Munchnd

Hey guys, just a heads up, I am not a mechanic. I know a few things about cars but nothing extensive so bear with me, and a timely response would be much appreciated.

A couple of days ago my car was running perfectly fine. But here recently the temperatures outside have dropped to 16 degrees. Prior to the drop in temperature, the car was fine, and then today, all help broke lose for me. When I first tried to crank it, it made a terrible grinding noise, and it was not the started (I know the sound of that) It was much louder and more pronounced. After finally getting it started, I noticed that the sound it makes in idol was much different and my car would rattle and shake and the RPM's would rise and fall. I know that cold weather can cause issues on the initial start up but after the car heats to normal temperatures it should work fine, but for me it does not. What I find interesting, is that the lower my RPM, the worse it is and as I get them a little higher, it gets a little better. I usually shift at about 2300-2500 RPM. If I am below 2500, it spits and sputters really, really bad, and when I push on the clutch the engine stalls and dies. Also, my heat has stopped working. Prior to this morning it was working fine, unless I came to a complete stop and then it would begin to over heat and the heat would stop working, but now it does not even work at all, even when I put it on defrost and try to pull heat off of the engine.

All of this happened this morning. Before getting to far from my house I turned back around and made it back home. I opened my hood and looked inside and noticed that for whatever reason (I really don't know why) the oil cap was gone and I had oil all over my engine. I added a quart and it said the levels were fine. So I attempted to drive it again (The second attempt was about 10 hours later) and it took a while to start it and it was still running sluggish but it stopped stalling out (Which I might not have driven it as long) and the heat still does not work.

Now, my first thought is, obviously, the cold. I came to this conclusion because it did not happen prior to the extreme cold weather. But what throws me off, is, when I read about others peoples problems in cold weather, the only seem to have issues for a couple minutes after starting the car, whereas my problem is consistent. I have received advice from everything from fuel filters, to fuel injectors being the issue. Any help would be of great service, thanks!

Jjbaehr

1 you have no coolant in it
2 your headgasket is blown, the reason for the bad drivability is most likely from coolant being burned in the cylinders.

Munchnd

Are you saying it could be 1 or 2 or that it is both? And how sure are you that it is my headgasket? I would like a bit more clarity on the situation considering how much that repair costs, if it is even worth the repair.

Jjbaehr

Well I can't be certain but it is a very common problem with that particular model, check your coolant level, fill it as needed, I guarantee your heat will return, once your particular engine overheats the gasket is for sure blown, they have no tolerance at all! You can test it with a block checker, or you can just fill it and inspect for leaks, if you see no visible leaks externally but the level is dropping it's most likely burning off in the combustion chamber or mixing with the oil.

Munchnd

Okay, I see what you are getting at now. Let me clarify, at no point did my car actually over heat to any type of dangerous level. The only time is does overheat is if I am at a stand still, and once I start moving the heat begins to drop after 10 seconds or so. And my heat has not been working for quite a while. It only works when my car is actually moving. I believe my over heating problem is due to my radiator fan not working. (My AC fan does work though). The problem started after the temperature dropped so low. I tried driving it today and I am still having the same issues even though it is not freezing anymore(45 degrees). I hope some of this information might help. Thanks brother!

Jjbaehr

Anything over half is dangerous for the d17 engine, I've seen people throw every part of the cooling system at the d17 and they ALL wasted their money, it is always the head gasket, yes the fan may have been the root of the problem but your vehicle will need still need a new gasket if it has been over half at anytime in its life.

Jjbaehr

Go and check your coolant, I guarantee the reservoir is empty and you won't see any on the top of the radiator when you take the cap off.

David12

what color was your oil? a creamy milky color or normal? what did your coolant level look like? if it's warm enough take out a spark plug and see if you can smell coolant.

Maugutus

Test the fan by bridging the fan motor relay, I'm sure there's more info around here on how to do that.

If you lost enough oil, you may have damaged a bearing or main bridge cap on the block.

If the heat isn't working AND the car overheats at idle you may have a large problem or several small problems.


Your car may have the following parts/systems broken:
1 Have a blown head ( because of your general problems, EXTREMELY COMMON on 2001 - 2005 Honda Civic Dx,Lx,Ex, occurs WITHOUT extensive overheating )
2 Have a stuck thermostat (because of the no HEAT / poor warmup situation, VERY COMMON check the lower radiator hose when at operating temp. will cause both OVERHEAT and Low Operating Temps)
3 Have a broken fan ( UNLIKELY, A/C fan will turn on to cool if radiator fan is broken)
4 Radiator top is broken, replace ( SOMEWHAT UNLIKEY, because of idle only overheating situation)

Maugutus

Also he is absolutely right, I have seen the same wasteful spending
The d17 is very easily damaged by heat.