03 Civic Overheating
 

I have an 03 civix ex with about 103,000 mi. It has the 1.7 SOHC all stock motor and performance. I've been having an intermittant overheating problem since May 2011. The temp gauge will start going up as if it was gonna over heat, but I pull over and shut it off. Then once I let it sit for a few mins the gauge will go back to normal. It has also at times when gauge indicates that its getting hot if you turn the heater on high incase if it was thermostate, but there would be nothing but cold air coming from the vents. Like i said not every time, but more then a few.
I have had different mechanics look and try to diagnose the exact problem, but no luck and this has become a huge frustration for me. I don't have a lot of money to be just giving it to someone and let them just do whatever they want. I have tried to figure for myself, but nothing makes sense. I have replaced thermostate twice, water pump along with timming belt, temp sending sensor, radiator flushed & cap replaced. Had the radiator pressure checked and seems to hold 15-16 PSI with the car off or running and building its own pressure while idle. I let it run for an hr it held pressure and never got hot. I checked the spark plugs and there was no sign of leak. I also checked the oil and there is no coloration that gives any indacation of a leak. I have however had to use 3/4 of a gallon of antifreeze over this 4 month time frame, but no idea where its going. I do sometimes think that I smell antifreeze in the exhaust, but not sure. The car has not been acting up as far as the motor operating while idle or drive. At this point i feel like its a headgasket issue but not sure. Any advice or help could be very appreciative. Thanks!!

welcome to the forum. take a compression check and see if there are bubbles in the radiator. your radiator may have heavy corrosion on the top of the tubes that antifreeze flow down, or slight clogging. have you checked to see if both fans work to cool the radiator. one is for the a/c. if you have one fan, it will go on when hot or a/c on.

Thanks!! I have had the electric fans checked and they both seem to be operating normally. There is one thing I forgot to mention in my first post. I have noticed that over time my fuel consumption has been becoming a lot more then the average. I am wondering if that could have anything to do with the other problems. I guess the compression test will be my next route to go and we will see what happens after that.

more fuel consumption would can be due to fuel injectors getting dirty.

A bad O2 sensor ,dirty air filter and under inflated tires can also cause excess fuel use.