i changed the timing belt and water pump on my 96 civic cx about 2 weeks ago. this week my car don't feel right at all. first the car starting jerking on 2nd gear at just under 2000rpm. i went home and popped open the hood to top up some engine oil and i found the coolant tank was empty. it never did that before i got my timing belt and water pump changed. so i topped up the coolant the next day and they car was just fine with the coolant up at the normal level. drove it for another day and it was fine until i started my trip home. the car jerked on 2nd and 3rd gear at about 2000 rpm and then the cel came on. have no idea what went on. would it be the water pump that didn't get install properly? or what else? had anyone encounter this type of problems.

thanks

 

pull the cel and start from there

 

First like shogee wrote, get the code read and report back. Autozone will do it for you for free. Second, when a problem arises right after maintenance, you are correct to always re-check the maintenance performed. Check the lower timing belt cover drain hole, and right beneath it where you park the car, for signs of coolant accumulating. You received a new gasket with the water pump, right? Did you scrape off any signs of old gasket and use the new one? No liquid gasket is needed.

 

i will do that this weekend. but the cdl is gone after i disconnect the ground from the battery

 

You probably just forgot to bleed the cooling system of air after draining the coolant -- the system later burped out the bubble. Regarding the poor performance, I think your timing belt may be off by one tooth. Recheck the mechanical timing.

 

it was working fine last week after i got the timing belt done, but this week i don't know what went wrong. i see some coolant spill on top of the radiator fan and my coolant tank was empty. so i wiped the fan clean and top up the tank and about an hour later there's another spill. and i dunno if this cost my car's performance to go down but when the coolant tank was empty the car jerks quite a bit in 2nd gear especially when going up hill.

 

If your car is jerking it could be a sign of an IACV problem. Which could also be caused by low coolant.

 

i found where the coolant is dripping
it is under the radiator right between the drain plug and the radiator
there's this hole in the middle
is there a plug for that tiny hole?

 

I believe that is where it drains from when the petcock is opened. You are not seating when you tighten the petcock at the top of your picture.

 

so should i get a new drain plug?

 

When you have the correct drain plug it will thread past that hole, sealing it. Your drain plug looks pretty chewed up. I would get a new one of a similar design.

 

i just changed the drain plug and i'll check it in the morning. it's getting cold out

 

good luck! simple fixx!

 

could need to bleed the cooling system or kinda soundsl like misfire. maybe your timing is off

 

i went outside to check again and there's no coolant in the coolant tank again. there's some spill on top of the fan. the radiator is full but the tank is empty. i was told by my mechanic that the radiator might leak during winter. and if i don't drive it the coolant leak is slower

 

could the spill on top of the radiator fan cause by a bad radiator cap? cause i don't think it leaks when i don't drive it

 

Yes, a bad cap could create a spill on the radiator fan. Wipe it off around the shroud and test drive it real quick. carefully feel for fluid on the sides of the cap or on the lip surrounding the cap.

 

i gave up.. i changed the drain plug and stopped that from leaking and i changed the rad cap and there's still a spill on top of the fan... maybe i should just get a new radiator

 

radiatorbarn.com then. :-) According to many sources, this is one part that you can skip OEM on and not lose sleep over. In fact many say a new aftermarket radiator is better than a new plastic OEM radiator for a Civic.

 

sounds like the headgasket is starting to go. this happened on both my civic and my t-bird in the same fasion. rad cap went, so i got a new one, then the radiator burst the tank off, so i got a new rad. finally i blew the new rad along with headgasket finally going at the same time. even with the new cap, and new rad. i still had coolant puddling up on the top of the rad. "the bad headgasket built too much pressure in the rad which burst it, while opening the rad cap past its limit which made it leak out the center (the part that spins on the top)

 

What does your oil look like? Milky? It very well could be a headgasket, check the oil for coolant in the crankcase. Also i had my civic do the same thing as far as a leak, I had a small pin hole on the nipple of the rad neck were the coolant res line hooks up between the end of the hose an neck. Just a suggestion.

 

the oil looks normal, there's no coolant in there

 

could be the hose thats ripped too or not on all the way

 

where is the coolant bleeder valve for a 96 civic cx? i wanna try to get rid of the air bubbles in my civic

 

Your 96 Civic does not have a bleeder valve. Instead I understand the top of the radiator is the high point for this year of Civic. Hence air will rise to where the radiator cap screws on and bleed from there. For bleeding, use the procedure below, from the owner's manual under "Replacing Engine Coolant." The procedure assumes the reserve tank has been emptied.

-- Slide the heater temperature control lever to maximum heat. Open the hood. Make sure the engine and radiator are cool to the touch.

-- Remove the radiator cap. [ENGINE MUST BE COLD TO TOUCH FOR THIS STEP.]

-- Pour coolant into the radiator up to the base of the filler neck.

-- Put the cap on the radiator, only tighten it to the first stop.
[Note: I do not like the direction to tighten "to the first stop." It is too vague. Leave the cap off instead. See note below. Every thread I have seen here at H-T advises leaving the cap off and not just tightening it to the first stop.]

-- Start the engine and let it run until it warms up (the radiator cooling fan comes on at least twice). [In winter, this will take around 40-50 minutes. In summer, around 20 minutes.]

[Here the owner's manual has a warning about NOT removing the radiator cap with the engine hot: Coolant, now pressurized, will spray out and scald you. This is why I think it is better to just completely leave off the radiator cap.]

-- Turn off the engine. Check the level in the radiator, add coolant if needed. Install the radiator cap, tighten it fully.

-- Fill the reserve tank to the MAX mark. Install the reserve tank cap.