TheNasty0ne

94 Honda accord changed the thermostat still overheats at a standstill. But when you start driving again the temp guage goes back down

Very hard starts in the morning...and there is less coolant after 2-3 weeks of driving.

Is it a bad head gasket?

deserthonda

first off make sure both of the fans are coming on , your loss of coolant could be a slow leak or as you say it is overheating thus it will dump coolant from overflow tank ... chk radiator cap, make sure you got no leaks, make sure both fans are working

NAiL05

Last time my car did this i had to change out the fan. And check what deserthonda said for the coolant.

TheNasty0ne

I can see that a fan would cause it to overheat at a standstill but what about the hard starts in the mornings and when engine is cold... when you crank the motor it sounds like rocks are grinding.

Accord95Lxxx

yeeesh

NAiL05

Sounds like its your starter. Check if you have enough voltage in your battery.

TheNasty0ne

Brand new battery, alternator, distributor, and thermostat

Also the AC fan comes on before the radiator fan

TheNasty0ne

Takes like 564 cranks to get it started.....it sounds like it wants to start and the pistons are firing it does smoke lightly in the morning like its suppose to I guess.

98carbonaccord

have u replaced your main relay?

deserthonda

when it does not start chk to see if it is fuel or spark related,,,,,,,,,,,chk engine lite on??

AccordMD

sameting happens to my car when i park it on a flat spot or facing up hill i have to to try to park it down hill... its a head gasket.. well mine's gone.... it starts rough because the coolant is leaking back into the head and it dries on the spark plugs... it dies on the 2 and 4 for me... check ur spark plugs for any coolant

Bill Brasky

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by AccordMD &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">sameting happens to my car when i park it on a flat spot or facing up hill i have to to try to park it down hill... its a head gasket.. well mine's gone.... it starts rough because the coolant is leaking back into the head and it dries on the spark plugs... it dies on the 2 and 4 for me... check ur spark plugs for any coolant</TD></TR></TABLE>

Here are a few more tests to confirm or deny, taken from: http://www.misterfixit.com/headgskt.htm

"Sometimes the compression from the pistons blows a "hole" in the gasket allowing the compression to leak into the cooling system and coolant to leak back into the cylinder. There are a few symptoms of a blown head gasket. The first one is loss of coolant. Coolant can be lost from the leak in the gasket into the cylinder. From there it can go past the piston rings and into the crankcase or it can be forced out of the exhaust system by the action of the piston coming up on the exhaust stroke.

If the coolant enters the crankcase it mixes with engine oil. Of course oil and water don't mix very well but the presence of ethylene glycol (anti freeze) and the agitation caused by the crankshaft and other moving parts can whip the mixture of coolant and oil into a milkshake.

If the coolant is forced out of the exhaust system it is usually heated by the hot exhaust manifold and the rest of the exhaust system. This results in a sweet smelling steam emanating from the tailpipe. The steam is rather persistent, that is it will hover in the air and not dissipate like the normal steam that comes from the combustion process.

Testing an automobile engine for a blown head gasket is pretty straightforward. The first check is to see if there are combustion gasses getting into the cooling system. Take a sample of the coolant and go to the local radiator shop and request that they analyze the coolant for the presence of hydrocarbons. If they are present then it is most likely that you have a blown head gasket.

Another check is to look at the oil of a warmed up engine. The antifreeze in the oil will whip it up into a frothy brown mixture that looks like a milk shake. If it looks like chocolate mousse then you probably have a blown head gasket.

Another check is to fill the cooling system to the brim and remove the radiator cap. Do this when the engine is cool. Start the engine and race it. If there is a compression leak and the gasses are going into the cooling jacket then the gasses will displace the coolant. Since the cap is off the coolant will be pushed out of the radiator. You probably have a blown head gasket.

You can also look at the condition of the spark plugs. Any spark plug that looks different from the rest should be suspect. Of course if you can see antifreeze on a plug then you know that is the bad guy. If the plug looks cleaner than the rest or has a white powder on it then suspect that one."