eg civic weird problem?

[chriss89]

hey guys, about a month ago i had just got my car serviced, everything was running good, no problems. The next day i went for a 2hr drive to the beach, was a hot day, car didnt run hot, nothing. When i got there, my mate noticed that my car was leaking coolant, and it turned out my reserve tank/overflow tank, whatever its called, was full to the top and had been overflowing through that. i left my car to cool for a few hours and it lowered to just a little under the max line. Drove home fine, didnt overheat, and didnt leak when i got home. weird!


on the weekend that just passed, i went for a 1hr and a half drive away from home, drove up fine, again didnt overheat, temp gauge stayed at about little under half the whole way. About 45 mins after i had got there, i remembered about what had happened the previous time. I got to my car, opened my bonnet and saw coolant around the top grooves on the plastic around the fan, i checked the bottle again and was on the MIN line, and just thought, ****!, luckily my cousin has a house up where we were, so i was going to put some water in it for the time being. When i got there, he saw it and it had risen up to about half way between min and max, and he said it didnt need any, so i left it. drove home fine, no problems.

This morning when i checked my car, the coolant bottle was empty, and radiator cap was empty too, so i put a little water in it for the time being.

Does anyone know what the problem could be? bad thermostat maybe? i have no idea lol

really sorryy for the long post, but thought id give you guys the full story! hope you can help! thanks in advanced!!

[hmetro24]

bleed the air from the cooling sytem.
Bad cap.
Bad thermostat. Could be a lazy thermostat.

Check these 3 first.Than >
Do a leakdown test. and compression Test.
IF you feel that the car start overheating while driving, turn the heater to Hot and start the fan to max. That's will help cool the engine.

[dougie_504]

+1 for changing the cap.

[sebtoombs]

Also remember that if you look at the coolant level while the engine is hot, it may be much higher than when cold, and possibly over the max. line. This is normal, as the hot coolant expands.

[chriss89]

Also remember that if you look at the coolant level while the engine is hot, it may be much higher than when cold, and possibly over the max. line. This is normal, as the hot coolant expands.

when the car was hot, i checked the coolant, and it wasnt green how coolant supposed to look, it was a dark murky sort of colour. Maybe i should get my cooling system flushed?

[dougie_504]

Probably just sediment/crap in it. Flush it out and put new Honda coolant in. DIY.

[stndrd]

Don't pay for Honda labelled coolant when you can walk into bursons or repco and get a 5L bottle of coolant concentrate that will make up enough coolant for two complete civic cooling systems for the same price, if not less

[tiksie]

Also remember that if you look at the coolant level while the engine is hot, it may be much higher than when cold, and possibly over the max. line. This is normal, as the hot coolant expands.

When it gets too hot, it will go into your radiator reservoir (over-flow bottle). When it's normal again, it will stuck it back in.

Check under your radiator cap, if theres is sludge on it, most probably time for a new headgasket as your one might be on the way out.

As above, don't pay for Honda OEM Coolant, just use normal Nulon coolant concentrate (obviously pre-mix it accordingly). The only good thing about Honda coolant is that it's blue and looks cool.. That's about it.. Same shit, different colour.

Flush your system out. It's pretty simple.

Here is the DIY:
http://www.ozhonda.com/forum/showthr...RADIATOR+FLUSH

[phwoaaa]

to simplify if your headgasket is gone meaning the water is leaking into the engine then your engine oil will look a lil coffee colour like and sludgy as tiksie said .
if its leaking water and theres no sign of water leaking out then thats another sign that your headgaskets gone too.

do a simple compression test on the cooling system to find any leaks .
the overflow bottle shouldnt concern you too much .

[chriss89]

to simplify if your headgasket is gone meaning the water is leaking into the engine then your engine oil will look a lil coffee colour like and sludgy as tiksie said .
if its leaking water and theres no sign of water leaking out then thats another sign that your headgaskets gone too.

do a simple compression test on the cooling system to find any leaks .
the overflow bottle shouldnt concern you too much .

Nah my oil is normal colour, and my coolant level has always been the same, just when i go for long drives and with summer approaching ill be doing a lot of driving down to the coast. So i might flush my system and see how i go

[chriss89]

Also thanks tiksie foe posting the DIY

[phwoaaa]

thats a good sign
remember after adding new coolant run the car till the fan kicks in .