Engine Cooling problem
2000 Honda Civic 4 cyl Front Wheel Drive Manual 150000 miles
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My 2000 civic 1.6L. Is over heating. Recentinly i was driving it and the upper hose blew. At first it started backfiring then i put it in -N- so i can get to the side of the road. So far i have changed all the hoses. Checked if there was any leaks around the radiator and back side of motor. nothing. Now that i drive it doesnt overheat unless im at high rpm for a long period of time. Especially when i turn my AC on. When i turn off then car. I check for leaks again cause my reserver keeps getting lower. I can also smell burned cooliant, but i see nothing leaking. I dont know what it could be except for the water pump and head gasket. Is there a way i can check these or do i
have a malfuntion else where. I also replaced the
thermostate. This is the First motor problem I have had with this car.

Have it block and pressure tested-do the block first to pinpoint a combustion leaking into the cooling system or a gas analyzer to sniff for hydrocarbons at the radiator fill neck.

Pressure test: do not do a pressure test if there's leakage at the headgasket this might cause coolant into the cylinders and lock it up or bend a connecting rod if cranked thereafter. The headgasket should be repaired before doing the pressure test.

If the block and pressure test passes check the following: Thermostat,Pressure test the Rad. cap,Clogged radiator,Fan clutch,Radiator electrical fan,collaspe hoses,water pump

how do i do a block and pressure test and a gas
analyzer test. I plan on doing a whole tune up my car with changing the timing belts and pullys. with adjusting the valve springs. I would like to
figure out the main problem so it wont be so costly on my half.

Test the water pump do below-


One way to test for a bad water pump is to squeeze the upper radiator hose when the engine is hot and idling. Careful, because the hose will be HOT! If you do not feel much coolant circulating through the hose when you rev the engine, the pump may be bad. The other cause might be a bad thermostat that is not opening properly (remove and inspect the thermostat), or a clogged radiator.

when i do that it doesnt feel full like half empty.
compaired to the bottom hose feels full. If I take the timing belt cover off will i see any anti-freeze leaking from
the water pump.Lastly what is another way of checking
the head gasket? Because when i drive the car after shutting it. A strong FUME comes from the driver side after opening the hood? anymore ideas would be helpful.
I have maintained this motor to the tee. So i would like to keep it a little longer

Hi matthao,

If the reserve tank keeps depleting, there should be a leakage somewhere.

Look for coolant stain marks when the engine is partially warm atter cooling down.

Check if the radiator drain cork O ring is worn.

Remove all the sparkplugs and inspect for coolant in the cylinders unable to get a chec bloc tester its a fluid that's changes color when exhaust gas is present in the cooling system or a cooling system pressure tester

after flushing my coolant from my car, and changing
all my heater hoses, my car wont start. I sprayed the engine bay afterward. I know i didnt get the distributer
wet cause i opened the cap n checked. Everytime i crank
it over it makes a loud humming noise like vroomp, kinda
of like a hollow noise. Please help

Do below and see what happens

Get a carb cleaner and spray into the carb or the throttle body on an EFI. Did it start and die? If not disconnect a sparkplug wire or 2 and ground it to the engine -have helper crank engine over-do you have a snapping blue spark? If so-you have a fuel problem, check the fuel pressure to rule out the fuel pump/pressure regulator and listen to the injector/s are they pulsing or hook up a noid light. No snapping blue spark continue to troubleshoot the ignition system-power input to the coil/coil,distributor pick-up coil, ignition control module, cam and crank sensors-

If both fuel and spark is present-check the valve and ignition timing, this will lead you to problems with compression and valves opening and closing at the wrong time