Jedi116

What's up to all my Honda drivers! I've been waiting to tell you all about this experience for some time now. I'll start from the beginning:

I purchased this sweet, 2000 Honda Civic EX, in total hopes that I would have 0 future problems with it, or at least successfully fix an issue to come. (Especially after previously overheating my former '98 Civic) Everything worked perfectly fine. Until months later, I was out in the city with my wife and, while at a red light, I noticed my temperature gauge was rising very slightly. Naturally, I freaked out but we made it home okay.

First thing I checked once the car cooled down, was the coolant level(s). 50/50 looked good, overflow was fine. I checked all of my hoses and they looked fine as well. After every "Could be anything" from everyone I knew, I decided to really tackle the problem once this became a potential every other day issue. I called my mechanic guy and he took a look. Of course nothing is going to happen when they come around, that's how it always works.. He gave it a good and proper once-over and found nothing so he told me to top off the fluid and keep an eye on my levels.

At a red light, a few days later, I noticed the gauge rising again. My mechanic came back over and noticed a small pinhole in my bypass hose within the cooling system. Didn't seem like much, but apparently, that's all it takes. 7 bucks later, I replace the hose, hopeful that this fixed my overheating issues....it did not.
After topping off the coolant and the overflow, I left the car alone until I had to go to work the next day. I was confident. Didn't even notice the needle until I saw some white smoke coming out from under the hood. It wasn't a whole lot, but it was enough to make me pull over into a local plaza.

I looked under my car and see that I was profusely leaking antifreeze. Most likely, all of it. As best as I could see, I noticed the leaking was happening on the driver's side, close to the water pump, as if it were dripping from one of the belts. I get to work and start to do some extensive research on this and everyone kept saying that it was the water pump. Okay..maybe. I was convinced it was something less complicated and least expensive.

One day, as I noticed the temperature gauge start to rise, I quickly lifted the hood and could see that my radiator fan was not kicking on when it was supposed to. "Aha!" After my father-in-law convinced me that my water pump was perfectly fine, I started to take a closer look at other components of the cooling system. I heard thermostats go bad, cooling fan switches, relays, etc. So I began cheap. To make sure my fan actually still worked, I rigged the small electrical harness that went to my cooling fan switch with a paper clip. (Basically, I created a short in the system and turned the cooling fan on manually.) It came on and was blowing fine. $12 later for the switch and $15 for the thermostat, I replaced them both, bled and burped my cooling system, topped off the antifreeze, and was ready to roll.

This was it. It had to be.
Not.

Once again, on the way to work, I noticed the gauge slightly rising. Got to work to take yet another quick look. No leaks, holes, or cracks in the radiator. Nothing wrong with any hoses. I knew at this point, that I was losing fluids, but how? Where? And why? And then, BOOM. I noticed there's some fresh antifreeze leaking slowly somewhere under my air intake filter....RIGHT. BY. THE. WATERPUMP. As I banged my head on the steering wheel, I realized I had to do the inevitable. What everyone dreads: Take my car to the Shop. I got a lot of shady quotes from some independent mechanics- including my own. I was quoted anywhere from $150 to $860 to change a water pump and a timing belt. (Timing belt? In order to successfully change these parts, the engine has to be completely opened, potentially affecting the proper functioning of your timing belt. Since they're down there anyway, it makes sense to replace it.) A water pump/timing belt kit costs about $100 from AutoZone. I respectfully declined a $650 bill from own mechanic and took it to an actual mechanic shop within the family. Within a few hours of dropping off my car, I get a call back saying that- wait for it!......... *ahem*
My waterpump was leaking. -___-

He replaced the necessary parts along with a new cam seal and crank shaft because I believe they said I also had a small oil leak in these parts. When all was said and done, I was $380 poorer, but I was rich with a temperature sustaining Honda Civic- and she drives perfectly fine again.
#WorthIt

-THANK YOU ALL FOR YOUR HELP. Studying your threads and forums helped me make the necessary decisions to fix my car.

I hope this helps someone. Please feel free to ask any questions about this experience. Please take note: I am not a mechanic nor do I have extensive knowledge in the field. I'm just a dad who needed to fix his car.

God bless you and good luck!

Big1000

It's common for water pumps to have a bleed hole that will allow coolant to drip out as a sign that the seal is going. Not sure if the 2000 model has one.