buckeye1227

Got an 03 Civic Ex that overheats after about 30 mins or more of freeway driving. Can drive it on the freeways with basically no issues until coming to a stop or slowing back down to city speeds after being on the freeway for an extended period of time. Once I slow down the car overheats almost immediately and generally coolant overflows out of the overflow reservoir. In the last few months have had a new radiator, new thermostat, new fan sensor, and car still intermitetly overheats after slowing down from freeway driving....the only thing the hasnt been checked is a head gasket...sound familiar to anyone or does anyone have suggestions for what to look for next?
Thanks.

CrewChief

iTrader: (1)

I would say either the water pump or head gasket.

If its not smoking at all then I would have to go water pump.

When your driving the air running across the rad is keeping it cool enough to not boil over but when you stop your RPM drops and your pump is not pushing enough water to keep it from boiling.

buckeye1227

water pump has already been replaced about 15k ago...after reading several other similar posts im thinking it must be head gasket even though it isn showing the common head gasket tell tale signs.

mr22508

If you have fluid coming out of your resivoir, im sorry to say, but its the head gasket. The reason being is, you have cylinder pressure being forced into your cooling system and with all that air, it displaces the coolant. The only place it can go is out your resivoir cap. It is a fairly easy job if ya got the tools and the common sense. Good luck man!!!

CrewChief

iTrader: (1)

If the pump was changed then like others said all signs lead to the head gasket.

john222

My 2004 Civic EX is doing the same thing. It's the head gasket. Very disappointing. Thought this would be a reliable car I could pass to my daughter. If my finances were better I would polish it up and trade it in for a Jetta. But unfortunately I'm cash strapped due to two more years of college tuitions.

pb_boosted_es2

Common problem.
Head gasket.

fixed my problem.

john222

Did your head require machining or did you only replace the head gasket?

Lastly, did you do it yourself or let the dealer do the repair?

pb_boosted_es2

No, no machine shop was needed.
Quiet funny. Had this problem when I was completely stock. Happened occasionally. Then I went on boost. Dyno tuned and all with this problem without figuring it out. I went through alot trying to fix this problem. Changing the coolant saying maybe it's lost it's cooling ability. Checked for air bubbles. Changed my thermostat. Spoke to alot of people while going through this.. No one on the forums. But around the area and mechanics and one night at a local car meet there was a new shop openning up and was out advertising. I had them do it, I was their very first customer, before they even ofiicially open.

The only thing I ever had the dearlership do was fix my window regulator and reflash my ecu.

I order parts from them all the time though.
& if you're running with a stock motor, more speciffically stock block, bore etc. go with the oem head gasket. and while youre at it you can just get yourself some arp head studs and can also change the cranck seal while you're at it

palsana

hi
are we talking about a replacement of Head Gasket Part, or lot more than that? i have 03 civic ex sedan/what all goes into having this Head Gasket work done.
I c people asking about machines and what have you?
i m a NOVICE i must admit, however, the overheating problem is exactly whats happening with my car.

04 Honda Civic

iTrader: (2)

A machine shop is not needed, but sure is great insurance. You could check the head at home for warpage if you know what you are looking for.

Would suck to put it all back together and see it still leaks.

EM202

A little curious on this one, might answer it for others too. I have the same issue and I know its the head, has been doing this for the past few months now (trying to get a house right now or it would have been done long ago). Hope fully the car will last atleast a month longer, but this is where I'm gonna start my build. But my question is will the OEM head gasket be fine with a .020 head deak mill, crower stage one cam, I/H/E, and arp head studs?

sdaidoji

iTrader: (1)

^ ? any reason why not? these parts does not matter at all.
head mill will increase compression a slight bit, is all. tensioner should take care of the belt and the timing should not change by much.

in the meantime, mine did not overheat, so i just did quick check on head and seemed ok, so i slapped head back in. working great so far at 8k miles later

JonDorian JD

I think this thread is pretty well covered- but I'll share my story to make sure - pretty frustrating - I did not expect this when I bought my Honda

02 Civic EX with intermittent cooling issues - at around 150K it started overheating when slowing down getting off highway (water pump and tb were replaced at 130K)

replaced thermostat and radiator cap - no luck...replaced whole radiator..no luck..

noticed disappearing coolant - was disappearing faster and faster - no external leaks

tried combustion leak check to test for combustion gases and it did not detect any problems - no white smoke out of tail pipe, spark plugs looked OK

