I have a 2000 Honda Civic LX auto. It started over heating today with the following points:

-Reaching full high temp reading after stopping at a red light for 1 minute, and 2/3 high reading while city cruising, while normal reading at higway speeds.

-Coolant was at bottom of reservoir earlier, and after I topped it to full, it did not help the high temp reading.

-The fan is working.

-Both upper and lower radiator hoses are hot.

Any help would be appreciated. Thank you.

 

Since writing this a few minutes ago, I decided to do some further investigation.

-The Radiator itself seemed to be empty when I pulled off the cap. I filled with as much fluid as I had left ~12 ounces.

-There were speckles of some fluid if I put my hand to the exhaust for a minute (pic below).

-There was (blackish) soot inside the radiator filler neck.

Since emptying the rest of my radiator fluid in the filler neck, the car ran without overheating.

I believe now that I have a leaking head gasket. It has probably been this way for a while. I think for now, If I continue to check radiator level it will be fine. I am considering trying to replace the head gasket with my dad. I've found some gaskets on ebay for less than $50. Any suggestions? Time to do job?

 

 

Wait until the engine is cold. Open the radiator and top off if necessary. Start the engine with the radiator cap off and rev it. If stuff blows out of the radiator, the head gasket is leaking. If it is leaking, you should not drive the car any more before repairing. It will get worse and you can damage the head and/or block from overheating.

 

I did this earlier, and it did not spit out fluid. However, it is probably a bad (small) leaking head gasket. I paid $900 for this car, so I'm going to limit the money I put into it.

I just came from a Turbo g35, but I had to sell it and buy a cheap car due to financial crisis.

 

Your fan might be dieing. Overheating at standstill is usually the fan. The car running normal temp on the highway shows that the 60mph air is cooling it down as it should.