Overheating Problem

[pb344]

I've got an 89' Civic GL and today the car overheated.
When you stop at the lights the temp gauge keeps going up and eventulally into the red.
I stopped the car and checked the radiator. It was still full. The fan was running. But it was hissing from somewhere in the circled area (see pic). Does anyone know what this is and what to do?
http://www.geocities.com/pb_344/civic_overheat.jpg

[WPN.22R]

was your a/c on?

if yes- is your thermo fan working?

[Cyrus]

it could be the waterpump

[pb344]

nah the air con wasn't on.

Cyrus --> is it safe to drive if the waterpump is hissing? could it be leaking or something. I'm going to take it to hannys tomorrow but i don't wanna break down halfway there. I'm coming from parra.

[Cyrus]

how long is the drive? You might be able to make it if it's a short one,..but I wouldn't really recommend it if it's a lenghthy drive with start and stop.
well,..if it is really the waterpump, it means the water is not being pumped to cool your engine,...worse thing that could happen is everything cease in ur engine due to overheating....

[ECU-MAN]

how long is the drive? You might be able to make it if it's a short one,..but I wouldn't really recommend it if it's a lenghthy drive with start and stop.
well,..if it is really the waterpump, it means the water is not being pumped to cool your engine,...worse thing that could happen is everything cease in ur engine due to overheating....

sorry dude I tend to disagree with your post a bit, Im not having a go just want to not misinform people. with Honda Engines, the water pump is driven by the timming belt. if you water pump is noisy or leaking, it is still spinning and circulating coolant as the timming belt is spinning and driving it. if the water pump seized then your engine woulnt run at all. it is verry unlikely that the impellor would fall off as its a press fit.

it is very likely your thermostat is seized or if it is your water pump a mechanic should be able to confirm for you. just dont drive it to much if its overheating as you will be doing a head gasket as well.

does it over heat when you travelling over 40kmh

[civiceg9]

water pump will leak water once it is past its use by date.
if could be your themostat blocking up, is only $50 item from Honda I believe
and takes like 30mins to change it.

[pb344]

The car's not leaking anything.
When you drive the car the temp is just below 1/2 (which is normal) but as soon as you come to a set of lights it starts creeping up slowly.
Once you take off again the temp starts going back to the 1/2 mark.
When i got home i left it to idle and checked under the bonnet. The fan was running but the temp kept creeping up.
I turned off the ignition and heard a loud hissing sound. it was smoking a little as well. no leak or anything though.

It doesn't matter what speed im travelling. If im accelerating then the temp is normal but as soon as i stop the temp starts going up.

Hannys from here is about 15mins. Hopefully there's not much traffic going out that way at 8am.

Someone suggested trying turning on the air-con. Does this sound right?

[ECU-MAN]

this is a thermo fan problem, just coz its spins doent mean it is spinning at full speed, could only be coasting. it should be the right fan that is spinning not the left one ( air con fan ). does the fan cut in and stay in.

and yes driving with the air con on will force the condensor ( left fan ) to stay on which helps cooling.

[g3vtir]

i reckon its the thermostat...its probably stuck at the "closed" state. Cheap to buy and fix...

[rly1]

I had the exact same problem few days ago man!
one of the hose is leaking.
I had the problem for few days and couldn't find a leak either, but my coolant always seemed to reduce everytime I checked it. you will soon see the coolant splashing a little in ur red circle area.
I'm pretty sure it's leaking man! just need to change whatever the damage hose is.

[pb344]

Yeah i checked it and it is leaking somewhere near the waterpump.
Not sure where cause i gotta get underneath the car. It's only dripping though so its not too bad. I just gotta keep topping up the radiator.
Getting it fixed soon.

Thanks for all you input guys. :thumbsup: It's been much appreciated :D :D

[karbonphyber]

yeah!

[rly1]

Yeah i checked it and it is leaking somewhere near the waterpump.
Not sure where cause i gotta get underneath the car. It's only dripping though so its not too bad. I just gotta keep topping up the radiator.
Getting it fixed soon.

Thanks for all you input guys. :thumbsup: It's been much appreciated :D :D

I'm not sure where the water pump is but if it's the same problem I had, it should be leaking from the hose behind the pile of small hoses(circle in white), the white arrow is pointing at it but I'm not sure from the picture

[rly1]

I can't upload your picture that I modified...

[godzhitman]

I've had that same problem 3 times, and it's bugging the crap outta me. so I optioned for aftermarket parts from jap, coz there aint decent parts here for my eg6. Hope mine gets fixed like urs!

[karbonphyber]

japanese parts are the best mate =o)

[crxmatt]

I have had a similar problem with my CRX in the past. Was overheating alot... ended up getting a new radiator cause it was pretty rusted/corroded. That wasnt the problem, so I went ahead and changed the thermostat like was mentioned earlier. Cost about $30, and wasnt too hard to fit myself, I just followed directions in the crx service manual that I have online.

However, my car has recently been overheating again. but this time i noticed fluid leaking and a hissing noise from a similar position to where you pointed out in your pic.

I got a major service done, and had them check it out. Ended up getting a new water bi-pass hose and new clamps etc, pretty cheap, and so far so good.

good luck

[taiman]

ur thermostat couldve gone cactus man...

30 bux should do the job...
(my 2 cents)