Car has 130,000 miles on it. At 100,000 I did timing belt and water pump. Just last week it starts to get hot. Bought new cap and t-stat and was fine for two days now it is overheating again. Fan switch checks good too and fans do come on. Hydrocarbon tested the radiator and it was negative so I figure I don't have a head gasket issue.(hopefully). Fill it up again and let it sit and burp air out of top of radiator for 30 min plus fill reserve to max line. Drive it and temp stays right in the middle but when I get home the reserve tank is full to top and little air bubbles are coming up from bottom. Does anyody have any suggestions?

 

Update: drove it again today and temp stayed right in the middle. reserve tank stayed full. One weird thing is I got a cylinder# misfire code (P0303) out of it. I was driving and all of a sudden it ran like crap, then went away. Any reason it is doing this now? I will throw some new plugs in it tomorrow just for the heck of it.

 

sorry to tell u but ur head is warpt im having the same problem . ur leaking from the exhaust n it builds pressure n den it shoots it to ur res tank.

 

well I hope your wrong on the warped head and maybe just the gasket is blown. But who knows. I am thinking about doing the head gasket myself to save some money. Some say go for it others say don't even attemp it.

 

The head gasket on these civics dont "blow". The head warps. Though i wouldn't suggest it, you can actually re-use the head gasket if youget the head resurfaced.

But for real, though.... Your head is warped. Trust me. And the head gasket should only be like 5-10 dollars. Also, make sure to replace your exhaust and intake gaskets when you get it worked on.

 

i was like womp womp cuz i was only goin to change out the head gasket too but ur goin to have the problem again i changed my radiator n cap n it work gd for a month . im still having the same problem so i took it to a mechanic its def. the head

 

if there is no leaks . With that many miles take the head off get it checked and resurfaced if needed new head gasket intake and exhaust gaskets , valve seals , valve cover gasket .

 

before getting into all the work of doing a head gasket, perform a leak down test.

 

head leak for sure. the guy tore it down today and it is already at the machine shop being worked. Will be done Monday and back in business on Tuesday. I went down there and seen what all he had to do and I am very glad I did not attempt this job. Money well spent having it done. The inside of the motor looked pretty good too. no sludge buildup or anything.

I would attach a picture but can't figure out how to do it.

 

Nice. How much did you spend on the fix?

 

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