I own a 91 civic dx hatch and have only had it for a couple weeks, but today i noticed it is leaking coolant. It has not been overheating or smoking so the leak isnt that bad i hope. I was just wondering if anyone knew if there was any part in particuar that goes first when it comes to the entire coolant system! Any help or info is very much appreciated!

 

First candidate is a failed water pump; look for coolant on the lower driver's side of the engine and floor. How old is your water pump in miles and years? Next I would be inspecting hoses. Old cars are ripe for hoses failing. You need to look around the engine bay and on the floor to narrow this down. Do not let it overheat; doing so increases the chances of a head gasket failure later.

 

It's definitley not leaking into the car so it's not the heater core. And the hoses look pretty good. It looked like it was leaking on the ground in front of the motor on the driver side. Is there any way that I can check the water pump my self? If it's not too technical then i should be able to handle it. I have never really had to deal with this kind of problem so.........needless to say, I'm still a noob! I put some water and coolant into the radiator until it was full, then started it to see if I could see where it was coming from but found nohing! Thanks for the help and any other info would be great!

 

Oh yeah! To answer your question " how old is your pump in years and miles? " I'm not sure if it has ever been replaced, but I do have every receipt of everything that has been done to this car so I will have to give them a look see!

 

In those receipts look for when the timing belt was last changed, too. Changing both water pump and timing belt at the same time is customary, because the part interference removal is the same for both jobs.

What color is the coolant? Non-oem coolant can destroy the water pump bearings, because of the metals used in Honda water pumps being incompatible with most aftermarket coolants.

To get a look at the pump requires, among other things, removing the crankshaft pulley bolt (a chore all by itself requiring specialized skills or experience) and pulling off what is called the lower timing belt cover. If you are going to go this far, you may as well do a timing belt and water pump replacement. I would change the timing belt and water pump on any used car I purchased, unless I had a receipt showing when it was done and that it was done within 6 years/90k miles (= Honda maintenance schedule specification for timing belt).

Carry a jug of 50/50 coolant with you at all times. If you are on the road and see the temperature gage climbing rapidly, set the heater switch on high heat and pull over a.s.ap.

 

ok well i have 91 civic si when i swapped out my motor it broke my heater controller i think think thats what its called at least it got a small crack and dripped it sits on the fire wall by the bottom radiator hose where it connects to the engine check it might be there ive just had this car for 1 month about so its all i know that has leaked on me.

 

The coolant i used was from a gas station. It was just a bight green color, I will go look at the name ad let you know in just a second.

 

The last time the water pump was changed was in '99. The belts and all. The coolant I used is called Proline 50/50 prdiluted antifreeze and coolant. And of course my blind self failed to see the bold letters on the front that say [B]DO NOT ADD WATER[B]

 

Hopefully it will be ok until monday when I have the chance to flush the system and put new in!!

 

So it is way overdue for a timing belt change. Be thankful the timing belt did not fail and destroy your engine in the last month. Best course is to change all of the following:
Timing belt
Water pump
Front crank seal
Front cam seal
Timing belt tensioner
All aux. belts (alternator, A/C compressor, power steering)

Then flush the cooling system (just drain and fill several times). Go buy a jug of OEM coolant at the dealer or consider using the orange Havoline Dexcool that you can get at Walmart, Autozone, etc. I have been using the orange Dexcool in my Civics for over six years now, changing it every 2-3 years.

autozone.com has an online manual specific to your Civic that should help. Otherwise, folks here are pretty helpful.

 

Thank you so much for your help! I really appreciate it! hopefully i can just do some of them one at a time due to lack of extra cash. Things are getting harder with a little boy due anytime now!

 

You're welcome. Unfortunately the parts alone from an OEM online dealer like www.bkhondaparts.com (way cheaper than buying from one's local dealer) are going to cost you around $200. But meanwhile, you risk that engine being destroyed from a failed TB, tensioner or water pump. Good luck.

 

That's bs my parts came from the dealer for my 01 civic and they cost like 99 bucks. That was for the timing belt, water pump, crank seal, cam seal, accessory belts

 

Prices from www.bkhondaparts.com for an 01 Civic LX (91 Civic DX hatch) for the work I specified:
TB = 17 (34)
Tensioner = 75 (52.4)
cam seal = 3.2 (3.2)
crank seal = 3.9 (7.7)
water pump = 61 (46)
ps belt = 7.9 (no PS on 91 Civic DX)
a/c belt = 12.9 (12.2)
alt belt = 9.8 (2001 DX) (9.1)
Jug of OEM coolant (does not ship, buy locally at dealer) = approx. $15
Total = 206 (180)
Add $5 for handling, then tack on shipping.

If a dealer does the labor, then the parts may be discounted.

 

Get a hold of hondazone on ebay. I bought all my parts from him for my 01 ex for $99 plus 10 shipping. He is a dealership i believe.

http://myworld.ebay.com/ebaymotors/hondazone/

 

Therein I thought you just said you bought them from the dealer. Fleabay is a totally different matter altogether. Anyway, it's a good price for everything. To the OP, get an inspection mirror, take a day off, and pretty much take off everything on the drivers side of your engine and look to see if you can find your leak.

 

The site above says it is also known as hondahonda.com. It is an online OEM dealer like bkhondaparts.com. Its current Ebay auction price for a timing belt package (which does not include the tensioner) for a Civic 97-01 is $101 per http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/TIMIN...mZ120370816669. Hondahonda.com charges $70 more for the tensioner for the 01 Civic. With the coolant, a person is looking at about $186 plus s/h using hondahonda.com's ebay site and so on for an 01 Civic.

<thumbs down>

 

It is a dealership and he is located in georgia. His prices are the same prices that i could have gotten the stuff at a local dealership. If i would have known this first i would have went down the road instead of waiting.

 

For the archives, some dealerships will give their online prices to walk-in customers; some will not. Some ask the walk-in customers to bring a printout of the online parts page, and they will give you the online price. You also get to pay sales tax when you are a walk-in.