civic cooling problem
 

hello
i have a 2005 honda civic 168km

heres the problem

couple weeks ago i noticed no heat when car wasnt moving
then couple das later i noticed the car would overheat(randomly) and when it overheated the heat would turn to cold air...
then the engine light came on
car would continually randomly overheat(even in -40 celcius). heat would go, smell like antifreeze etc.

so i took it to a mechanic a week later, he said the engine light was due to an o2 sensor problem, but it only read the code woth the engine off, then it would no longer accurately read.
he also replaced my thermostat for 200$(ripoff, but i needed heat badly)
okay, i go to get my car, heat is great, im pumped, cars working(didnt replace o2 sensors as ots only emissions and ill wait for payday....

drove home (half hour) ate dinner, went back outside to go to bank.
within 5 minutes car starts showing that it is overheating, smell antifreeze, no heat, all cold air. i go home, steam is coming from the hood, front park where the rad is
coolant all over the place. (under hood)

so i run it over to cnadian tire because its the closest shop to me
they kept it two days, did pressure tests, they went on half hour test drive
did extrnsive checks, passed all pressure tests, heat was coming out, they ran it idle for over an hour.
no problems, they returned the car to me. no cost

great

heat worked great for half hour parked car, for hour
went out again, within 5 minutes, everything happens again

so this morning i replaced the rad cap
still happened 15 min after

so i took it to a different, trusted mechanic

he had it all day today, did pressure test, it passed
he put new thermostat in. 130$
let it run hours, did bunch of checking, couldnt find any other problems, so said to call if happens again

nice

i drive half hour home. works great. heat, no overheating

i turn off car run inside to grab something come back out start it up, and go to work
for ten seconds heat would die down. temp gauge would move to halfway(miniscule movement)
dd this about three times

then 2 minutes away from work bamm
heat goes to cold air, and temp gauge reads over the red line
antifreeze smell, and when i open hood it smells

so i call him back and im taking it back tomorrow, but i cant keep doing this, my car is a necessity for me to get to and from work, and heat is becessary in the climate i live in(winnipeg)

so im pretty mad, out 330$ and still no functioning car
what is it?

i cant keep playing sauce money, and hope its fixed, and i cant keep giving mechanics my car for the day, skip work, and still have no fox(after paying)

please help, im torn

sounds like the classic sign of a blown head gaskit any seasoned mechanic would have tested for this. the repeated overheating mite have warped the head which if thats the case replacing the head gaskit won't fix it. if the heads good replacing the gaskit is a very big job and will cost over 1,000 dollars. also when the car is idling make sure your cooling fans kick on if they don't turn on it will overheat.

I agree, blown gasket with possible warped head,the head could possibly me milled if it's not to bad but a used one may be cheaper.

heres more info

i went in today to have it looked at again
he replaced the radiator for 112(no labour). very good lol

car idled well no overheat i picked up car and he said if doesnt fix it he has no idea.
told me to just let him know in two days so i didnt have to pay today
car worked great all way home(half hour)
then i just drive around for another half hour and soon enough the heat would spur for 10 second intervals(to cold air) and temp gauge would slowly move up a bit then back down

well then it happened heat went to freezing cold air, and temp gauge over red line

however heat would come back ever so often.

but then that stopped and eventually it kept overheating
also i noticed heat would never come out when car was not moving
then i decided to stop, i pulled over open hood, and my hand got coolant all over it
there was coolant all over the engine bay, everywhere

so i go home after letting it cool off
halfway home i notice its just continually happening
then i stop at a red and the clunking noise starts engine sounds rough (water pump?) thats the noise it was making

so then i stopped it
when car is idle it sounds very rough(however only after over heat)

other things ive noticed
when i turn the ignition off, i hear a "kerplunk" noise(like water(or coolant) dropping down in a big bunch(like someone diving into a pool)


so idk what now but the mechanic is good, and he cant find anything wrong,


one other suspicion i have is exactly one month ago i got a car deck installed in the car.
i havent thought much of it but when i did it after it was all installed when i drove afterwards the dash lights for some of the instruments like ac. and air flow had no lights on them, and cold air came out instead of heat.
since i wasnt doing the install, i drove back and told him about it
he took it apart and put it back together and then the heat seemed to work but a couple of lights were out(he said they were burnt)
they would come on sometimes and sometimes not. or if you gave it a tap some would go on/off
however i did notice the heat would be neutral at stop lights

this guy did seem a little bit sketchy lol

is it possible to cause damage from a car deck? i cant imagine, but i know some car stereos are wired to a lot of things.

also. if it was head gasket wouldnt at least one of te mechanics have found that??

im telling you its the head gaskit the reason the hot air stops blowing when you idle is because air is entering your cooling system via the hole in your head gaskit. the water pump gets full of air and due to the low revs cant pump enough to compensate the lack of fluid. try this after the car is completely cooled remove the radiator cap then start the car watch for air bubbles coming out of the radiator as the car warms up.when all the air bubbles stop and the fluid starts to overflow put the cap back on. you should be able to drive around without it over heating for awhile.when the problems proceed repeat the process and watch for bubbles then you will know for sure. my old acura legend did the exact same thing when the head gaskit blew.

there are no bubbles though

its -40 today, and the car would instantly overheat, no heat at all
i bled it again. but within an hour it happened again

then tonight the engine would not start and the car rumbled.

im having the cylinder pressure check tomorrow or saturday. and head gasket inspected

i do agree though sounds like hg, but there is no actual signs(like oil in coolant, gas smkke, bubbles etc

update
the radiator had a big hole by the neck, and it was full of black chunk sludge
replaced radiator, thermostat and rad cap again
it worked for about a week, however it would run hot in neighbohoods, parking lots etc
then after a week, it would overheat at stoplights, and slow driving/stop and go, or anytime it as in drive, but not moving
stay normal temp at park, or driving speeds above 50km

then it was -30 one day, and bam overheated, never cooled down, and there was a big hole in rad by the neck, and hole also took out some of the cap

black chunky sludge all in radiator again

what is this?
ice had repccuring problems for over a month and a half now, cant afford another car, and need it to get to work, nobody can tell me whats wrong with it, and as of now the car is worthless(cant sell a ar with an unkown prpblem)

also, i cant keep replacing radiators weekly, please help

Have you check your water pump? What I think you should take apart the full cooling system – hoses, radiator, thermostat, water pump etc and give it a good inspection. If you decide on replacing any components from and don’t want to burn a pocket while doing so, you can go in for good quality used parts like http://www.automotix.net/usedautopar...273d&seq_num=5 which are far cheaper than brand new ones.

bad luck, first you can try to diagnose your car with a obd2 code scanner, it can easy to read out your problem.

Scanner won't work on cooling problems.