2002 Honda Civic

JDILLAMAN

MEMBER
2002 HONDA CIVIC
4 CYL
FWD
AUTOMATIC
140,000 MILES

We have had a continual problem with our '02 Honda Civic. The temperature guage goes to "hot" and then back down to normal. It does this often. We have had numerous things replaced--thermostat, ELD, spark plugs, etc, etc. We have had this problem looked at 5 different times. Occasionally, it will go to "hot" and not go back down. Last week it went to "hot", did not go back down, and promptly died in the middle of the road. What could we inquire about? We have been to three different mechanics and none of their "computers" can find anything wrong.

Wednesday, February 25th, 2009 AT 12:34 PM

2 Replies

KHLOW2008

MECHANIC
41,814 POSTS

Hi jdillaman,

Thank you for the donation.

Do you have coolant losses? Check radiator coolant level when engine is cold.

Are the cooling fans working and stopping intermittently without the AC turned on when the gauge is showing high? If yes, the engine is not overheating and the high gauge reading is a false reading.

Falese readings are uaually caused by bad ground connections. Clean the ground wires connections behind the headligghts.

When the engine stalled the last time out, were you able to restart and was it easy?

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Wednesday, February 25th, 2009 AT 1:39 PM

JDILLAMAN

MEMBER
1 POST

When we first purchased the car (4 years ago), two days after purchase it got hot. We noticed that there was nothing in the radiator. So, we filled it, and it did the going to hot thing. We took it back to the dealer ship, and they replaced some kind of seal.

How often is normal to have to add coolant?

I do not know about the fans coming on.

The car died and would not start this last time. It is currently sitting at a garage waiting to be looked at, but I thought maybe I could get an idea of what they could look for this time, as it is the same problem again and again and again.

Thank you for your time.

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Wednesday, February 25th, 2009 AT 2:13 PM