Stumped! I haven’t got a clue. I have a Honda Civic 98 ex DY168. My engine is loosing coolant and I haven’t got a clue where it goes. Once a week I have to refill my coolant reservoir. A while back my engine overheated..pretty hot. The temp gauge never got to the H mark though. Since then, I have replaced my water pump ( the pump evidently was broken) and belt, radiator fan switch, radiator, and termostat. The car doesn't overheat anymore, but the coolant would disappear. No puddle on the ground. In fact, the car runs great.

I was told it may be a head gasket, however, the signs are not there. When I did my oil change, nothing was out of the ordinary. The dipstick and oil cap has oil only, no milky substance. The exhaust is clear with no white smoke. I was told by a Honda mechanic that doing a head gasket does not mean the problem will go away. It may introduce a new problem like burning oil. Does not make sense to me.

Anyone have any ideas where the water can be going?

What if I kept refilling my reservior and drove it this way? Will it eventually destroy my engine?

I have done a timing belt before with the help of someone from the forum here. In fact, I often share my documentation for this procedure. How hard is it to do a head gasket for this car? Anyone have documentation for replacing a head gasket?

Any help would be appreciated.

 

Have you checked all your Rad and Coolant Hoses?

May be a pin sized or slightly bigger leaks that are causing your coolant to leak out and heat up and evaporate away.

 

What is RAD? Where is/are they located? I checked the coolant hoses and no pin size leaks found. Oh, yesterday, the temp gauge went midway up. It appeared it started to overheat again. Is it possible a warped head or head gasket is an intermittent problem? It is funny that it overheats once in a blue moon.

Thanks again for your help. I really am grateful.

Ariel

 

rad=radiator

 

my prelude had a similar problem, I was losing coolant and couldn't figure out where the hell it was going, I found it was coming from the radiator itself, the bottom of the radiator was rubbing at the bottom and it rubbed a microscopic hole, I couldn't see coolant on the ground under my car and the only time it leaked is when I was on the highway, I'm guessing pressure related. A tube of JB weld and a little bangin on the metal that was rubbing solved my problem. Wouldn't ever lose any coolant till I got on the highway though, well that was my wierd experience.....hope you find the leak.

 

You can pressurize your coolant system and see if it leaks any. I know it's helped me more than once.

 

Yah it wouldn't hurt to take it to a shop and have your cooling system pressure tested.

If the Radiator,Hoses or Water Pump are bad this will show you where and what.

 

my car had this exact problem and it was infact my headgasket. The guage started to slightly increase in temp daily until the day came where I could only drive 10 minutes down the road before the needle was on the H. I say just do it yourself it's not that tricky. Luckily for me I had another d-serise head that was not warped and i just milled it down with a mini grinder that my friend that works at honda let me use and we just slapped it back on. I made it sounds easy didn't I haha. Make sure if you do it yourself you mark all your timing points so when you go to crank the motor over nothing is too off. Good luck with everything and i don't think i really helped much.

 

I did take it to a radiator shop. They replaced the radiator and the problem continues. They now say it is a head gasket problem. However, there are no signs of head gasket problem. How hard is it to repair a head gasket myself? I have all the tools and had done a timing belt before. If I continue to drive it like this, what will eventually happen. Last, if I do perform the head gasket change, I am concerned how to disassemble and reassemble the distributor. In fact, I want to do this now just so I can document it.

Thanks all

 

wow i have never seen someone else who's name is ariel. cool name lol its my girl's name too