Hello, I have a 92 civic lx that has an overheating problem. It only seems to happen after driving on the highway for a while. After driving about 30 minutes I got off the highway and the temp gauge climbed pretty fast to hot. As soon as I started driving again it went down almost to normal. Next stop it climbed again. Also while stopped if I put the heat on high it drops a little. While stopped I opened the hood and the fan was on. Other thing I noticed was the reservoir was full to the top. After it cooled down the reservoir was almost empty and the radiator was full. I let the car run for about an hour in the driveway and it was fine, no overheating. Did a little highway driving and the same thing happened, temp gauge shot up and reservoir full again. Any ideas? thanks

 

i had a probem like that it turned out to be the water tube orings on the back of the block.

 

check your houses make sure they're not blocked or your thermostat make sure is not stock open or closed.

 

Sounds like your head gasket is blown. If your car is throwing white smoke out of the exhaust or the oil has coolant in it you will know for sure.

 

Almost samething was happening with friends car, ended up being headgasket

 

Thanks for the help. I have some things to check now. The car is not blowing white smoke and there is no oil in the coolant.

 

It might not be that bad yet then. It is most likely the head gasket though. You could try some head gasket sealant. I think its called alumiseal?

 

start with the simple stuff first. check your coolant level, check for any obvious leaks, then make sure your radiator fan is working. when you stop at a traffic light the rad fan moves air across the radiator cooling the car. without the fan on the car will overheat very quickly.