So - really the only signs of HG failure I had were overheating when slowing down (and over time it even happened at highway speeds), extra coolant in the reservoir, and mysteriously disappearing coolant with no external leaks

I pulled the head - gasket itself looked OK - but I took the head to an engine machine shop and the owner told me right away the gasket was blown at spots in all 4 cylinders - and he sees about 2-3 of these per week from Civics.
Charged me $80 to clean and resurface the head - said it wasn't warped too bad and he only had to take a little off (I don't remember exactly what he said)

IMHO - If you don't take your head to a professional machine shop that works on engines while its apart I personally think you're crazy. Too big of a job to take the chance that its fine and slap on a new gasket

Reinstalled head with a Fel-Pro Gasket - reused original head bolts (torque like you're supposed to) and have driven 1000 miles without any coolant loss or overheating

Sorry to anyone who has this misfortune - I don't see my next car being a Honda...but if you have symptoms like mine good chance its your HG

Matt_75

Just curious, are you the original owner?

This really bothers me and causes a little bit of anxiety. I've had my 02 Civic Ex since it had 33 miles on the odometer. I have taken maticulous care of it since I've owned it, especially now in it's latter years. The only none preventive maintenance type issues I've had were a leaky power steering rack (leak through the steering shaft at the fire wall), driver side CV half shaft/joint and an internal oil pump o-ring, all of which I worked on/replaced myself. I replaced timing belt, water pump and all the seals on the front of the engine at 75K.

My AT sucks, but I know that's a known issue even with above and beyond recommended fluid changed on it.

If my car begins to show signs of over heating due to a blown/cracked HG through no fault of my own...let's just say I'm will be very upset to put it mildly.

palsana

where did you get the FEL-PRO Gasket from? do you have that part# by any chance? I have a 2003 hONDA CIVIC EX 4DR. did you use oem parts for radiator/radiator cap/water pump/coolant.

Joeski19

Im having the same issues, overheats after driving 30min or more, blew coolant through the runoff tank/cap. I replaced the radcap but the coolant overflow bottle cap seems to be stripped as I cant tighten it. This is supposed to be a closed or air tight coolant system correct? I also did the block test kit to check for exhaust gases in the coolant system, and it passed, but with everything Im reading it could still be the HG? How far/long can I drive if the HG is going bad?

palsana

Since i first came to know it was the HG, i have almost driven nearly 12,000 miles. But now, its beginning to show the truly serious problems that can occur should it be the head gasket, one of the major ones is the leaking of oil from the Head Cover valve, which if spreads can be dangerous & likely to cause fire. I have done combustion pressure tests, block tests and compression tests to confirm that was not really a problem. I have now 175300 miles on my car

I have the very same issues you seem to have and many more (CEL on with many codes) fuel filter strainer replacement work and transmission needing drain/fill with right additives.

Matt_75

The coolant blowing through the over flow is most likely being caused from having a bad HG. The pressure in one of the cylinders where the HG is damaged is causing the overflow cap to blow off.

AFAIK this is not a closed or air tight system.

I think you're driving it on borrowed time. If I were you I would get it taken care of as soon as feasibility possible.

JMHO

HTH

04 Honda Civic

iTrader: (2)

Stop driving it. Once you warp the head enough you WILL need a new head.

-Pull the head
-Sent it to a machine shop
-Install it

palsana

The reason i am taking chances is its my only car i have, also, in 12,000 mi it has yet to confirm to me that it is INDEED THE HG
i m just not convinced of it. Reading thru STICKY & many other postings here, i am performing many tests personally to see to it that it is indeed the HG.
I m not done completing all tests. As a matter of fact, i m lately within the last 5 days am observing the hot/cold gauge & to the best of my knowledge & readings i c that only when its 90+ temps outside in the Texas Heat &/or if the car is parked in the open parking lot for more than 5 hours, if my car has been driven more than say 60+ mi that i am seeing hot/cold gauge go all the way towards hot!!!!!!. Secondly, at idle, the engine makes vibration noises & feels load when acccelerating only when A/c is put on, otherwise, the problem as i was having earlier that when waiting in bumper to bumper traffic &/or at stop signs in idle, that the hot/cold gauge would move beyond half and get 3/4 of it at hot is no longer happening.
Lately, i have been noticing it doesn't really get past halfway on hot/cold pointer when idle. The only symptoms i do still see is that there are bubbles still forming up from time to time in the radiator cap. Nearly, all combustion, pressure tests and/or coolant bleeds have been regularly performed. My car use to loose coolant within 72 hours, now its lasting almost a week after nearly 400 mi of driving/week. In and about after a week, i do need to add water, and i do find that the radiator cap coolant has pretty much completely used up and needs to be filled up all way to the top inside the radiator cap area.Yes there is oil leak around the head cover valve area and drips at a drop a day rate.
Just a hunch that just becoz bubbles are there that its not necessarily a Head gasket. need lot more convincing than that!!!!!!
I have to do all this only becoz i am not a mechanic myself & everything i do whether its diagnostics or thermostat replacement egr valve cleaning or valve cover change i have to budget $$$$ for it..It does get expensive over time. Head Gasket repairs start at or near $600 & can go upto $1350 at many mechanic shops.
I would so much hate having spent this money in repairs only to find out that it really wasnt the HG. Just to have a mechanic take out the head for re-surfacing and/or put it back is quoted to me nearly $300.

