ok, i bought the car from a dude who said the radiator had a small pin-hole in it, he diddnt mention it untill after we seen steam comming from the engein, at first he said it was just because water got under there (it was raining) but the next morning, we test drove it and he said it had a pin hole at the top of the radiator.. so i thought whatever ill buy it, i wanted a civic real bad. We keep checking the anti freeze but it looks full, ill turn on the car with the cap off and it wont go down or anything, it just stays at the top, i notice the temp guage also stays below normal, my uncle looked at it and said the car runs real cool which isnt nessicerily a bad thing but it dosent seem right, now after buying the car and 2 weeks later, something went wrong because the car is real loud now, sounds like its comming from the front area of the car, maybe by the driver and passenger area of the undercarrage, and the heat dont seem to be as hot as it was, does anyone know what might be wrong? i want to hurry up and start modding my car such as intake, catback exhaust, maybe lower it, new paint job, ect, but i want to get the major stuff out of the way first because whats the point in having a fast ride if it dosent move.. does anyone know or have an idea on what might be wrong and why its so loud and what might be wrong with the radiator?

 

What year Civic?

[edit] Go here and find the manual for your Civic. It's a useful resource. http://hondatech.info/downloads/Auto/Manuals/Civic/

 

Get yourself a Factory Service Manual. Chiltons and Haynes don't quite cut it.

If the car is loud, my first guess is an exhaust leak...not difficult to repair. Get a nice header, flow-thru cat, and a catback. It sounds like it might just be a rusted pipe or blown out exhaust joint/gasket.

If the car is running cool, it might just be the weather. I would also check the temp sensor, gauge, waterpump, and thermostat. Cooling system work isn't too difficult either.

 

The thermostat may be stuck open. It's inexpensive and easy to replace. It's also possible that the previous owner removed the thermostat in an attempt to mask a more serious problem.

Put the front end on stands and, with the engine idling, crawl under the car to precisely pinpoint the source of the noise.

 

the year is a 97 civic hatchback cx, the guage stays below normal like its still cool but when i turn it off, it will go back to cold

 

If you are saying that the engine temperature remains below the normal range, then the thermostat is bad or missing.

 

i have no idea what what image is of but i would have to get it fixxed by someone else, im just wondering what the problome is, i understand the thermomeder might be bad but what would cause it to steam? and get real loud after i buy it?

 

The posts in this thread have attempted to answer these questions. Where are you seeing steam?

 

under the hood, under the overflow it looks like.. now tonite i was comming back from walmart, just bought a new touchscreen dvd player for my dash and it sounded like my exhaust was dragging, i got out n looked but nothing was hittin the road... im lost haha, im sorry, im car stupid, im more of the web design graphic design audio editer kinda guy haha, im clueless under the hood

 

ok i took it to a muffler shop like 3 days after the post and the muffler was all rusted out, he said it looked like it was rigged to ;ast a week or so, but whatever, i bought a round muffler that makes my car sound like a bad *** even though its all stock haha, anyways, what i want to know now is should i go with the basic stock replacement radiator or would an aftermarket one give me better performance? what would be my best bet, i want to have the best of the best so i can say i got one of the best cars in town (most of the people just got the vtec with exhaust n intake), so should i go with aftermarket or basic stock?