Hey peeps! I am new to the forum thing, but I am pretty desperate at this point and knew this would be a good source to turn to for help. I have a 1995 Honda Civic Dx has 160000 miles on it and has been running strong. Just recently my radiator went bad and I replaced it. The car has been working great up until last Friday. Here are the symptoms of my car and the steps I have taken to fix it.

The car is overheating within minutes of being on, the gauge reads it is cool but the reservoir, radiator and engine are boiling. I put in a new radiator a couple months ago, also have replaced the engine coolant temp sensor and switch, replaced the thermostat and the radiator cap. I have refilled the radiator and bled the line also. The car still overheats, the radiator fan is also not turning on have checked all the electrical and everything is working, checked the radiator fan relay and replaced that, also checked all fuses and everything is good, but still the fan will not kick on. The actual heater in the car does not get hot, even when the car gets to temperature the car blows cold air. Lastly, the car has a very heavy idle almost like it is going to die but doesn’t, when it starts to idle heavy the exhaust produces a sulfur smell. I am almost 100% positive all of the issues are somehow related, but I have done everything we could think of to make the fan and radiator act properly.

Here are my thoughts of what else it could be and to try, first I have not checked the water pump yet, figured this may be a culprit in the situation. Second, I am going to check the switch I replaced to ensure it is working and not a dud. Third, before I replaced the radiator I was advised to try a radiator sealant, it was an aluminum looking liquid that is supposed to be poured into the radiator. I did that but had no success, should I have flushed my system after using that? Again the car ran fine for a month or two after I replaced the radiator, but now all these issues just hit at once. I would really appreciate any help or suggestions on what could be causing my car to produce all these symptoms at once. Thanks guys!

 

maybe its your head gasket?
is there oil in your coolant? or coolant in your oil?

 

I, too, would say it is your head gasket be the culprit.

 

Bad head gasket will fill the cooling system with exhaust gas, pushing the coolant out. Get the radiator completely full and start the engine cold with the radiator cap off. Rev it up and see if any gas bubbles out.

 

Every time i fill the radiator with fluid and start without the cap on the coolant shoots out. I have not checked to see if the oil looks milky i will be working on it again tonight and will check those things.

 

If you see water shooting out, why do you need to see milky oil?? Guess where and how that much pressure to shoot out water coming from???

I will be ripping the head off if I was you,,,,

The cylinder head that is,,,,

 

Alright so i worked on it more last night and figured out it is either the head gasket or i may have a warped head. We did a compression test on all cylinders and every one of them was between 100 and the lowest was 80 the specs say i should be around 180. Also 2 of the spark plugs had oil on them. Is there a way to be positive it is a warped head versus a head gasket? Suggestions and comments are appreciated, thanks!

 

Remove the head and inspect is the only way to know the condition of your head.

 

Alright so I am looking into replacing the engine. I am trying to find something freshly rebuilt not anything used. Any suggestions on a good place to check out to find a good replacement motor? Either online or if any of you are from AZ a local spot would be even better. Thanks!