04 Honda Civic

iTrader: (2)

Head gasket or not its not a wise idea to drive while you are overheating.

palsana

u r absolutely right honda civic 04. My problem is really to actually believe that it is overheating? i left my car running with radiator cap open for half an hour with my A/c on full HEAT and i noticed/read as if the heat/cold pointer never went beyond half>?
is it a overheating problem? i can definitely confirm that BUBBLES R THERE!!!!!!..most certainly!!!! is it head gasket?

anibis

If you keep the air out of the system and coolant full it wont overheat.

The more you drive on the highway, the more coolant it will burn and the more air will get in the system. It may not leak at all when idling.

Once my '05 is warmed up the temp gauge stays a couple lines below half at all times.

If you have a constant problem with air in the system and no visible leaks its the HG.

palsana

If you have a constant problem with air in the system and no visible leaks its the HG.

You mean air bubbles when you say air in the system!!!!!.Well the reservoir tank never emptied out but water in form of soap froth would come out of radiator cap and overflow. That has been constant when left the cap off. Water/coolant would also evaporate and lose a little amount upon leaving it on for half an hour. just a little bit!!!!!.
Is a compression test & a leak detection test an assurance over & above the air in the system to conclude its head gasket? what kind of readings from compression test & leak detection tests confirm its the HG.

palsana

UPDATE: 07/12/2012
Want to believe that my overheating problem has been resolved with installing engine mount & Valve cover gasket replaced.
Have replaced the engine mount completely. Had Valve cover gasket replaced (using silicon gel). The car starts and does not overheat, however, the problem of shifting still remains. the car runs perfectly in reverse gear but when put into "D" or "D2" it struggles to fall into gear but after pushing it for very long it does move just a little bit!!!!!!. I was able to start the car, take it to a grocery store nearby (1/4 mi away) but the gears did not fall in place and had to push/push/push on gas pedal real hard and it would pick up. Parked it at store, left it running for 4-5mins and started back home, and the same thing the car when put in D2 or D would have a very hard time moving ahead/forward and when taking on & off & on & off your feet from gas pedal it will move. Did that & went about 200 feet into reverse in my place and it ran very smoothly in reverse gear.
After lots of research on civic forums these r the things i am waiting to be done

1) O2 sensor downstream
2) Fuel Filter-Strainer/fuel pressure Regulator cleanup. (neverv ever done during 10 years of owning this car)
3) Transmission Shift Solenoid (Code P0730)
4) NGK Iridium Spark Plugs change
5) A/C Compressor install
6) iac Valve (code P0505)

I am waiting on finding out new CEL codes after installing engine mount & valve cover gasket. Help me priortize what should be installed in order for me to be able to run the car for a while. If i can't have this car running, i end up in a 'RENTAL CAR" on weekends only. HELP!!!!!!!!!!!

ANYONE STILL THINK IT COULD BE THE "head gasket"...








I have completed my tests on Head Gasket for my 03 Civic EX 4dr.

