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Overheating.... Head Gasket?


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jttkach
New User

Apr 13, 2013, 3:00 PM

Post #1 of 4 (1854 views)
Overheating.... Head Gasket? Sign In

Hello everyone,

I have a 2003 Honda Civic LX with a 1.7 L engine and 140,000 miles and it is having some overheating issues.

Background service history/problems:

Summer 2011 - Overheating, cause: bad fan switch.

Summer 2012 - Flushed coolant system (preventative maintenance)

Early Fall 2012 - Car started overheating when at stop lights. Heater wouldn't work when at stop lights. A friend and I changed the thermostat. It seemed to be fixed for about a month.

Fall 2012 - Car started overheating when at stop lights again. Heater wouldn't work when at stop lights. I took it to a shop and they said it needed the system bled so they did that. Checked radiator fan and radiator pressure. It seemed to fix the problem for about a month.

Early Winter 2012 - Car started overheating at stop lights again. No heat at stop lights again. I took it to the shop a second time and they bled the system again. Checked radiator fan and radiator pressure. It seemed to work for about a month.

Late Winter 2013 - Car started overheating again. Same symptoms. They added coolant and said I was about a 1/2 gallon low. They think it is possibly a head gasket because the fan and pressure are fine and yet it is losing coolant.

Spring 2013 - I brought a "combustion leak tester kit" and had trouble using it due to the suction inside the radiator being too strong for the kit pump to pull air out of the radiator. The problem hasn't returned yet but summer is just around the corner and I want this to be taken care of.

Any thoughts? What about liquid head gasket repair kits? Other possible reasons for having this problem?

Thanks!


Discretesignals
Ultimate Carjunky / Moderator
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Apr 14, 2013, 8:30 AM

Post #2 of 4 (1798 views)
Re: Overheating.... Head Gasket? Sign In

The shop needs to figure out why your loosing coolant. Are you loosing it because the engine is burning it or is it leaking externally.

Block test only checks for combustion gasses in the coolant system. Have them remove the spark plugs and leave the coolant system pressurized overnight. Next morning see if there is any coolant down in the cylinders.

Stay away from head gasket sealing chemicals. They aren't a permanent fix and usually cause more troubles than they solve.





Since we volunteer our time and knowledge, we ask for you to please follow up when a problem is resolved.


Tom Greenleaf
Ultimate Carjunky / Moderator
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Apr 14, 2013, 9:06 AM

Post #3 of 4 (1790 views)
Re: Overheating.... Head Gasket? Sign In

Just a comment on heater not working: If coolant is boiling it will not throw heat, OR if it's low. Either reason needs to be diagnosed and fixed as DS just said,

T



nickwarner
Veteran / Moderator
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Apr 14, 2013, 8:44 PM

Post #4 of 4 (1771 views)
Re: Overheating.... Head Gasket? Sign In

Have you ever done the timing belt on this? Timing belt drives the water pump and if the water pump is getting bad you need to do the whole kit. It the belt has never been serviced you need the whole kit anyhow or you are likely to bend your valves any time now. That gets very expensive.






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