This just happened today. I was coming down a fairly steep hill and noticed that my engine temp was pretty much at the top. I stopped right away, turned off the car and popped the hood. I touched the radior cap and it wasn't even hot. I didn't smell any coolant nor did I see any leaking. I did see a little water dripping, touched it and smelt it. It didn't smell like coolant and it wasn't hot. The heat also didn't work when then temp was way up. As I went down this hill, the 154 in Santa Barbara, the temp gauge went back to half and the heat worked. The whole way home on the 101 the temp gauge was normal at half, when I was going slower, the gauge went back up ( not fast, but not really that slow ) and then again there wasn't any heat.

I thought it was low on coolant because of the no heat when the gauge was hot, but I just got my oil changed and supposedly they checked all my fluids. I just put paper under my car tonight to see if anything is leaking. Going to check it in the morning to see. Do you guys have any suggestions with what it could be?? I read some older forum about heating and saw that it could be a bad thermostat or a head gasket. ( I'm going to check the color of the oil in the morning and check the level of the coolant in the morning as well ) When it was hot, I still had power but never checked how much just because it said it was hot. I also thought that it could be some wiring problems, but how do you check the wiring for over heating??

Any help would be awesome, I have to make a 5 hour trip back home on TH.. please help!

Thanks.

 

my GUESS would be to check your thermostat, but i dont know much. That would be my first guess.

 

Check all your fluids.. i dont trust anyone...
IF they are okay.. Replace your Tst.

Do the fans turn on?

 

Yeah, def checking my fluids in the AM.. I bought some 50/50 tonight. Please refresh my memory but, if its lower than the "cool" line, add it up and a little past the "cool" line, right? What if it's at the cool line? Whats a Tst?

And yea, I checked if my fans were working. They weren't working the first time I pulled over but, when I pulled over a second time, they were working. Thing is, the engine wasn't even putting off any heat. That's what I thought it was, like a wiring problem with the fans.. But they were working when I pulled into a parking lot and popped the hood again.

 

I meant a Thermostat..

when the engine is cold open the raidotor cap.. it should be full.. if not had to the resovior... I think theres a line on it..

 

Alright.. thanks, I'll do that in the morning. Can I go to any auto store and buy a new thermostat? I have a relative idea where it is located, is it easy to replace? Does anyone know?

 

Check out the DIY section. There is a DIY on the thermostat in there.

https://www.hondacivicforum.com/foru...splay.php?f=73

 

SO.. turns out that in the AM I went out and checked my coolant level, it was a little lower than the "low" level. Added it up to the MAX. But, before I did that I opened the radiator cap and there was pressure. I think this could have been the problem. Because now it doesn't seem to have a problem. We will see. lol

 

What year Civic?

Top off coolant in the radiator and then bleed the system.

 

Are the other hoses (the ones not going to the radiator) hot?