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Honda Civic: Problems & Solutions - READ ONLY

5207 messages,  Last post on Oct 17, 2006 at 8:05 AM

You are in the Honda Civic Forum.

What is this discussion about? Honda Civic, Honda Civic del Sol, Honda Civic CRX, Coupe, Hatchback, Sedan

Messages Page 1 of 521

#1 of 5207 CIVIC OVERHEATING by fmbob

Jan 03, 2000 (6:58 am)

I am NOT a mechanic by any means, so please stay with me.


Wife owns a '94 Honda Civic, 1.5L which just turned 30,000 miles. Friday night she told me the car was not acting right and blowing white smoke from tail pipe ... she said it started doing this after it had warmed up a bit. Yesterday, after car sat all night, I started it up and drove it up the road a bit. Noticed within 5 minutes or so that the temp gauge was up near the top red mark ... also at that time the car started hesitating etc. and the bright white smoke then started to come from the tail pipe. Got car right back home and shut it off. No warning lights came on, only the temp gauge showing overheating ... the radiator fan did NOT activate ... when puffing the bright white smoke from tail pipe, it smelled like antifreeze ... noticed also that no heat was being produced thru vents. There IS coolant in the plastic reservoir and radiator showing OK on the marks ... oil and transmission fluids fine also.


Before I take it in for repair, does anyone have
any idea as to what MIGHT be the problem???


Any and all help will be greatly appreciated.


Thanks ... Bob

#2 of 5207 fmbob by bobs5

Jan 04, 2000 (11:54 am)

White smoke out of the tail pipe is a bad sign, this usually means a head gasket went bad.


Check the level of coolant in the radiator, instead of the overflow reservoir.

#3 of 5207 also... by btroy

Jan 04, 2000 (2:42 pm)

Don't drive it in. Have it towed. It may still be fixable, but overheating the engine again could make things even worse.

#4 of 5207 by fmbob

Jan 04, 2000 (4:13 pm)

Thanks fellas for the response. I did have the car towed into the local Honda dealer yesterday .. head gasket as you both said ... to the tune of like $580 ... unless they find MORE wrong with it. Not being a mechanic, I guess my other question would be: why or what would make the head gasket go bad on a vehicle that just turned 30,000 miles and is not abused???


Thanks again ...


de Bob

#5 of 5207 fmbob by bobs5

Jan 04, 2000 (5:03 pm)

There may have been a defect in the gasket.
Stuff happens.


We had a 1979 Datsun 310 with a 1.4ltr? 4 cyl.
It lunched the head gasket around 30k miles.

#6 of 5207 Civic coolant system problem by greentrees77

Jan 07, 2000 (7:02 am)

I have a 90 Civic, 230,000 miles, that I'm trying to nurse along at minimum expense. Have a coolant system problem, I keep bursting hoses, on my third in a week! The system isn't showing that it's running hot, it appears to be getting overpressured. I replaced the radiator cap, and the overflow line is clear. In fact, the coolant overflow reservoir has been empty when I have checked it after the hoses burst, as if it is sucking back coolant as it loses coolant out the leak?


Perhaps the new radiator cap is bad? I can't see how this system is getting overpressured!


Any insights would be appreciated.

#7 of 5207 greentrees77 by bobs5

Jan 07, 2000 (12:34 pm)

WOW that is a strange problem.


Which hose/s are bursting? The radiator or heater hoses. Is it the same hose each time? How long after a new hose is put on, that it bursts?


The radiator cap is working by your description.


Maybe the thermostat is bad?
Maybe something is getting clogged up like a heater core or the radiator?


I would think it would take great pressure to burst a hose. Hope it is not a bad head gasket which is allowing the compression force of the engine into the cooling system.


Good luck

#8 of 5207 response to topic #797 by kt2

Jan 08, 2000 (3:09 am)

For the people in topic #797 acceleration noise, I have a '99 civic LX. I tried the corolla as you did before I bought the civic. Unlike you I found the corolla to be noisier than the civic and the drivers seat in the toyota would not go back far enough to make my legs comfortable and I am only 5ft.10 1/2in.tall. However if I were to buy another one I would look for one that was made in Japan rather than the U.S.A. When I got the car the door panel clips were loose on the drivers door and the torsion bar that holds the trunk open had a broken retainer clip so the trunk wouldn't stay open. Also the timing belt was sqeaking so they had to replace the timing belt tensioner. I guess the Japanese still build better cars than the americans. Believe me I hate to admit it. Oh ya the alternator also had to be replaced all taken care of under warranty. I now have 20k on the car and have so far not had any more problems. From all of the good things I have heard about Honda, I was a little disappointed that I had to return to the dealer several times for service. It's a fun car to drive and one of the few cars I've owned that you can drive for 3 or 4 hours straight and not get tired of it.

#9 of 5207 Honda Civic Auto Trans by txxt

Feb 04, 2000 (10:31 pm)

Hi there,


Just got my 2000 Honda Civic LX with AT few days ago. The roaring sound during acceleration makes me crazy. I Just talked to a Honda service and I was told this is probably by a logic system installed for going up/down hill but this happening during normal drive on flat road. I will have a service to take a look but is anyone experiencing the same problem or this is normal.


Thanks.

#10 of 5207 #6 of 9: Civic coolant system problem (greentrees77) by jaubrey

Feb 16, 2000 (9:57 pm)



This is response to greentrees77's bursting hose problem.


My suggestion might be a little late but ....


Before I bought my '98 Civic Honda, I owned a 12-yr-old Subaru. As the car was old, things were breaking down. When I started having to replace hose after radiator hose, a mechanic told me I shoulda replaced all of them a while back and all at the same time. As soon as one hose ruptured and was replaced, he said, another would burst. And sure enough, that was what happened. Something to do with pressure and worn-out hoses.


My Subaru also had a radiator that needed replacing because some of the rusted flukes had been bashed in by a clumsy mechanic (who didn't bother to tell me about his gross stupidity) a while back. No doubt that was part of the problem, so was the thermostat that quit.


You might also want to check the thermo resistor, or whatever it's called. It looks like a spark plug and it gauges the engine's temperature (or high heat). If it needs replacing, it could give your engine a false reading as to whether it's reached its optimum heat range (plus 500 deg. F).

Messages Page 1 of 521

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