Car heating up

We may earn a small commission from affiliate links and paid advertisements. Terms

P

Periculum

Senior Member
K, Im guessing head gasket, but I figured I would ask for a second opinion.

My car used to heat up on highway trips, going about 60 at 2k RPM for about 15 minutes would start heating it up and would continue until I turn on the heater, which it quickly drops afterward. Now it is heating up almost every time im in 4th or 5th for more than ten minutes. (ie long deliveries)

It also used to turn the fan on rather infrequently and now its probably on 60-80% of the time.

I also have a rough idle which could be attributed to a vacuum leak (<-- could that be from a head gasket?)

I tested the compression about a month ago and it was fine in all but #2 (which was 90)

Thanks in advance
 
it could possibly be the head gasket, but would try cheaper things first.
i.e. try your hoses, radiator, water pump, that sort of thing,

really it could be a number of things. now i'm curious, did you have to use the heater to keep the temp down, if so something is blocking the flow of water, which could be worn hoses, worn radiator and so on. if not, then the likeyhood of your temp issue would be either your head gasket, or your temp thingy that opens it up to flow more water(sorry brain fart on the temp thingy)

a few questions to clear it up

1. does it overheat at idle?
2. do you have to turn the heat on to lower your temp?
3. do you have adequate water in the radiator?
4. any leakage?
5. what is the make and model of your car?
6. what causes it to over heat the most? (i.e. freeway, idle, light or heavy driving)
7.any performance mods that may affect your temp issue? (i.e. swap)

if you could answer these, that would help me alot to cleary define what your problem is. i'll be glad to help you out, i'm sure others will be too

-ryan
 
1. does it overheat at idle?
nope, never, it just cools down at idle

2. do you have to turn the heat on to lower your temp?
only when it goes above normal operating temp(over 1/3 or 1/2 of the gauge)

3. do you have adequate water in the radiator?
Checked that, a little low, filled it up and the car still overheats, but takes longer

4. any leakage?
none that im aware of, never noticed a spot under my car, cept when I was leakin oil way back

5. what is the make and model of your car?
91 HF CRX 180K

6. what causes it to over heat the most? (i.e. freeway, idle, light or heavy driving)
Heavy driving (delivering pizza) and highway. Itll never overheat if im just making short(5 mi or less) trips here and there around town.

7.any performance mods that may affect your temp issue? (i.e. swap)
none that should, I have an Si radiator and alternator on an HF, but I dont think any of that would cause a prob
 
when did you start noticing your problem?

because i don't think its your head gasket, if it were, you'd be leaking water. how old is that radiator? because that might be a problem, and how old are all your pipes? hoses, that sort of thing.

to start off small, check your hoses, when your car is cool, run your hand along the water hoses and squeeze and see if it feels squishy, it should have give to it, but not so much you can squeese the walls of the hose together, nor should it be super stiff that there is no flex. your testing to see if the hoses have broken down inside or not. outside may look just fine.
now with your car warmed up, touch the hoses again, (becareful, it may be hot) but try to feel the tempature of the hoses, your outlet hose from radiator to the engine should be normal temp(not too hot) and the inlet hose from engine to radiator should be really warm. if they are both really hot, that tell me that your radiator is doing nothing. and that would be your problem. my first guess would be your radiator. but only if its an older one.

i had the same problem in a teg, i replaced the radiator and i was set, but let me know.
 
Simple do a coolant consumption test, Fill it to a certain level and drive it for a week, if your resevoir is considerably low then thats a big clue towards your head gasket needing to be replaced. Or you can buy a additive at a car parts store that when you pour it into your coolant, it turns yellow if you have fuel in you coolant, which happens when your head gasket blows. Simple tests rather than replacing so many things...
 
Originally posted by MXDesa@Apr 20 2005, 02:42 PM
Simple do a coolant consumption test, Fill it to a certain level and drive it for a week, if your resevoir is considerably low then thats a big clue towards your head gasket needing to be replaced. Or you can buy a additive at a car parts store that when you pour it into your coolant, it turns yellow if you have fuel in you coolant, which happens when your head gasket blows. Simple tests rather than replacing so many things...
[post=489312]Quoted post[/post]​
Click to expand...


agreed, start with small things, before you blow alot of money that may not be needed
 
Well the coolant resevoir is about 1/4 of max this morning after I filled it to max yesterday morning and filled the radiator. And there wasnt really any heavy driving yesterday. I also noticed that the coolant in the resevoir was black or mixed with something black. I assumed oil, but could there be anything else that is black that would get in there? I replaced the radiator about 6 months ago. The problem didnt really start until a few months ago, with it getting a little warm, and now just in the past week or so, its started heating up a lot quicker. I deliver again tonight, so ill be able to tell if refilling the coolant helped any.

