me it was the gasket. so, i took it to a good mechanic who looked at me as if i was crazy when i suggested it was the head gasket. the overheating got so bad, i just told him just to replace the gasket and machine the heads anyways. once he took off the head, he was surpirsed to find i had in fact a blown head gasket.

 
Rep Power: 319

i just got done changing my head gasket today and DAMN! What a ******' job and a half!! Its not difficult as much as it is time consuming...u gotta move everything out tha way, and I mean EVERYTHING...intake mani, throttle body, ps pump/pulley, ...damn man, me and my bro in law took two days to change it out and it was a biotch! BUT, i must say we did a pretty damn fine job...problem now is I gotta ton of screws left over and i'm tryin' to figure out where they all go again..Haha..if anyone wants to DIY, let me know, i'll try to walk u thru....