hi,

i have a 98 civic that has started to overheat. ive only had it a month and its been fine up until now. the temperature gauge rises to near maximum after about 10 minutes of normal driving (without being stuck in traffic or anything). turning the heating blowers on will drop the temperature back to its normal level within no more than 20 seconds. as soon as i turn the heating off again the temperature creeps back up. can anyone suggest what is causing this please? thanks in advance.

 

Stop driving the car immediately until you figure this out. Does the fan come on? Is the coolant actually circulating in the loop? Does the cooling fan actually work? Are both upper and lower radiator hoses hot?

 

Never let the temp gauge reading rise above the halfway point. Otherwise, you risk destroying your engine.

Have you checked the coolant level in the reservoir and radiator? Is coolant being lost?

Have you tried replacing the thermostat?

 

thanks for speedy replies. i have checked the levels in the reservoir and radiator and they are normal. im not losing coolant. i have not tried replacing any parts yet as i preferred to seek advice first. i dont know whether the fan comes on yet but i was concerned that it would get so hot within only 10 minutes of driving. and thats driving at speed so under normal circumstances i shouldnt think the fan would have come on anyway? my main concern here is a head gasket obviously, does this sound like a possibility?

 

Check everything else first. Don't jump to conclusions.

 

Start with replacing the thermostat and bleeding the cooling system. Then go from there.

Checking whether the radiator fan comes on is always a good idea, but I think the problem lies elsewhere.

 

i just ran it for 5 minutes to see if both of the pipes on the radiator heated up. the top was quite nice and warm and the bottom was still stone cold. being none to knowledgeable i presume this would point towards a circulation issue? pump perhaps?

 

Thermostat more than likely.

 

ok that is where i will start then. thank you very much for the help

 

^

It's rare for Civic water pumps to fail. When they do, they leak from the bleeder holes, typically.

 

Replace the thermostat and bleed the system.

Replace it with an OEM part.

 

You don't need to replace the radiator cap as well?

 

Not really. At least, not at this point in time.