bubnelson

Hi guys,

I had my radiator stolen out of my 1994 honda civic ex the other day. (yes it actually happened) Because they didn't steal anything else I didn't realize my radiator was gone until I started driving home and it started overhearting. I drove it down to my buddy's shop before it reached the redline on the engine heat gauge.
I just got the radiator in and now its having some engine problems. It doesn't accelerate well at all at low RPMs. It kind of hesitates and rocks a bit before it starts going. It does this in every gear but seems to ease up once I hit higher RPMs. I don't know much about cars but it feels like its running on 3 cylinders instead of 4. Or maybe like the timing is off, I'm not sure. I don't have the tools at my house right now to check the plugs to see if something went wrong there. Its a 1994 honda civic ex with 145,000 miles. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Oh yeah and my buddy wasn't able to test the compression yet either. He had to leave town and thats why i'm asking you guys instead of him.

Perfectionist

Bad news for you. The temp gauge relies on the coolant to transfer heat heat to it so it can indicate the engine temperature. In your case, no coolant = no valid temperature indication. I think your engine is literally toast.