Head gasket maybe?
 

short and sweet for ya! 01 civic 130k miles. driving and coolant will fill the reserve tank after about 20 miles or so. At stops it will get a little hotter. had timing belt water pump belts done at 100k. recently did t-stat but made no difference. I am suspecting it is a warped head or gasket. what else could it be? any suggestions are appreciated otherwise i am diving into a head job and don't want to.

Re: Head gasket maybe?
 

how much hotter does it get? and by fill the reserve you mean just fill from the min mark to the full mark, right?

Re: Head gasket maybe?
 

try a new radiator cap first. are there other signs of headgasket failure? white smoke from the exhaust, white deposits on the spark plugs, misfires on cold start, coolant loss (burning, not leaking out), low compression on one or more cylinders, coolant mixed with oil (milky oil), or poor driveability?

Re: Head gasket maybe?
 

When i blew mine it would over flow out the reserve tank. Never had any coolant in my oil or had any white smoke. Pop the rad cap when engine is cold start the car and see if there is any air bubles if there is it's could be your head gasket.

Re: Head gasket maybe?
 

^ Just had mine replaced two months ago do to a slightly warped head. Just over heating, coolant coming out the tank and bubbles. Get a compression test kit. They are cheap and will tell you if it's the problem. I had no other symptoms.

Re: Head gasket maybe?
 

How much hotter? about 3/4 up the gauge. normally stays right in the middle.
reserve tank- start at min level and then it fills up on its own and I mean coming out the cap full. Already did new cap and t-stat. Other symptoms are yes, misfire on cylinder #3 on cold start.

I just dropped it off at a place who uses a very sensitive gas analyzer to sniff the radiator/reserve tank for gases. He said if it is positive for exhaust gases then yes it will need a head gasket.

Re: Head gasket maybe?
 

It does sound like a head gasket but you should check your compression or have someone check it for you, that'll tell you for sure.

Re: Head gasket maybe?
 

okay well they checked with gas analyzer and compression. definitely a head gasket! I knew it! I am going to have them do it. We worked out a deal on the parts so I am saving a few hundred bucks.

Thanks for everybody's help.

Re: Head gasket maybe?
 

I think my head gasket went, how much does a job like this go for??????? I have changed the t-stat, radiator, water pump and my car still over heats??? First post and thanks for any help.

Re: Head gasket maybe?
 

the labor is going to be 350 and I am paying 197 for felpro head set, 32 for bolt set and 80 machine shop charge. Just under 700 basically. I can think of a hundred different things I would like to spend 700 on!

Re: Head gasket maybe?
 

thats a "fair" price, although the fel pro head gasket set from autozone is only like $140 here, $80 machine shop charge is not bad, but that depends on what theyre doing. and $32 for the head bolts is really cheap, i spent $55 at the dealer for mine. Sucks when a head gasket goes out, but atleast you know you wont have to worry about it again.

Re: Head gasket maybe?
 

Fix it yourself, or get a qualified mechanic to do it as a side job. I got a local guy to come and do mine for 200 bucks(nz dollars so less there probably) and gasket 270, the shops were tryna charge me 1200. It's easy if someone knows what they're doing, took us 7 hours.

Re: Head gasket maybe?
 

Having the same problem on a stock 2005 civic with 78k. I got it about 6 months ago and it's my first Honda. I've known so many people who have loved theirs, I figured it make for a reliable used car. I had the issue with coolant spraying everywhere and my mechanic replaced the radiator cap. It did it again 200 miles later and this time I lost heat. The temp jumped way up on the way to the shop but not quite to the point of overheating then dropped back down. They found hydrocarbons in the emissions and did a test and found the head gasket leaking on the #2 and 3 cylinders. I'm really surprised to have this sort of problem with such low mileage. Mine's at the shop now but will Honda help out at all with this? Is there somewhere to "log" the problem so they know how many people are having this problem?

Re: Head gasket maybe?
 

i changed headgasket around 60k miles. it may be the casting on the head isnt as smooth as it should be and causing them to leak thru the gasket. make sure they send the head to a machine shop for testing and milling the mating surface.