Just baught back in March... It's a 1992 Honda Civic Sedan LX. Brand new water pump, timing belt, radiator, and I just got head work done on it(shaved at the machine shop and a new gasket kit on there). Before I got the head work done it used to overheat within 30-45 minutes... Now it takes about 2-3 hours before it overheats.. There is a whole in the overflow tank. Before I got the headwork done the water/coolant was pushing back into the overflow tank and it would boil and shoot out the top. One day it overflowed so bad that it started to inflate and bust a hole in it... I know I shouldve been driving it while it was getting hot, but it's my only transportation to and from work. I took a couple days off to get the head work done on it... Could the overheating now be due to the hole in the overflow tank? I really don't want to get rid of it since It's the car I wanted and I've already invested $800+ plus into trying to fix the mechanical issues.

 

Well you can always replace the overflows tank and see. Its just a pop-in plastic jug so if it has a hole u might as well. Could be a thermostat issue

 

Yea, change you thermastate. and is your fan kicking on?

 

There is no thermostat in there , and yes the fan is kicking on... Theres never been a thermostat in there though, and the overheating problems are just started...

 

put a thermastat in and see what happens. Don't let it overheat or you will take the risk of warping the head and all that money you just put into it will go to waste.

 

Pick one up, only under $30, a thermostat is there for a reason. Don't fall for the 'free-flow' crap, it just pushes coolant around when the engine doesn't need it. I never had a thermostat in my civic when I bought it... after 2 weeks of running good it started to overheat and I found out there was no thermostat; weeks later, I didn't do anything about it but added coolant almost every other day. I just kept ignoring it until I had to add coolant almost every 5 mile drives, and had to change out the headgasket. I'm still not sure if the lack of a thermostat was a contributing factor, but why ignore a necessary part, especially when it's under $50

 

Put a thermostat in it, and bleed the coolant correctly. Replace the overflow bottle.

did you replace the water pump when you had the head work done?

 

Check thermo fan switch.Have you checked for proper fan operation? How fast and how long is it staying on? Check also the fan shroud clearance between the radiator, keep it to minimum.

 

Alright, gonna drop a thermostat in and replace the overflow tank and then ride for a couple days.. I let you guys know whats up... Thanks!

 

don't know if this applies to you or not but ensure that the tank is not too low. By that i mean mounting location not fill level. Too low can cause it too fill up and never actually let fluid flow both in and out of the tank.

 

Okay went out to a junkyard picked up an overflow tank, installed it and my water was boiling in my overflow tank again... Going to go ahead and buy one of the engines off the couple honda civics i seen out there and the guy who did my head job is going to put it in for free since the head job didnt fix my problem. Ive been wanting to swap that engine out since day one anyways... Hopefully you guys will be seeing a "build" thread from me soon... Wish me luck! & Thanks for the support...

 

chech thermotat man

 

Could have air in the coolant system

 

Yea going to check for air in the coolant system

 

Okay, so my fan wasn't kicking on appropriately... I wired it so my fan stays on all the time and it hasnt overheated since, nor has the water started boiling.. So im guessing my cooling sensor isnt kicking my fan on at the right time...

 

You have to check the whole electrical system for the fan. It could be a loose relay, a rusty ground or something simple. Don't assume that it is instantly a sensor. .02$

 

Well... I fxcked up the crank trying to change the harmonic balancer. Picking up another engine from the junkyard on wednesday. There's no way im going to try and fix the crank, i wouldnt even know where to start... Looks like the V-tech swap is going to have to wait, just need to get her running again so I can get around...

 

What happened to the crank?

 

if that doesnt work try blue devil gasket sealent works great dont know if this really applies here though..

 

NEVER put gasket sealant in an engine. It's like putting a band-aid on a gaping head wound, and will only make things twice as bad down the road. Fix the problem now instead of halfassing it.

 

if you don't know then why the hell would you reccomend he use it???

 

The woodruff key didnt hold . Its cracked...

 

I got a 2003 honda civic with overheating issues. At first it was a intermitten issue and would some how lose coolant and mechanic says it was electrical issue with fan and he said he fixed it but of course that didnt help at all. Then it started to get worse air was bubbling in resevoir and then car wouldnt start. Engine was flooded and rust was on sparkplugs, i knew then that it was the head gasket. Bought new radiator cap, thermostat, waterpump, headgasket and will be doing a coolant flush. I took off head is taken off and guess what i found...no blown head gasket. I took head to machine shop and they said it was fine. I dont see any cracks in cylinders but i can always check again to make sure but idk what caused all of this.