1999 Honda Civic overheating

Tiny
NNEDDEFF
  • MEMBER
  • 1999 HONDA CIVIC
  • 4 CYL
  • FWD
  • AUTOMATIC
  • 153,000 MILES
I just had the a/c compressor and a/c cooling fan replaced 3 months ago. The problem I am having is overheating. The car will drive fine for a while then it will overheat after a while. No water in oil and no oil in water. I did notice small bubbles in the coolant when I had the lid off and it seemed to increase when the a/c was turned on. I also changed the thermostat which seem to help and allow the car not to overheat as much.
Thursday, May 29th, 2008 AT 11:08 PM

7 Replies

Tiny
LEGITIMATE007
  • MECHANIC
  • 5,121 POSTS
A couple of things, make sure your coolant is properly diluted, it will cause changes in being able to work properly in cooling the engine and heating the engine, also, your system has to be bled for air, it will cause poor circulation. And lastly your problem is probably you engine coolant temperature sensor, its probably giving a false reading to the computer causing the computer to turn the fans on at the wrong time thus making the engine overheat
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Thursday, May 29th, 2008 AT 11:22 PM
Tiny
NNEDDEFF
  • MEMBER
  • 3 POSTS
What about the tiny bubbles I see. Where do think they are coming from.
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Friday, May 30th, 2008 AT 10:58 AM
Tiny
KHLOW2008
  • MECHANIC
  • 41,814 POSTS
Hi nneddeff,

Most probably the tiny bubbles are from a blown head gasket.

Hondas uses steel head gaskets and any overheating of the engine does not cause the head gasket to give way immediately. Sometimes you will notice a head gasket problem only after a few months and very seldom you will get oil in the cooling system or coolant in the oil.

The usual symptom will be loss of coolant in the radiator while the reserve tank will seldom go very low.
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Friday, May 30th, 2008 AT 12:39 PM
Tiny
LEGITIMATE007
  • MECHANIC
  • 5,121 POSTS
THATS MY HONDA DUDE, good call. What up khlow?
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Friday, May 30th, 2008 AT 6:18 PM
Tiny
NNEDDEFF
  • MEMBER
  • 3 POSTS
Thanks for the responses this is a really cool site. I love working on cars, since I was twelve and my dad showed me how to change an altenator. But thanks again for the info.

Is there a check I can do to see if it is the head gasket. Like a pressure check of some sort, Is there a fitting I will need to preform this check. And also in your opinion, do you think I can do this repair on my own.
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Friday, May 30th, 2008 AT 6:21 PM
Tiny
LEGITIMATE007
  • MECHANIC
  • 5,121 POSTS
Of course you can do it yourself just use caution and common sense. I will send you the info page that will show you step by step how to do it and thank you for the compliment. Hey if you have enough self confidence and love to fix cars like u say then why don't you apply for a moderator job; tell em legitimate007 sent you.
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Friday, May 30th, 2008 AT 6:27 PM
Tiny
LEGITIMATE007
  • MECHANIC
  • 5,121 POSTS
Here you go the compression lesson,

https://www.2carpros.com/dia/how_to_check_compression.htm
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Friday, May 30th, 2008 AT 6:28 PM

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