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I have had my 2K3 EX in and out of the shop 8 times in the past 9 months. When I start the car and let it sit to warm up, the engine is warm but when you turn on the heat, its cold. When I start driving, the car warms up a bit but turns to cold when I approach stoplights/stop signs/traffic/idle etc. When I am moving on the highway, the car blows hot air.

What has been performed so far:
1. New Thermostat
2. Coolant flush and new fluid added
3. Leak test by Honda that found a problem with valve #1
4. My neighbor ran a compression test (found nothing wrong with Engine, Honda just wants my $$$$)
5. Dye test showed that there are no cracks in the block
6. Found air pocket in my cooling system (this was bled out by Honda)

Has anyone had this problem? If so, what was the resolution? I am guessing from previous threads that this has to do with my heater core.

Honda told me that I have a crack in the block and an issue with my #1 valve, so they need my approval for a tear down. I told them no and picked my car up so that my neighbor who has his own shop could take a look at it.

Honda's way of effing me:
-If they teardown the engine and find out its not the block, its a $1500 teardown fee!
-If they teardown the engine and find out its the block and not covered by warranty, its $4500!
-If its covered by warranty, then I dont' have anything to worry about but they need to tear it down. This is worst than shooting craps!

 
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did they check your heater core could be bad

 
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^^^ Quite possibly. Sounds like there is a block between the heater hose and the heater core. You're not losing any anti-freeze, correct? If you aren't, then, once the car has completely warmed up, check to see that both heater hoses are hot. If only one is hot (would be the inlet in this case), then your problem is heater core related. If they are both hot, this doesn't make sense and I need to think about it a little more. If neither one are hot, then the problem is somewhere in the block. Hit back here with what you find.

 
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I don't see any leaks at the moment. After driving and I get out of my car, I can smell burning coolant but I have no idea where the leak is or even if there is one. The head bolts were tightened a little bit and it helped for a day but then went back to normal. I will check the hoses when I get home tonight. Thanks for the advice.

 
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Hmmmm. Burning coolant = not good.

If tightening down the head seemed to temporarily help, you may have a leaky head gasket. Its rare to have the HG leak and not lose all compression, have all your anti-freeze blow out your exhaust as white smoke, and other obvious signs. However, I have seen it happen where the gasket leaks a bit on the outer edge of the water jacket, causing your fluid to leak down the block, hit something hot, and subsequently stink.

Best bet is to get her up on a lift, or jack stands at least, and take peek from the bottom when she's all warmed up (this works for more than cars...), to see where its leaking from.

 
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Speedfoos - I don't think this has anything to do with my heater core. Today on my way to work, the temp gauge was rolling up to the "H" and back down to the standard level. This hasn't happened before, only at idle at stop lights, stop signs, traffic, etc. Im going to guess that its my head gasket because of the burning coolant smell and the overheating. I don't know if its an air pocket in my cooling system that is causing the "overheat" like it has been in the past or if its "really overheating".

Are there any actually Honda Mechanics that check this website and know an EXACT solution for this problem. I'm tired of getting the run around from Honda. I know that you don't get paid for doing warranty work and the service advisors don't get commission off warranty work. So they are going to screw me either way.

 
Rep Power: 387

Take it to a smaller shop and ask them whats wrong. Thoes flip guys aroung my town take the low cost approach, so whenever a dealership is like, u need this, we take our cars to the flip guy and hes like yup, your ***** all okay, tell honda to **** themselves. BTW, sorry to hear about your problem.

 
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Sounds like you have a blown head gasket. I had the exact same problem with my car. The fix is covered by Honda's powertrain warranty if it still applies to you.

 
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You're probably right on both accounts. Your head gasket is leaking, and you now have air in your coolant system, causing the erratic temp gauge when that airpocket goes through the water jackets. Replace or have someone replace your head gasket. Its really not that hard to do it yourself, just go by the steps in a Haynes manual, pay attention the torque specs, and make sure everything is at TDC when slap it back together. Good luck man.

 
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And it breaks down on my way home from work today on I65 during rush hour! Had to sit for 1 hours waiting for a tow and off to the dealership we go. Time to raise hell tomorrow!

A frustrated DC

 
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Dude that sux. Keep us updated.

 
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I authorized an engine tear down today. They are going to start tomorrow and figure out what is causing all this headache. I'll keep you all posted.

 
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Honda called me today. They began the teardown this morning to get to the Head. Once they did that, they took the Head to a machine shop to see if its causing all this headache. They should know tomorrow if its the head or not.

I will provide another update tomorrow.

DC

 
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Jesus. I hope this is all covered by your warranty....

 
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Honda care said they will back me up because I am loyal to Honda and have had the car "serviced" 9 times and its still fuct up. I haven't heard back from them about the Head though. Hopefully later today or Monday.

I want my car back so bad because this PT Cruiser they stuck me in is killing me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 
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^^ thats good news. good luck with everything man. keep us posted.

 
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Hopefully they didn't give you the "Woody" PT Cruiser. I'd drive around with a paper bag on my head if I had to drive one of those POS's.

You should ask the machine shop to throw in a PnP on your head and charge it to Honda as "labor"....

 
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My biggest concern is the performance once they get it back together. I don't trust the engine after they strip it and tool around inside it. It won't be the same. I would feel more comfortable with a new one.

I guess we will see what happens. Thanks for all the support!!

 
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sorry that they gave u a PT CRUISER. hmm.....i can't even seem to imagine ur pain

 
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It is fixed! I have never been so happy about driving this car as I am now!!! That Cruiser was killing me!!!

The sent the head to a machine shop to have checked out. The head was fine as far as cracks but they found it to be slightly warped so they squared it off. Second, it had a blown head gasket.

Here is the bill:

Towing $60
Car Rental $165.36
Head Check $175
Labor $378
Head Gasket $165.57
Everything w/ Tax $853.86

With my warranty and a few phone calls to Honda Care, It only cost me $100.

So now that its back on the road, I am ready for some DIY Suede Interior.

Thanks for all the support!!!!!!

 
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Good to hear brother!

 
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So I took the day off today to get the car all cleaned up. Inside looks brand new and the out side it beat the f**k up! My front bumper looks likes its been in a sand storm with a few rocks in the mix. Someone decided to use my trunk as a work bench and there are 4 dings on my Drivers side door and 2 on the Passenger. Nice to know that Honda takes care car of their customers cars when they are being serviced. You just can't have anything nice anymore.

I'm going to be taking some pictures of my ride and get them posted on here tomorrow.

 
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Here are some pics of my ride....

 
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Dude. Props for an ultra clean ride. +1 for ju! Did the dings and trunk get fu*&ed up when it was at the dealer? Too bad about the care they didn't take when you had your car getting serviced. Either way, nice ride. Any plans for the internals now that's its running right again?

 
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Thanks man! I try my hardest to keep it looking nice. Some people freak out at how clean the inside is being that its 4 years old. Thanks for the rep!

Not sure what I am going to do as far as internals. Being that I still have a warranty, Im kinda scared to touch anything. I wouldn't mind an intake for the time being. I'd like to get a header and a clean exhaust. Any suggestions?