Hey Guys,

My friends 2000 civic lx is overheating. It started about a year ago, and I have been trying to help him fix the problem.

Basically, the car will jump into the red on the temp gauge when sitting in traffic. The car has about 160K and is more or less original with respect to equipment.

Thus far, I have changed his thermostat, replaced the radiator cooling fan switch, flushed the radiator.

Recently the car will overheat and when doing so, the overflow tank fills and overflows. My friend recently added a bottle of leak fix, and the fluid now seems a little chunky, if you know what I mean.

When the car starts to warm up, everything acts as usual. As the temp rises, the lower radiator hose starts to warm as the thermostat opens. Strangely enough, the upper hose is always much hotter than the lower tube, too hot to touch, and it almost looks like there is a small bulge in the tube where it meets up with the head. His heater works and blows warm air.

I've tried bleeding the system, and is seems like there is usually air in the system.

I'm wondering what else it could be? Water pump? Clogged radiator? Thermostat again? Head gasket? I just don't know...

Anly help in diagnosing and fixing this beast???

Thanks,

Bryan

 

Try air out the system...

Leave radiator cap off and idle the engine till fan comes on, top off as needed during idle, it takes like 15 mins or so idling till the fan to comes on.

 

We tried doing the bleed. We elevated the front on jacks, removed the cap and let the engine come up to speed. All the time we "milked" the radiator hoses by squeezing to help push air through. We burped a few big bubbles during the process. We spent about 25 minutes doing so until the fan came on. The fan, when it does come on, only stays on for about 30 seconds and then turns off, even when the enging is hot.

Even after bleeding the system, we still see frequent small bubles coming up to the cap during bleed. We never reached a state where we were bubble free... I'm wondering if I am gaining air in the coolant through the combustion chamber???

Also, what about the water pump? Is ther a way to test the water pump for proper function. I"m sure it hase never been changed out...

Thanks,

Bryan

 

With the engine cold, feel the upper hose it should have no pressure inside. Then start the engine and rev it, if you feel pressure building up quickly, the head gasket is leaking.

 

Thanks for the advice on the rev/pressure. I'll give it a try when my buddy is next over at my place.

I've had a feeling that the head gasket is blown for a while. I've done a bunch of work on this car, and every time I"ve been left with a strange feeling that things are wrong. Maybe its the sweet smell of cooking glycol, or the faint puffs of white smoke in the exhaust.... Time will tell.

 

My buddy finally came over today. Same problems and no cure.
I tried the revving engine/upper radiator hose trick, and sure enough, while the engine revs, I can feel pressure build in the upper radiator hose.
I also confirmed whitish exhaust.

So, I'm 95% sure it's the head gasket.

Strangely enough, he just had the oil changed and there was no mention of any water in the oil by the technician.

I'm contemplating running a compression test for him, just for the peace of mind that it is in fact the head gasket.

So, what are the realistic options here??? He wants to sell the car, and states that is is worth about 3500 per KBB. What is a fair price with the broken head gasket? What is a fair price to repain the head?

How involved of a project is it to pull the head and replace the gasket? What are the costs in parts to replace?

Thanks

Bryan

 

Sounds like a HG to me as well.

Generally in these cars a blown HG won't result in coolant/oil mixing. Continuous air in the system and going through coolant are common signs.

I wouldn't be shocked if the compression test comes out fine either, I would still check it before you pull the head off though. A leak down test is usually more effective in detecting a HG leak.

Pulling the head isn't all that difficult, if you've changed a timing belt before I think you could do it. The gasket kits aren't expensive at all, head bolts are a little pricey but I think it would be around $100 in parts.

I would worry about the head being warped since it's been overheating for so long.

 

Thanks again for the input.

Is there a good source for the service manual floating around here or an active link? Again, it's my friends car, so I'm not in posession of any manual for the 2000 lx.

What would you estimate the cost to machine the head flat?

Given my friend wants to sell the car, what is the best option given having a bad HG? Should he trade it in, sell it with full disclosure, offer it to a mechanic? Thoughts? He's broke, so I want to help him out as much as possible.

If I wasn't so damn busy myself, I'd offer to do the work at a major discount... My wife will kill me if I take on another project...

What would you do?

 

i would put a type r in my car and get a 3 layer HG and valve adjustment on my engine throw it in a hatchback and sell it to some kid...

heh...