Honda civic cooling system?????

Hey wats going on HONDA EXperts. IM a girl looking for answers!

Well i have a Honda civic 1997 DX. I recently replaced the radiator because
my old on cracked due to overheating issues and it was old. So:
-i went ahead and replaced the thermostat because it continued overheating.
it kept overheadig until the waterhoses busted.
-i replaced the waterhoses. it seemed like the car was building up excessive
pressure. i noticed everytime i would take off the cap of the radiator.
- the problem continued. so i replaced the water pump thinking maybe it was
the problem
- it continued with the excessive amount of preassure, i will notice because
the hoses will get real swollen
-at this point i left it alone i had ran out of ideas!!!

Quick facts... the radiator fan is rig because i wouldnt turn ON on its own
so it always turns on as soon as i turn on the key ! i tought maybe the
sensor is out. AND my biggest problem for now and i REALLY want to fix if
possible, the temperature GAUGE on the dash doesnt work at all it has been on
cool the whole time its like it doesnt read it.

PLEASE HELP!! wat do i replace? MY motor is fine AUTOZONE test it with that
computer they have. they say it is the coolant system ... so wat else do i do?
???

 

head gasket's gone.

 

Is the thermostat a genuine Honda one? Is the radiator cap a
genuine Honda one? If not, then these parts will set you
back maybe $35 total.

Genuine Honda parts (also known as "OEM" for "original
equipment manufacturer") are strongly recommended for these.

 

Okay, so you think that is the reason why it keeps making that excessive
air/preassure? and you know what else i noticedm, only the top water hose
from the radiator to the head gets hot and the bottom one close to the
thermostat stays cooled? what does that mean?

 

Well, no, the Radiator i purchased was online. Its for a HONDA but its those
alluminum ones. I thought maybe these where better, maybe they wouldnt crack
and last longer, and it actually already came with a cap, and the thermostat
i just bought it at CHECKERS or AutoZONE i dont even remember.

 

It means the thermostat hasn't opened yet. If the engine has been driven
sufficient to warm it up all the way and the lower hose is still cold, the
thermostat is not open, which is very bad and will cause overheating.

Are you using an aftermarket thermostat? If so, that's bad too. Aftermarket
thermostats are notoriously horrible, often defective right out of the box.

 

Aftermarket rads are often pretty good quality and cost way less than OEM
ones.

Get rid of that aftermarket thermostat and rad cap. Those have probably
been your problem all along.

 

where do i get a the correct rad cap and thermostat? and anyways... what
about my gauge? i cant even tell by looking at it while i am driving if its
overheating? how do i fix that problem?

 

it means the thermostat's not opening. that may be normal - it's hard
to get the motor hot enough, especially this time of year, for that to
happen if it's just sitting in your driveway. that said, tegger's
right, aftermarket thermostats and radiator caps tend to be awful and
very unreliable - genuine honda are your best bet. tegger.com is the
place to go for a list of online retailers we've all used and have good
experience with.

getting back to your car, the definitive way to say for sure about the
head gasket is to do a chemical test of the coolant to see if there are
exhaust hydrocarbons present. but that's usually best in the early
stages. by the sound of things, your head gasket problem is getting
quite advanced - if so, you'll usually get symptoms of excess pressure,
and bubbling in the expansion bottle, assuming the radiator cap is
opening correctly, and no chemical test will be necessary.

head gasket is unfortunately quite expensive if done by a shop. if you
have the skills, and the workshop manual, you can do this job yourself,
but it will take the better part of a day and you need to know what
you're doing. [don't use any abrasives!!!] if having the job done by
someone else, do your math homework first. most shops charge a lot in
labor, and routinely do work not always necessary or recommended,
namely, skimming the head. otoh, a jdm import for your non-performance
replacement is available for $400-$500, so price out the labor of buying
and fitting that vs. the many hours necessary to clean and prep a head,
maybe skim, ready for re-fitting.

and for the future, the probable cause is the cracked radiator allowing
the motor to overheat. once that happens, it breaks the seal on the
head, and it will slowly start to leak. it may take a year or more, but
from that point, the gasket will inevitably get to the replacement
point. for the sake of a hundred or so bucks, replacing the radiator
every 10 years is great preventive maintenance.

