What would you do if you were me. Car overheating.
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What would you do if you were me. Car overheating.
Own 2002 Honda Civic EX (speedometer, Odometer, AC broken). The current problem is the car is overheating. I'm not experienced at fixing cars; but I did read and trouble shoot to the level of my ability (which is low).
- Car heated. First time noticed, car vibrated abnormally (has not done it since), opened up the hood and smoke was rising from below battery and there was sizzling from behind engine.
- Topped up coolant and it leaked out in two places: 1) the overflow (below the battery area); 2) at the rear, or bottom of engine area. I did jack-up my car and look underneath, it was tough to see if it was coming out of a tube back there or if it was coming directly from the engine housing, or perhaps a clean white cap connected to back of engine.
- The radiator fans are not working either, I could not get either to come on. I did not trouble shoot their cause.
Nothing has been mechanically done yet. Reading forums, a lot of times people replace thing after thing only to realize it's a blown HG (in which case I would sell or scrap the car). I didn't want to waste too much money unless more experienced people thought it was worthwhile.
I wanted to ask your advice on where you would go from here... Thanks!
- Car heated. First time noticed, car vibrated abnormally (has not done it since), opened up the hood and smoke was rising from below battery and there was sizzling from behind engine.
- Topped up coolant and it leaked out in two places: 1) the overflow (below the battery area); 2) at the rear, or bottom of engine area. I did jack-up my car and look underneath, it was tough to see if it was coming out of a tube back there or if it was coming directly from the engine housing, or perhaps a clean white cap connected to back of engine.
- The radiator fans are not working either, I could not get either to come on. I did not trouble shoot their cause.
Nothing has been mechanically done yet. Reading forums, a lot of times people replace thing after thing only to realize it's a blown HG (in which case I would sell or scrap the car). I didn't want to waste too much money unless more experienced people thought it was worthwhile.
I wanted to ask your advice on where you would go from here... Thanks!
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Re: What would you do if you were me. Car overheating.
Own 2002 Honda Civic EX (speedometer, Odometer, AC broken). The current problem is the car is overheating. I'm not experienced at fixing cars; but I did read and trouble shoot to the level of my ability (which is low).
- Car heated. First time noticed, car vibrated abnormally (has not done it since), opened up the hood and smoke was rising from below battery and there was sizzling from behind engine.
- Topped up coolant and it leaked out in two places: 1) the overflow (below the battery area); 2) at the rear, or bottom of engine area. I did jack-up my car and look underneath, it was tough to see if it was coming out of a tube back there or if it was coming directly from the engine housing, or perhaps a clean white cap connected to back of engine.
- The radiator fans are not working either, I could not get either to come on. I did not trouble shoot their cause.
Nothing has been mechanically done yet. Reading forums, a lot of times people replace thing after thing only to realize it's a blown HG (in which case I would sell or scrap the car). I didn't want to waste too much money unless more experienced people thought it was worthwhile.
I wanted to ask your advice on where you would go from here... Thanks!
- Car heated. First time noticed, car vibrated abnormally (has not done it since), opened up the hood and smoke was rising from below battery and there was sizzling from behind engine.
- Topped up coolant and it leaked out in two places: 1) the overflow (below the battery area); 2) at the rear, or bottom of engine area. I did jack-up my car and look underneath, it was tough to see if it was coming out of a tube back there or if it was coming directly from the engine housing, or perhaps a clean white cap connected to back of engine.
- The radiator fans are not working either, I could not get either to come on. I did not trouble shoot their cause.
Nothing has been mechanically done yet. Reading forums, a lot of times people replace thing after thing only to realize it's a blown HG (in which case I would sell or scrap the car). I didn't want to waste too much money unless more experienced people thought it was worthwhile.
I wanted to ask your advice on where you would go from here... Thanks!
so if your not into spending 1500+ get rid of it
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You most likely have a blown head gasket. But, if you do the repairs yourself, you are only looking at less than $250 for the parts.
Gasket set- $100-150
Head studs- $90 for oem, like $120 for arp?
If you don't want to fix it, sell it to somebody that will, they will give you more than scrap price
Gasket set- $100-150
Head studs- $90 for oem, like $120 for arp?
If you don't want to fix it, sell it to somebody that will, they will give you more than scrap price
If you think a good mechanic is expensive, try hiring a bad one
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You most likely have a blown head gasket. But, if you do the repairs yourself, you are only looking at less than $250 for the parts.
Gasket set- $100-150
Head studs- $90 for oem, like $120 for arp?
If you don't want to fix it, sell it to somebody that will, they will give you more than scrap price
Gasket set- $100-150
Head studs- $90 for oem, like $120 for arp?
If you don't want to fix it, sell it to somebody that will, they will give you more than scrap price
ARP head studs, although unneeded, is $124 plus shipping from dezod.. THMotorsports is down at the moment, but they have free shipping over $100. OEM is only $43 plus shipping from majestic.
The procedure for replacing a head gasket isn't terribly hard, just VERY time consuming and requires you to keep track of a LOT of nuts, bolts, and parts.
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Thank you for the feedback. I'm not likely to have much luck changing a head gasket when I've never changed my own oil...
Before scrapping it, would you recommend I take it into someone to look for a leak near the backside of the engine? Would you buy a head gasket tester kit and try that? At this point I am self-diagnosing the car based on what I've read, to what level would you have the car inspected before you said.... sell it broken or scrap it.
I also thought about letting it sit through the winter and then running it off water in the summer for short back & forth trips to work... thoughts?
Thanks again.
Before scrapping it, would you recommend I take it into someone to look for a leak near the backside of the engine? Would you buy a head gasket tester kit and try that? At this point I am self-diagnosing the car based on what I've read, to what level would you have the car inspected before you said.... sell it broken or scrap it.
I also thought about letting it sit through the winter and then running it off water in the summer for short back & forth trips to work... thoughts?
Thanks again.
Re: What would you do if you were me. Car overheating.
I'd buy a used engine for it from a scrap yard and just install it. Honestly it's probably cheaper than diagnosing everything and getting it fixed. Should only cost you about 2000. Try to find the lowest mileage one around and even if you want get the HG replaced on it before you install it. No need to get rid of the car if its mechanically sound otherwise (Suspension, brakes, body, etc.) Speedo + AC shouldnt be too hard to fix.
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