so i just bought a 99 civic lx and the guy i bought it from told me the car overheated once, so he took it to a mechanic and had the radiator replaced. he then said that the car continued to overheat so his mechanic told him to just drive it without a thermostat. he said he’d been driving it for 8-9 months without a thermostat with no problems.

i replaced the the thermostat and the radiator fan switch while i was at it and took the car for a quick test drive and the temp gauge went all the way up in less than 5 minutes of driving it. i pulled over and blasted the heat but the heat was blowing cool and the engine didn’t start to cool off too much.

i should also also add that when i was draining the coolant there was no coolant in the overflow reservoir but there were no puddles of coolant anywhere and plenty of coolant drained out of the radiator.

someone please help i’m not sure what’s wrong.

 

Where did you purchase the thermostat that you installed ??? What brand is it ???

 

I have this exact same issue and can’t find anything. I replaced the thermostat, switch, relay, and sensor. I’m leaking coolant now as well. If I completely remove the thermostat it will just have straight coolant flow?

 

Full stop here. You have to fix that. If you can't keep the system full it will not work.

 

Understood, I’ll post updates when the leak is fixed

 

Did you check your your radiator for holes? What about your radiator hoses? The one coming from your head should be warm to the touch. The one going towards the thermostat should be cold. You could also have air pockets in your lines. Squeezing the one that should be hot will help flush the air out as well.

 

I had the crappiest time bleeding an air pocket out of my 98 hatch i just installed a replacement engine in (new timing belt, tstat, etc) had to raise the front of the car 2-3 feet to get the pocket out. IMO shouldnt ever run a car without a tstat.