Chemi421

hi i have a 1995 civic coupe..the car always overheats and when i look under the hood the reservoir for the coolant is always way past the max.line and filled to the top!! then i empty it til the min. line and refill the radiator with coolant.. then its fine for like a week.. then same thing again over and over..and im not 100%sure if my fan is working either..does anyone know what is going on?? help would be VERY appreciated!! do u guys think its my radiator?? ~thanks!

-Gary-

The fan should "cycle" if the car is idling.

austinkli

do you see coolant leaking out anywhere? if it's leaving the radiator and not coming out of the overflow that can't be good. check your compression. could be a blown headgasket. fill your radiator up, let it run and take a flashlight and find where it's dripping. see if any kind of liquid is coming out of your exhaust, if so it's probably leaking into your cylinder which is a real bitch. Keep an eye on it daily cause leaks will only get worse. it could last a week today, and then a day the next time.

b16a-ej2

things to always check.

radiator (see if fan comes on when idling)
water pump
headgasket (could be blown )
thermostat

nacivicsi

check your fan first when car is ideling it might take a little for it to turn on.
next to see if your head gasket is blown take off your oil cap and see if you have milk like oil under the oil cap. if there is its your head gasket, if not then you have a leak some place or your head gasket is not showing since of it blow yet

Chemi421

its not the thermostat because i just changed it not too long ago.. and its not overheating because of the fan.. i think theres a leak somewhere.. basically all the coolant i put in the radiator gets drained because it all goes to the resevoir and when the reservoir gets completely filled thats when it starts overheating.. AHHHH!!! what is going on?? but thank you all ur responses it is very appreciated

Chemi421

bump

archuletac

radiatior cap ain't holding pressure. the pressure is what HELPS keep the coolant at a steady temp.

Chemi421

so its my cap that isnt holding the pressure.. hmm.. so wud u suggest i buy a new radiator then?? its jsut so weird... my frend said something is wrong with my vaccum system since all the fluid is just going into the reservoir.. he said maybe my radiator is clogged or somthing like that or is it the cap like u said?? sorry for being so "nooby" but i dont really know what to do.. i just wanna drive my honda lol.. thx u so much for helping tho i really do appreciate it!

slo_hatch

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Chemi421 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">so its my cap that isnt holding the pressure.. hmm.. so wud u suggest i buy a new radiator then?? its jsut so weird... my frend said something is wrong with my vaccum system since all the fluid is just going into the reservoir.. he said maybe my radiator is clogged or somthing like that or is it the cap like u said?? sorry for being so "nooby" but i dont really know what to do.. i just wanna drive my honda lol.. thx u so much for helping tho i really do appreciate it!</TD></TR></TABLE>

i woud buy the cap first to see if that fixed it. if you dont know what's wrong with your car...its always easier to start with the cheap stuff first and go more expensive until you figure it out. otherwise you waste a lot of money on things that didnt even affect it. my honda is going through something similar..and i have tried everything.

viper_linx

i had the exact same problem i tryed everything changed out all hoses radiator and got a new cap lol.. but come to find out that my head gasket was bad... does the water spray from the over fill onto you motor, intake, hoses, ext. that u can see?

Chemi421

no it doesnt spray onto anywhere else.. it just gets really full and then all the hoses become really tight from all the air or whatever.. its not the headgasket because car runs fine and all... i think ive ruled it down to the hoses, radiator, pump, or cap.. the coolant isnt running thru the system properly.. its def not the fan or thermostat.. any ideas??? thx again for all the help ppl ^_^

Chemi421

sorry when i say it gets full i mean the resevoir gets full..

archuletac

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by slo_hatch &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

i woud buy the cap first to see if that fixed it. if you dont know what's wrong with your car...its always easier to start with the cheap stuff first and go more expensive until you figure it out. otherwise you waste a lot of money on things that didnt even affect it. </TD></TR></TABLE>


X2

Try the replacing your cap. Caps are cheap!

arizo

get the uv liquid dye from autozone pour it in to yourr radiator. let the car run for a bit then with a black light look around the engine bay it should glow if theres a leak, while useing the black light.

i found out my heater core was expletiveed up.

austinkli

i'm bettin the pump man. it's not the head, or you'd know it. you'd have burning coolant coming out of your exhaust, and it wouldn't be filling into the reservoir. i messed up pump can cause problems with the vacume. try the cap first since that's really cheap, if that doesn't work, tear it down and pull out your water pump.

Nacirema

my car is having same problem with the overflow tank. it fills way pass max, but doesnt overheat anymore. i changed my cap and it didnt work either, 99% chance its your water pump bro, get a timing belt while your at it. if that dont fix plz let us know so we can help you out a bit more. but its def not a blown HG or you would know for sure, well unless its a super small leak then you wont know for upto a month i hear and then it starts getting really bad.