Nicky3

Hi everyone. I'm new to the forum but thought this may be the place to get a legit response. I bought a 05 Civic about 6 months ago assuming it would be a reliable car. It now has 78k. After two spells of coolant spraying everywhere, coolant reservoir getting really high, loss of heat and almost overheating it's been diagnosed as a bad head gasket. It's at the shop now being replaced but this seems like a pretty major issue to have at such relatively low miles. I've noticed many others with the same issue. Is there any chance of Honda stepping in and helping out since it seems to be a know issue at this point?

Pothole987

Call a Honda dealer and tell them your situation. If they will do anything they will let you know, if not well you'll have to fix it and keep going.

Dont feel bad, guy at work bought a new mazda 5(?) and its got 5k on it nowand the motor blew up

bee guz

Do you know if the coolant was ever changed, coolant needs to be changed or it does eat things like head gaskets heater cores radiators from the inside.

Most people neglect the hell out of coolant it turns acid and eats things, 1 gal of the right coolant, and 1 gal of distilled water ever 2 years isn't going to break anyone.

Pothole987

proof? seriously.

Nicky3

I'm not sure if the coolant was ever changed. I know the previous owner took it to the dealer for maintenance so I assume if that's in the service manual it was done. I've never changed the coolant in any other cars I've owned at such a low mileage though, so I can't imagine that caused the problem. I've noticed that others are having the problem also.

@pothole987 - Your post is kind of ironic. I bought the Civic to replace my much loved Mazda that was totaled.

It Wasn't Me

Pffhaha! Hardly.

Although the previous owner of the car had taken it to the dealership for service, and seemingly took good care of the car as far as maintenance is concerned, that doesn't account for whoever may have driven the car and how hard they were on it. Their kid or young relative may have regularly borrowed the car, and let's face it, most kids beat the crap out of cars. Routine maintenance won't prevent damage from abusive driving.

There's also the slight possibility the engine was replaced with a failing one, or the mileage is incorrect because they swapped the gauge cluster. I'm not saying that's the case, but stranger things have happened. It would help explain why the gasket blew "so soon."


Hopefully it pans out and ends up being a good car for you. Good luck with it.

theineffable

blown head gaskets are often caused by other issues such as overheating.

faulty thermostats are a common cause of overheated engines. sometimes they fail open, sometimes they fail closed. sometimes they will switch between open and closed. many owners fail to notice a bad thermostat because they never watch their coolant temperature gauge. since thermostats are relatively cheap (around $20 for oem), i recommend changing it out every time the timing belt is done.

Nicholasel

perfect reason to do a K-swap , that's what i did !

Pothole987

do you want a cookie?

ken9

IF the fans doesn't come on, I'm sure the car will over heated too.. Seriously...

theineffable

depends on the situation...the fan is there mainly for cooling the engine when the car isn't traveling fast enough to air cool itself. if you're driving hard and fast, the ambient air cools the fluid in the radiator more than the radiator fan.

Maple50175

if coolant is blowing out of the Overflow then its 100% you're headgasket, I pondered this for months and that's what it was.

Pothole987

do you also want a cookie? haha.
seriously there is a chance of the head begin cracked too. best thing to do is have it checked out by a machine shop, shave it will also help to make sure the head is straight too.
head gaskets go bad though, think about all the cooling and heating they take!

Maple50175

choc chip please you silly Canadian

Pothole987

I hope i can lol at that, i have many many things i can call "you"

john222

Well, I'm the original owner of my 2004 Civic. It's got 110K easy highway miles and it's been fully maintained and never overheated. And guess what, head gasket failure. Combustion gasses are pushing the coolant into and out of the expansion tank.

Funny thing though.. I called a local Honda speciality shop today and they said they have never seen a head gasket failure in this vintage Honda?? Ummm

Pothole987

wierd... but usually around 100k they go from what i have been reading.