87 Civic Overheating

For the past few months (since winter really kicked in up here), my temp.
gauge will be right in the middle most of the time while driving.

However, when I have it parked and leave it running, even only for a minute
or two, the temp. gauge will quickly rise to the red line.

It doesn't matter if it's been running for hours or just a couple minutes
before parking it either. Or in some cases now that the weather is back to
summer conditions, if I just start it in the morning and have it running
while I get stuff organized for a few minutes it'll start to overheat then
as well.

Once I get moving again, it goes back down to the middle again and stays
there.

Before winter though (I've only had the car since April), the temp. gauge
would normally only be about a quarter of the way up... whether driving or
parked. Although it has always had a "hot smell" to it after driving for a
while in the summer then walking around the hood, possibly because I was
still re-learning how to drive a standard properly.

Any suggestions on what the problem might be? I'm not the mechanically
gifted type so I could use all the help I can get.

Thanks,
Chris

 

Thermostat, cooling fan, or coolig fan sensor.

The first tings I would try.

G-Man

 

It sounds like the coolant is low and you have a bubble in the coolant. A
coolant flow problem is the only explanation (other than a bad head gasket
ot cracked head, which show up as overheating while driving) for it to heat
that rapidly, and since it happens at low engine speeds rather than on the
road we can expect the water pump isn't overcoming the bubble at idle.

Start with adding 50/50 mix of antifreeze and deionized water to the cold
radiator to top it up, and ensure the recovery tank is filled to the cold
line. This is a good time to replace the radiator cap if the gaskets are
hardened or cracked. Get a genuine Honda cap - many aftermarket caps are
really funky. I'm not familiar with your model - you may have a bleed valve
to let trapped air out also. Anyway, see what that does for you and watch
for drips or puddles of antifreeze under your car. Refill the radiator the
next couple of days anyway in case the bubble is working its way into the
radiator and see how it goes from there.

Mike

 

The '87 Civic does indeed have a bleed valve for the cooling system. It is
part #10 in this diagram http://tinyurl.com/5fono. I've found that trapped
air bubbles will rarely work themselves out of a Honda cooling system and
that the bleed valve must be used.

Eric

 

it's your thermostat sticking. i had one of those civics for 6 years. i had
to replace the thermostat in it once and it went back to normal. don't let
it overheat or it could cause some damage.

-jeff