It turns out that i neded to change the radiator cap &/or reservoir tank. Other than bubbles, nothing else like combustion test, fuel pressure tests or fan motor, fan relay fan fuse or fan temp sensor thermostat all looked original & good. there sure seems to be a leak,(maybe a vaccum leak somewhere that i havent yet gotten to) however the engine mount (rear) was completely broken, the wire harness to Map Sensor was seperated by wires & the redwire was broken up but other wires looked ok and overall it was swollen (the rubber covering was swollen thru which all three color wires run). I suppose that putting a lot of pressure on the engine and the rear mount may be causing the motor to shake/vibrate/rattle when A/c is on. the IAC valve & throttle body gave good readings as to opening/closing. Yes there is leak around the cylinder head cover and I plan on putting a FelPro Gasket to it.
also, the sparkplugs did not have any coolant but had seriously corroded color in around the coils with the spark area showing tear on its edges in cylinder 1 &3 but 2 & 4 seemed ok. Half the bottom of spark area had corroded color & half of it was white. There was lots of corrosion color/tobacco dust color on the threads of spark plug coils). The dipstick on the engine oil does not show chocolaty brown color either &/or the transmission dipstick was left open for a while (not air tight) & getting a new dipstick replaced.( I am aware of threads here on civic forum regarding T-Dipsticks) also, getting the fuel hose replaced, it seems for some reason there is sort of narrowing of the fuel hose (rubber material) & it looks as though it was sipping more gas then necessary. there is no liquid inside the spark plugs. I have yet to bleed/burp coolant out, i like to do that after i have put on a new OEM radiator cap.

Now in regards to Transmissioni i am told to work on P0730 code it may be a good idea to start from replacing Shift Solenoid and test it? What do you guys think? Its costs nearly nearly damn $200 & i am questioning it. Its still cheaper than re-built though.

Attached is the pic for wiring to Map Sensor? To replace it, AdvanceAuto describes item as Map Sensor Harness for 685 Haywire Ignition System, is that what it is? I suggested it be replaced versus repaired? $ 35 cost.

What do you think?

AGreenWon

I have a 1998 Honda Civic DX. It has been overheating at an idle for 6 months. We have changed out the cooling fan twice, the thermostat twice, the cooling fan switch and both sending units to the cooling fan. We changed the radiator to a dual core (it hold 2 quarts more) and the overheating at an idle continued. We were left thinking it was the water pump or the head gasket...until, the exhaust system fell off the car. When we had the exhaust system replaced, the heating at an idle issue is gone. I think the gasket to the exhaust in the block was compromised.

dsensente

well, i think all the research i made before buying my car 2 month ago didn't work, i had a 99 Toyota corolla and it ran really good but i started to have some oil problems in the engine so i decided to sell it. i always wanted to have a civic so i started to research for a good reliable and affordable Honda, i came across a 2003 Honda civic coupe EX that was for sale in the Toyota of Pasadena...car fax available, one owner, automatic (i prefer stick shift) with only 92xxx miles. i did found out that this cars are well known for having transmission problems but i was confident that i made a good buy since is a BIG dealership and i even got and additional warranty since the salesperson at Toyota said that it will cover engine and transmission...well now 2 month down the road i noticed the coolant reservoir was overflowing but no overheating and that's when i started to look on line for the answer to that problem before taking it to the dealer...big surprise all the posts said Head Gasket problems, took it to Honda dealership and they confirmed the head gasket was bad, repair cost $2600 (HG,water pump,timing belt, thert. fan switch etc..)and to make things worse the additional insurance that was sold to me buy Toyota DO NOT cover head gaskets ..@%$#* out luck!

Eric Otto

It is one of the great mysteries for me this is. It has not be cheap. The car runs very well except for the coolant problem.

This is what has been replaced: HG, thermostat twice, engine heat sensor, heat sensor relay, reservoir tank cap twice, radiator cap, water-pump, and drive train was changed because the engine was open.

Not exactly sure where the fluid is leaving. If the car sits in idle at the repair shop it doesn't seem to do much leaking if at all. If I drive on the interstate for say 100 miles and get off, that is where it heats up and needle go up. There is a loss of fluid. They ran a wet-dry test on the cylinders, the numbers were good and in specification for compression.

I'm aware that the fluid is down because the heater/defroster stay cool except when the car is moving. That is how I first noticed the problem.

Some people have talked about something to do with the exhaust. If you have more details, it would be appreciated. The car work well and drives well. This is annoying and would just like it over with.

Are there any bulletins from HONDA on this? Should we be filing NHTSA complaints?

Eric Otto

PS Never really saw any HG seal problems but replaced it anyway.

revr63ed7

I totally agree but how many people do you know that have a precision straightedge lying around? Take the head to someone who has one and ask them to check it. It may cost a few bucks but you can't tell 2 to 4 thousanths of an inch without one.