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Car trouble question

lamina

lamina

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Mar 9, 2006
1,757
69
Niagara
Hi everyone,

I have a 1995 Honda Civic that has been acting up lately.

I will be driving it, and it will warm up, but no heat comes out of the air vents.

It gets VERY hot, to the point that the head indicator needle goes beyond the red, and beyond the H. If it could go higher, it would.

Heat comes out of the vents intermittently.

I realize this heat will likely fry a gasket or even crack the head. I have an appointment to have it looked at tomorrow morning.

I hope it's only the water pump. Any other ideas?
 
There are a couple other things it could be too. Water pump as you said, frozen (stuck) thermostat would cause those problems... I'm sure there is at least one more thing I'm not thinking of...

EDIT: LIM gasket...
 
My guess is you have a cooling system related problem.

The heat of the engine is in part removed by antifreeze fluid. In the car there is something called a heater core which is like a radiator, it draws the heat out of the antifreeze and that heat is used to heat your car.

Water pump, heater core, leaks, there is a lot that could go wrong.
 
I hope it's not too costly... great friggin timing too, right before Consumeristmas...
 
I had a similar problem this past spring. (2000 Honda Civic) Turns out the hose between the engine and the radiator had burst so the coolant was not circulating. Initially it was just a cost of $11.00+ dollars to get a new hose, but then while removing the radiator panel from the front of the car that broke so I had to get a new one of those (extra $99). I'm sure it would have cost a lot more if I had taken it into a shop, but luckily I have a friend who is a mechanic and he showed me how to do it.
Just noticed yesterday that my engine temperature gage was alternating between normal temp and almost-too-hot temp. Hope that's not a sign of more problems. Guess I'll have to take it in to a shop this time...
 
My brother says he can smell antifreeze burning. We're worried that the antifreeze is getting into one of the cylinders...

The new civic is looking really good these days... It will be sad to let the old girl go.
 
lamina said:
My brother says he can smell antifreeze burning. We're worried that the antifreeze is getting into one of the cylinders...

The new civic is looking really good these days... It will be sad to let the old girl go.
Click to expand...

Could be an external leak somewhere ... though getting it fix before it warps a head is a damn good idea.

Squeeze a hose they should keep some pressure, if it is easy to squeeze you might also hear it gurgling out the leak.

Fixing the leak and thermostat is cheap, the heater cores can be bypassed for $5-10 see if that is the leak also.

The water pump should have a weep hole, to see if you are leaking there.

---

For all the Ford we have had, the pressure leak/test system only worked once in 5-10 leaks, usually had to hunt for the leaks or wait for it to blow. Couple heater cores, 2 intake manifolds, a radiator, water pump, and 1 leak that never was fixed before that vehicle ended up crushed.
 
Open the hood, sniff around, does it smell like antifreeze. It has a sweet smell to it and its fairly strong.

Check to see if there is any coolant in the oil. If there is it will appear milky.
 
lamina said:
I can't smell any antifreeze, but I think there may be antifreeze in the oil. It's runny even when cold.
Click to expand...

it is suppose to be running when cold. It is a very thing oil when cold. The reason we run W5=30 is because when it is cold it is a weight 5 oil and when hot it is a w30 old.

You need to see if it milky. But since you are over heating as well I would say get a new thermistors for your car. It like a 5 buck part that goes in one of the lines (normally the higher one) of the engines block. It opens when it gets hot enough. A very simple and yet very effect thing for a car. It runs completely off metal expatriation and contraction.
 
Hope you get this looked at soon. My 2¢ worth: With engine running, check under hood, and see if you can spot anything leaking. Use a flashlight, even in daylight. Upper and lower radiator hoses. (Watch the top hose, it's hot!. Watch hands around fans, and all rotating components!)

Check heater hoses and clamps, especially going into firewall. Any leaks there? Is coolant dripping / spraying on anything, such as the exhaust manifold, or any part of the engine? Again, be cautious!

All other advice here is good. A bad heater core on a car of this age is a real possibility. Thermostat is likely, if no other leaks. Also, it's possible that a heater hose has a blockage. That happened to my mother's old chevy wagon. Just a sludgy build up, but it totally blocked a heater hose.
 
Alright, I'm not sure that milky oil looks like, so I'm posting some pics.

One is of the dipstick with oil on it. Yes, I know there's too much.

The other 2 are of the second ignition coil. There's not supposed to be oil there, right?
 

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abiyng87 said:
Second that...

It does suck at this time of year, I just had a $500 brake job (frozen caliper slide) and as a college student that pretty much takes care of any hope of giving gifts... :(

Good luck with it
Click to expand...

Interesting....I just changed my pads and shoes, and I had a frozen caliper slide onthe drivers side. It had been frozen for a long time! I used an oxy-acetylene torch to heat up the part and got it loose myself. I cannot image paying $500 for a brake job, did you consider buying the shop manual ($20) and the pads and shoes ($60) yourself and changing it in your driveway? The frozen caliper slide is a pain but all you need is someone with a torch. A propane torch would work, even, and you can get those at Wallyworld.
 
Brought it in this morning. I'm kinda nervous to be honest. Just waiting for the call now.

Can anyone take a look at the pictures and tell me if the oil looks milky, or like it has antifreeze in it?
 
lamina said:
Brought it in this morning. I'm kinda nervous to be honest. Just waiting for the call now.

Can anyone take a look at the pictures and tell me if the oil looks milky, or like it has antifreeze in it?
Click to expand...

Your oil looks good. Is it oil or just grease on your ignition wires? If there is a lot of oil on them you need a new valve cover gasket. It's cheap and east to replace.
 
Just got the call now. Looks like a blown head gasket. This is the 3rd time the head gasket has gone on this thing.

They quoted me $1100, which is on par with the last 2 repair prices.

We're doing a temporary fix to seal the gasket until we can find another car. I will miss it.

Looking at a 2003 Civic though ;)
 
That sucks man, I'm sorry. At least it gives you a good excuse to get a new car., though now you have to pay. Hopefully your new one will last another 12 years. How many miles did you have on it?
 
Thanks for the condolences.

It's got about 210000km. If you ask me, that's pretty short for a Honda.

It all started when the thermostat went on it, and it would overheat. This likely warped the head, which is why we've gone through 3 head gaskets on it now.

Thanks again for your kind words ErikCLDR.
 
At least it's only a Honda. ;) Just kidding. I just kinda have a small thing against Civics. It's never any fun having to do repair work like that. I just replaced the timing chain on my Nissan truck. The quote was around $600-800 for that, so I said hell no. I decided to do it all myself. Cost me around $150-200 in parts and about three months to get it all done, but I wasn't working on it the entire time. That was an hour or two here and there every couple weeks. Total time was maybe 10-15 hours. I learned a lot about how the vehicle works by doing it myself.

Good luck in the search for a new one. I have thought about getting the Civic hybrid. That'd be a decent little ride I think.
 
lamina said:
Thanks for the condolences.

It's got about 210000km. If you ask me, that's pretty short for a Honda.

It all started when the thermostat went on it, and it would overheat. This likely warped the head, which is why we've gone through 3 head gaskets on it now.

Thanks again for your kind words ErikCLDR.
Click to expand...

Yea 210,000km (130,000 miles) isn't that great for a Honda. I've read horror stories about Land Rovers that blow their engines at 60,000 miles :eek:.

Cars are companions, and they can be missed.
 
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