my gf's civic overheated yesterday, and i'm not sure what's wrong. Theres plenty of coolant in the radiator... and the radiator fan doesn't come on (radiator fan fuese are OK). Anyway, i took it for a quick spin, and in only a few blocks, the car started to over heat quickly., again plenty of coolant, no radiator fan. could this be the waterpump or the waterpump belt, or what? ... it was pretty dark, so i didn't get a good chance to look at it, and will later today... any thing i should be looking for to narrow down the problem?

thanks

 

check to see why the cooling fan does not come on. and check to see that the radiator is not coverd in road crap or the fin's on the rad are not damaged. also make sure there is no air in the system.

 

Blow head gasket my friend

 

i checked the fan fuse, and it looks fine. what about the fan relay? ... can that go bad?, what else is there to the fan? The thing is, is that i took it down the highway, and it overheated pretty quickly. Even if the fan isn't working, it doesn't need to while it's getting cool air from driving, right?

tiger: you think it's a blown head gasket? what are some other symptoms of a blown head gasket? how much does it cost to have it replaced? ... i know that's some serious work.


[Modified by kento, 11:22 AM 7/16/2001]

 

you might want to check your thermostat, im pretty sure its stuck in the closed posistion.

Tigger uppercut..... BLOWN HEAD GASKET??? HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

if that was the case, kento's girlfriends car wont even start.

 

when the thermostat is 'closed', does that prevent the coolant from running thru the engine? ... would that also explain why the fan isn't coming on? when i start the car, it will run just fine for about 5 mins, then the temp just starts going up really quickly.

thanks for all the help so far.

 

Yeah I agree with ChioisVTEC I had the same problem on my Accord couldnt figure out the problem then found out the thermostat was stuck shut...cost me $80 canadian installed at the Honda dealership and has been running perfect since it happened 2 years ago.

HTH

 

about what you said, that really isnt true, since the surrounding around the sensor for the cooling fan will still get hot even if the water doesnt circulate, this is because the engine block is getting hot, hella hot, when there is no cool water circulating cause of a stuck thermostat. the cooling fan should come on when the tempature of the engines gets to a certian point, even if the thermostat is stuck closed. umm im jus guessing, there is a change that it could be your thermostat, coolant temp. sensor that sends information to ecu and or temp gauge in your dash, or faulty fan. it could be a varity of those or more. member even if you have water in the radiator it doesnt mean it is circulation through the engine to cool it down. good luck.