So it was snowing a couple months ago and I slid off the road in my civic I bought a few hours earlier. A bunch of snow got pushed up around the fans\radiator\ac condenser. At the same time my drive belt snapped and I popped a tire. So I changed the belt and the tire and when I drove aity I noticed I was overheating.

So I had this problem with a Camry when I slid off the road and it ended up just being the thermostat. So I changed out the thermostat and it was still overheating. This is when I noticed my fans weren't kicking on.

So the car is good for about a 100 miles before I have to add coolant. But when it runs out it becomes air locked, and it's a bitch to get all the air out.

When it's overheating the upper hose is bloated and hot and the lower hose is warm, but not hot or bloated. Also, there is small black flecks floating in the coolant but they disintegrate between my fingertips. I feel as if I can almost smell oil/exhaust coming from the radiator while I purge the air from it. I don't know if it's my imagination or not. There is no white smoke coming from the exhaust. But the coolant overflows from the reservoir at high rpm. I'm not sure if the same happens from the radiator because I haven't gotten around to checking. Also, the radiator empties out while the overflow still has fluid in it. I smell coolant while driving but I think it's only because of the overflow from the coolant reservoir. As I write this down it sounds more like a head gasket leak mixing with the exhaust. Oh and the car runs and starts like a champ. Oh and my heat works until I overheat and then turn the car off

It's an 01 civic ex coupe vtech 1.7 5 speed with 160k on it. Thoughts anyone? Could it be overheating with no fans? And the bloated hose is from the boiling coolant and water? Or is it the head gasket?

I know the next step is a pressure test or the dye kit and to see if it's the fan or fanswitch that's shot. Is there anything I am missing or forgetting to do?

 

I suspect a small leak in the head gasket, but I'm no expert. Here are a couple of YouTube videos on diagnosing a head gasket. The first uses a couple of special tools that you can make yourself.
The second video shows how to diagnose without tools, but depends on the type of leakage, that is, the method is hit or miss.

By the way, when you are driving around losing coolant, it is best to make sure the level in the overflow reservoir doesn't get so low that the overflow tube loses siphon. When it does you get air in the system. The overflow tank may have coolant even if the radiator level is low, so take off the radiator cap when the engine is cold and top off the radiator, too. All that said, check the head gasket ASAP before you crack the head.