The biggest reason I wanted to know this is because im debating just swapping, if it would be a big problem (head gasket) or something Im willing to fix and keep going.
 
well, a head gasket isn't hard to replace, but usually when you replace a head gasket, it would be wise to have the head looked at to make sure its not warped. a machine shop can do it. a swap would be more involved than a head gasket,

with decent knowlege of cars and tools

task: time:
head gasket 1.5-3hrs max
swap (depending on motor) 3-8hrs


i mean if you have the time, and the money, i would suguest a swap, the reason being is, that one you will have a newer motor, less miles, less to worry about, the head gasket, would be easyier, but then again if done right, will it happen again. if you can't spare the time, or money, go for the head gasket.

check the black stuff in your coolant, if the black rises to the top and has an oiliy consistancy, then its oil or fuel. one more thing, does your car, smoke? if it does, is it white?, or white with a tinge of blue?. that will tell me if it is for sure the head gasket. white, like pure white is coolant in your motor, which is the head gasket.
i hope i have helped, let me know
-ryan
 
Im not sure what it looks like while im driving, cuase I havent been behind my own car, but every so often itll kick out a huge cloud of white smoke when I move from a standstill.

I do have the money for a swap, especially from a local selling his wrecked civic with ZC for 650. and summer is coming up, so lots of free-time.

The black in the coolant is more mixed than separated. All the liquid is black in the resevoir as opposed to just the top. I checked the hoses as well and they squeeze down all the way. I guessed maybe the black stuff was the inside material to the hoses.
 
yeah, definitly sounds like you need new hoses and , because that can be a huge factor why your car heats up. all the material inside will come off the hoses and will absorb more heat , thus causing it to heat up more, try replcaing our hoses, its a cheap fix, and if your still heating up, at least it didn't drain your pocket. good luck
 
that will soon drain your pocket then going ahead and replaceing the head gasket. trust me i had the same problem in my car. yes it had that nasty black crap in the resivor in the radiator in the motor everywhere. what it is is the head gasket is blow on #2 plug becuse its at 90 psi needs to be about double that to be right. what that black crap is is oil mixed with blow bye carbon. its burning coolant thats why you get a big clound of white smoke. what I did is went ahead an did the swap. I got a good deal on a motor and trans and decied it was time to make a new car. i would recomend doing a swap of you have the cash to do it and also the time. just make sure that the motor is ok and sealed good so you dont have this crap happen agian. plus your gannin more power from it just make sure you go everything before you start to take it apart or it will take you longer bacuse youl be makeing lots of trips to find parts for it. Plus if you get the head worked on the bottom end of the motor is still going to be bad and will eventually break so all work for nothing. ill leave it up to you and thats a good price for a zc just make sure its straight no blown or messed up parts.



ya boy steveo
 
Did you bleed the air out of the system? There is a small bolt with a hole in it that you need to crack open while filling the system. You fill it until water starts coming out of it.
 
Wow, I never knew that (no really). Where is this bolt? Would it bleed properly if I opened it up now and let water come out? I changed the radiator several months ago(9 or so) and this problem is more recent within six months at most. My car has begun to have normal starts but with a rough idle after starting as well. Every day I hate that engine more and more......
 
yah, i acctually forgot about the bleeder nut, try it and see what happens, i bet that could be your issue, unless, did you put the radiator in yourself, or did a shop do it.
 
Its going to be at the highest point in the water system, sometimes near the thermostat. On my `92 hatch with a dseries (forget which one) it was where the upper radiator hose came to the front of the engine. On my ZC its where one of the hoses hooks to the side of the motor near the back. Just look around where the hoses goto, you can get a socket or a wrench on it, just a small hole in the top of it thats all.
 
Thanks, as soon as you mentioned it being near the thermostat, I knew what you were talking about, ill try it out.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top