99 civic woes

Good morning all,

Well my sis has finally decided she doesn't need a car. More like
she's finally realized there is no way (or need) for her to afford
insurance and maintenance on a 9 year old vehicle and a bad driving
record.

She bought the car in 2001 with 120000kms on it from a reputable Honda
dealer. However, on my initial inspection (she bought the car before
I was able to inspect), noticed that the maintenance that had been
done to it up to that point was obviously not done at the dealership.
The battery was A/M (not a huge indicator but nonetheless), the t-belt
was A/M, the tires were all the wrong size (instead of P185 65R14,
they were P175 70R14, and really bad tires too). The car just did not
give me a great feeling.

Of course I told her to ask the dealership if the t-belt had been
done, and also what they did to it to get it saleable. Sounds like
they pretty much washed it and put it on the lot.

She started getting CELs about 3 years down the road. P01857. She
still drives with the CEL on to this day.

Also, at about 170000kms, the timing belt snapped. Shouldn't have
happened, but without the actual work history on the vehicle, it was
the roll of a dice. They fixed the car (she was married at this
point), 3 new valves, timing covers and crank angle sensor. $1700.

About a year or so after the t-belt repair, she started complaining
that the car was running hot, and that the rad was boiling when she
pulled over. The rad needed regular fill ups, but the coolant bottle
never overflowed. There is no coolant in the oil, but there does
appear to be a little oil in the coolant. Also noticed that the
little rubber hose that goes to the bottom of the coolant overflow
bottle was not connected. I have reconnected it now. Not sure how
many times she overheated the car. Very frustrating... who drives a
car that is overheating?!?!!?!

OK, so based on my novel above, here is the info I am looking for:

1. Cooling system issues - any pointers on diagnosing this issue are
appreciated. It could be a head gasket, and it is suspect since it
was replaced a couple years ago, but not all the symptoms are present,
and it seems sporadic as to when it decides to overheat. Rad cap is
new, thermostat has not been replaced. When I step on the gas with
the rad cap off, it definitely bubbles up, but I don't know if this is
an indication of bad head gasket, or just normal operation.

2. P01857 - Evaporative system fault. Please let me know what I need
to look at on the evap system to repair this. I have checked for
vacuum leaks, found nothing. Is there something simple I am
overlooking here?

Thanks for everyone's help.

Terry in Winnipeg (trying to cross post, but am at work and do not
have a news reader!)

 

wrote in :

You mean P1857? No such code on Hondas.

DTCs are one letter and four numbers. You have an extra digit in there.

Uh-oh. Coolant was being pushed out but could not go back in again. Very
very bad.

Is the hose from rad cap to reservoir cap intact?

A lot of people. So long as the car keeps running, they keep driving.

Is the thermostat aftermarket?

When the engine is overheating, can you make the temperature decline by
turning on the interior heater and fan full blast? Or do you need to rev
it to get the temperature down?

Does it overheat in heavy traffic? When idling? Anytime?

Specific details on the exact nature of the overheating will help in
diagnosis.

Recheck that code number. It's formatted incorrectly.

You've successfully x-posted to two groups.

 

wrote in :

You mean P1857? No such code on Hondas.

DTCs are one letter and four numbers. You have an extra digit in there.

Uh-oh. Coolant was being pushed out but could not go back in again. Very
very bad.

Is the hose from rad cap to reservoir cap intact?

A lot of people. So long as the car keeps running, they keep driving.

Is the thermostat aftermarket?

When the engine is overheating, can you make the temperature decline by
turning on the interior heater and fan full blast? Or do you need to rev
it to get the temperature down?

Does it overheat in heavy traffic? When idling? Anytime?

Specific details on the exact nature of the overheating will help in
diagnosis.

Recheck that code number. It's formatted incorrectly.

You've successfully x-posted to two groups.

 

OK. Finally got to change the thermostat and coolant in this car. It
still overheats. I'm pretty sure its the head gasket. All I did was
start it up and drive up on some ramps, turned it off and when I went
to open the rad, it was under a lot of pressure. So I'm guessing that
exhaust is getting into the coolant. The old coolant was pretty dirty
as well, and the coolant resevoir kept filling up, though it never
overflowed that I could tell.

Not sure if I want to tackle a head gasket on this car... any
pointers? There's a guy down the road from me that works at an Acura
dealer and fixes stuff in his home shop on the side. Gonna go talk to
him to see what he thinks...

thanks
t

 

OK. Finally got to change the thermostat and coolant in this car. It
still overheats. I'm pretty sure its the head gasket. All I did was
start it up and drive up on some ramps, turned it off and when I went
to open the rad, it was under a lot of pressure. So I'm guessing that
exhaust is getting into the coolant. The old coolant was pretty dirty
as well, and the coolant resevoir kept filling up, though it never
overflowed that I could tell.

Not sure if I want to tackle a head gasket on this car... any
pointers? There's a guy down the road from me that works at an Acura
dealer and fixes stuff in his home shop on the side. Gonna go talk to
him to see what he thinks...

thanks
t

 

definitely sounds like head gasket. you can do it yourself, but it's
not for the faint hearted or inexperienced. you'll need some special
tools as well.

that said, i recommend it if you want to save some money and enjoy
working on your car. allow /plenty/ of time - this is not a quickie
job. or alternatively, price simply replacing the motor with a low
mileage used one from japan. the economics are very competitive.

google this group for some write-ups on doing this job. and one more
thing almost no shop will ever tell you: avoid getting the head skimmed
if you can possibly avoid it. almost all shops skim as a matter of
course because it makes /their/ job so much easier, but it's bad for the
head, [it's never finished like the original and so starts to leak again
after a while] and it slightly alters both the cylinder compression and
valve timing. the head won't be warped if it wasn't over-heated, and
it'll clean up ok with judicious use of spray-on gasket remover and a
fine blade scraper. do NOT use abrasives in the cleaning process. they
end up residing in the cylinder, wearing the cylinder wall and rings,
and wearing out your motor double-quick.

the write-up in the honda workshop manual is the best you can get.

 

definitely sounds like head gasket. you can do it yourself, but it's
not for the faint hearted or inexperienced. you'll need some special
tools as well.

that said, i recommend it if you want to save some money and enjoy
working on your car. allow /plenty/ of time - this is not a quickie
job. or alternatively, price simply replacing the motor with a low
mileage used one from japan. the economics are very competitive.

google this group for some write-ups on doing this job. and one more
thing almost no shop will ever tell you: avoid getting the head skimmed
if you can possibly avoid it. almost all shops skim as a matter of
course because it makes /their/ job so much easier, but it's bad for the
head, [it's never finished like the original and so starts to leak again
after a while] and it slightly alters both the cylinder compression and
valve timing. the head won't be warped if it wasn't over-heated, and
it'll clean up ok with judicious use of spray-on gasket remover and a
fine blade scraper. do NOT use abrasives in the cleaning process. they
end up residing in the cylinder, wearing the cylinder wall and rings,
and wearing out your motor double-quick.

the write-up in the honda workshop manual is the best you can get.