1996 Honda Civic car overheating

FONZIE13

MEMBER
1996 HONDA CIVIC
4 CYL
FWD
AUTOMATIC
175,000 MILES

My car keeps overheating and we have already changed the thermostat believing that was the problem, checked the fan to make sure it works, and made sure the coolant level is right. It runs fine for a good 30 to 45 minutes and then the temp starts to go up. One thing we have when this happens is that even though the coolant in the radiator seems to be fine all the coolant in the resovoir tank has spilled out. Can you help me figure this one out?

Friday, June 12th, 2009 AT 2:38 AM

1 Reply

KHLOW2008

MECHANIC
41,814 POSTS

Hi fonzie13,

Thank you for the doonation.

There are a few possibilites for the problem:

1. Radiator cap. It is not of the correct specification or the seals are bad. It would not hold the pressure in the cooling system and cause the coolant to be forced into the recovery tank.

2. Bad head gasket. Combustion pressure is leaking into the cooling system. After prolonged driving after topping up the coolant, the recovery tank would overflow and when engine cools down, recovery tank level would drop slightly anf coolant level in radiator would be low.

3. Fans coming on later than specs. Faulty fan switch. Does problem occurs even with AC turned on and both fans working?

4. Radiator cloggged. Internal and ecternal clogging would reduce the cooling efficiency.

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Friday, June 12th, 2009 AT 7:17 AM