 

The correct thermostat and rad cap are only available at your local Honda
dealer.

Get those replaced first, then see if the gauge starts working again. I
suspect it will.

 

or an online Honda parts dealer.

Shouldn't the temp guage work(indicate engine temp) regardless of the
condition of the thermostat and radiator cap? He could have a bad temp
sensor or have a broken wire
(or they left off the connector when installing the radiator?)

He might test the temp guage and sensor before he restarts the
engine.(doing more damage)
pull the sensor,heat it and see if the temp guage works.

 

To back up Tegger's points, over the years this newsgroup's
posts have mostly or entirely given their blessing to
aftermarket radiators. Aftermarket radiators are much
cheaper and apparently work as well.

But aftermarket thermostats and radiator caps are a no-no.
Get OEM. If you want, tell us the city or nearest cities to
where you are, and we might be able to help you find a Honda
dealer near you that sells parts at discounted online
prices. Dealers selling online are the latest trend in Honda
parts.

Or just call your nearest Honda dealer and ask the price of
these parts. You want the prices to be close to the
following, from the online dealer slhondaparts.com

thermostat = $13.26
thermostat gasket = $2.51 (required!)
radiator cap = $10.61
UPS ground shipping and handling figure $8 (the price to my
western state)
Total = about $35

And yes, replace these first, then see how your dashboard
temperature gage works. (Jim Yanik's point is well taken.
But I take the view of troubleshooting one step at a time,
in particular establishing a "benchmark" of parts that are
known to work, in this case an OEM thermostat and rad cap.
Whereas the non-OEM versions of these are frequently
suspect.)

 

Everyone is so helpful. Well I am in TUCSON AZ. I do know where the honda
dealership is located. Thanks.
Anywho the tempeture guage on my cluster NEVER worked, the previous owner
said one day it went out and never fixed it. I would like to know where the
sensor is located so i can replace it or test it out see if it works, better
yet what is the proper name for it. I just have this thing that i really want
to fix it, its bothering me.

 

The gauge sensor is usually located at the rear (passenger side) of the head,
just forward of the thermostat housing. These do not usually go bad at all. I
suspect the original owner unplugged it so as to cover up the overheating, so
look for disconnected wires/connectors in that location.

 

okay, so i notice when i took of the thermostat the housing part that comes
of (like the other half, there is a switch/sensor which sticks out from it.)
from what i thought this switch/sensor is for the radiator fan, it tells it
when to turn on. IS this the same sensor for the temperature guage?

 

aren't the engine coolant temp sensor(ECT) and the temp gauge
sensor("sending unit") separate?
the ECT feeds the ECU,and the temp gauge sensor feeds the gauge directly.
Also,the ECT is a OFF/ON switch,and the temp sensor is a thermistor.

that's how it shows in my Haynes manual for Integra and 96-00 Civic.

According to that manual,the temp gauge sending unit has a single wire and
is next to the distributor,the ECT is on the thermostat housing,has a 2-
wire conector

 

The illustrations and tests at the following site may help:
http://media.honda.co.uk/car/owner/media/manuals/CivicManual/pdf/23-a123.pdf

The Factory Service manual for your 97 Civic DX is available
at http://www.honda.co.uk/car/owner/workshop.html

 

Even better illustration:

http://media.honda.co.uk/car/owner/media/manuals/CivicManual/pdf/10-9.pdf

and OEM part #s and prices may be had at

http://www.bkhondaparts.com/ , under "Water Pump-Sensor"

 

Cessi wrote:

----------------------

If the system would never turn on the fan, and the gauuge always shows
COLD, it sounds like you've always had AIR in the system since the rad
was repaired. The reservoir has to be kept at MAX (per the owner's
manual) whenever you've had work done on the cooling system. Yes, you'll
blow up (old) hoses if the system is full of air and the thermostat
can't open if it's not immersed in hot water.

If it was mine, I'd top up the rad _and reservoir_ DAILY and see how
long it takes to stop 'sipping' coolant. As the air is displaced the
coolant level drops overnight.

'Curly'