Hi,
I am hoping to get some knowledge from you all about this.

While our 2001 had a lot less problems, our 2007 CR-V has been doing ok with a couple repairs needed over time (starter, an air conditioning repair) and of course regular maintenance, but no reoccurring problems.

However, now at almost 250,000 miles we are having overheating problems that our mechanic can't figure out.

1) July 2020 no warning on the dash that it was getting hot but all of a sudden all the yellow warning lights went on. It had been driven that morning for short errands - (drive 10 min, stop 5-30 minutes, repeat a couple times) and then sat for 6+ hours, and this happened within about 3 minutes of another trip.
Turns out it had a cracked radiator hose (the plastic hose that was entering the radiator). So radiator, fans, and hoses got replaced.

2) Aug 2020 again we had problems and they replaced a knock sensor and did a tune up replacing all spark plugs.

3) Now this month (12 days ago) the car was running really rough and it died on the way to the car repair place about 10 miles away (again no lights until the moments before it died). They replaced the car water pump repair, did a new thermostat (but shouldn't that have been done when the radiator was replaced?) did an oil change (they said it was at one quart, we were not due for an oil change, we never burn/leak oil, but we had not checked the levels for a month or so) and one ignition coil. It ran better after this but not as good as it had previously.

4) 3 days ago (9 days after the last incidence) It sat at work, then 3/4 the way driving home (a 15 min ride on non rush hour city streets) it had steam going crazy out of the car. Note: The Air Conditioner was never cool during this drive - the Air Conditioner in this model is under the engine so it blows hotter air than other models, maybe an indication something was off and the engine was not being cooled down.
The mechanic said today (car taken in yesterday morning - Monday) that the radiator is cracked. The mechanic suggested changing the other 3 ignition coils saying it was running rough. The mechanic says the ignition coils not working right could cause overheating (in the short time it was driving home after sitting at work - my husband is not buying that).

We have given up on this mechanic, we don't think he can get to the bottom of what is going on.

Is there some sensor not going off that is creating an overheating situation?
Was something else creating the overheating situation (and there was some fallout the first time it got so hot to crack the radiator)?
They have replaced:
The radiator with fans and hoses,
the thermostat,
water pump,
Yet we are still getting overheating.

They did a full tuneup replacing spark plugs.
They replaced 1 ignition coil and are suggesting to replace the other 3.
But I think these issues are not causing overheating, they are a reflection of damage done by overheating.

Any ideas what they are missing and why we keep overheating?
Thanks for any help.

 

I was hunting for good diagnostic mechanics (essential in an older car). I found one (across town of course, but that is where better ones tend to be). He said they get better for quality of radiators as some will have problems quicker - so he was not surprised the first radiator failed (we have not yet confirmed what quality we got, it shows in the price of the radiator).
They will take a look to see if they can get to the bottom of things, but any suggestions for what is going on would be appreciated.

 

Have you checked to see if the radiator fan comes on when engine is hot??
Check coolant level?

 

welcome to the forum. seems you have done quite a bit of parts replacement, as avisitor stated above, have one person in the drivers seat and run the engine and to watch the temp guage. the other person under the hood to watch if the fan does turn. while under the hood have the a/c switch momentary turned on to see if the other fan turns. retarded timing can also create an overheat. also listen for the block boil when it get to the overheat, if you can hear explosive noise in the block which means the thermostat is still closed. if possible have the mech do a compression check to see if the compression is all equal to each other, this can cause a rough engine or sluggish engine.