10seconds

So here is the deal. I had to add more coolant to my car today. It was low enough to not turn on the sensor for the fan. So after adding some water I let it idle for a while to see if it would overheat. Well the fan came on. Which it would not do lastnight. So GREAT! no overheating. Problem solved for now anyway.

Leads me to my question. Where could I be losing coolant? Are my chances good that it is a headgasket? The motor is a 2001 GSR came from FL (not sure if the heat down their would have anything to do with it) and it is in a 96 civic ex. Let me know ASAP.

No my car doesnt feel like it losing power. No I dont see any white smoke, or atleast from my view. The motor also sounds healthy. No rough idle. Help

b18sihatch

compression test it... that wouldbe a good start to see if there is any low cylinders and then go from there, make sure there ant any holes in the radiator.hoses.clamps on good ect

its kinda hard to say if it is or isnt the headgasket, or a small leak in the headgasket or whatnot, but compression test it

10seconds

May be a while before I could get a compression test on it. I remember adding alot of water to the coolant. Would the water evaporate over a period of a week or so. Could that be the reason for the coolant level to drop? I have some 50/50 in my car. Soon as it cools down I will drain the coolant out and put the 50/50 in. Hopefully that solves all my problems.

dpaton

Take a look at the water pump. I had the same thing happen on my last EG...dumped half my coolant without any signs of something wrong, then I sat in traffic for a few minutes and watched the temp needle rise. Take a good look at all of the hoses and the radiator too. Sometimes things leak down low in the engine bay and it's hard to catch.

89s1

Look for anything but black as night under the oil cap.

Check the inside of a radiator hose for sludge.

V1ct0ri4

Hi, This Is My First Car(Honda Civic Hb '90 1.5l 390,000k) And Its Been Pretty Good To Me, However, The Upper Rad Hose Has Been Blowing Off Lately And Its Overheated Pretty Bad A Few Times. Last Week The Radiator Cracked. So I Checked The Head For Cracks Found Non, Replaced Head Gasket(old One Looked Fine, Had A Mechanic Look At It), Radiator, Thermostat And Distributor(was Also Giving Me Trouble). Car Runs Better, But Is Losing Coolant(water, Didn't Add Antifreeze). Now Coolant Is Leaking From A Hose At The Thermostat Housing That Leads To What Looks Like The Fuel Injectors. Also When I Was Running The Engine This Morning There Was Water Spurting Out The Exhaust, Which Turning Into A Little Steam Then Disappeared Once I Took It For A Drive. However, Even Though Its Loosing Coolant(at The Thermostat Housing Or Elsewhere), The Reservoir Stays At The Same Level(and The Odd Time It Fills Up!) Right Now Its Not Overheating As Long As I Top Up The Coolant Whenever I Park. I Am Pretty Sure Its Leaking At The Heat Gasket, Since I Did Scratch The Mating Surfaces A Little When I Was Cleaning It And Only Did A Rough Check On The Head For Warping, But I Thought Id Run It By Some Forums To See If There Is Anything Else That I Should Be Looking At. I'm Going To Do A Compression Test Right Now. This Is The First Time Iv Worked On A Car, Besides The Odd Oil Change. I Am A Bicycle Mechanic But I'm Enjoying Working On Engines, And Iv Already Put Too Much Money And Time Into This Old Car To Give Up On It Now. Any Help Would Be Appreciated.
Thanks, Martin

PS Could the system be blocked? i might have left a Little gasket material in it(cleaned it out pretty well though) and there is always some crud floating around the rad cap. Oh Yeah, And The Upper Rad Hose Is A Little Hotter Than The Lower, Don't Remember The Last Time I Saw The Cooling Fan turn On, And I Did Not Check The Water Pump.

street_ride14

Why Are You Writing Like That ? .. It's annoying, no reason to cap first letter of every word. I did not even read your post because of it.

srmofo

1)start your own thread

2)please stop typing like that, its hard to read

3) you're losing coolant from several places and you still think its a head gasket??? why?..... fix the damn leaks, youve already done the hard part by locating them

4)flush the raditor with coolant/water mix 50/50

5)then comeback if youre still having problems

6) the hose was probably blowing off because the car was overheating, but if the clamp is holding proper tension it should blow the hose open; replace clamps

V1ct0ri4

Sorry about the spam-like post, another forum i posted in did that, and i was too lazy to retype the whole thing, next time i will start my own thread. anyway thanks for the reply srmofo, i trimmed down the leaky hose and all seems to be well again. except that i still get a check engine light. i looked at the ecu and it flashes then a pause, then flashes again with a slightly longer pause. As best i can tell that's a 20 (electrical load sensor) . my check engine light comes on mostly on longer hills, so im not sure why its giving me that code. then again it could mean code 1 or 2 so maybe il look at the o2 sensors first... lol so anyways here are some pics of my first Head Gasket replacement.



































PS sorry about jacking your thread 10seconds, admins arnt letting me start my own.