What's new
CK5
Register an account today to become a member! Once signed in, you'll be able to participate on this site by adding your own topics and posts, as well as connect with other members.

Need advice with my DD civic

Dabba

Dabba

1/2 ton status
Joined
Jul 27, 2007
Posts
1,839
Reaction score
2
Location
Long Island, New York
So, I recently got the timing belt done on my 03 civic, along with the water pump.

About two weeks later, I notice I'm losing heat at idle and find out that air in the cooling system will do this.

So I burp the radiator which fixes the problem, only to have it come back a week later. When my girl has the engine reved to about 3k rpms (highway speed) you can see bubbles in the overflow tank.

All my research points to the beginnings of a head gasket leak, but I just find this out that it started right after the water pump was replaced. The guy who did it checked the car, we found no leaks in the system when he put 15psi to it. So I'm not sure. Just bad luck, or could the waterpump be pushing air into the system somehow?
 
Burp it again and if comes back again would do a Chemical Head Gasket test.

Just got done doing a head gasket for my moms 97 civic sure mine in near coming with 219k on it (fingers crossed)
 
Thanks guys. I'll try it again then try the chemical test. Any name for it?

I'm really hoping it's not the headgasket. But if it's the water pump im sure its another pita.

Whats concerning is seeing the overflow tank bubble
 
Dabba said:
Whats concerning is seeing the overflow tank bubble
Click to expand...

Not necessarily but often yes....

I'm guessing an SOHC D17?

Other common ways to know if the HG is failing is the sweet smell out the tailpipe or the milky oil.
 
Dabba said:
Thanks guys. I'll try it again then try the chemical test. Any name for it?

I'm really hoping it's not the headgasket. But if it's the water pump im sure its another pita.

Whats concerning is seeing the overflow tank bubble
Click to expand...

You can either have a shop do it, or buy the kit. Basically it uses a vacuum to draw air through a detection fluid which will indicate if you have combustion gasses in the cooling system, meaning a head gasket leak.

http://www.amazon.com/Lisle-75500-Combustion-Leak-Detector/dp/B0007ZDRUI
 
The wife's 04 civic lost its head gasket around 160k miles. Low coolant level in the overflow tank and an UOA confirmed what I thought.
 
sweet smell and milky oil is not always true if it is super small leak in head gasket. I just did my moms 97 civic head gasket and it didn't smell sweet,oil looked great ad by nd never over heated with gauge and ran great. It was actually pushing it out over flow and spraying on engine compartment. I pulled head off and you could see where it was barely blown.
Chemical test doesn't lie! 2004 civic head gasket suck to do at home with no lift by the way.
 
Sadly I'll probably have to have the shop do it. I don't have the time to learn. Though Im hoping either way she'll last awhile.
 
Dabba said:
Sadly I'll probably have to have the shop do it. I don't have the time to learn. Though Im hoping either way she'll last awhile.
Click to expand...

It's not that tricky and there is a ton of documentation on the subject however I understand not wanting to dig into it.

It should be good for a long time assuming they do the job right.

brans87 said:
2004 civic head gasket suck to do at home with no lift by the way.
Click to expand...

Why are you using a lift for a head gasket job?
 
I had a shop do my wife's head gasket. I believe they charged for 8 hours labor, which included taking the head to be honed.
 
skunked said:
Other common ways to know if the HG is failing is the sweet smell out the tailpipe or the milky oil.
Click to expand...

If you get to the milky oil stage you want to stop running the engine until the problem is resolved. No reason to let a bad head gasket shell out good bearings.
 
Lift is to not hurt my back fist off. Also to drain coolant and oil. Why not use the lift when I have access to it through work?

Your 04 civic have ABS? trust me I can do 2 97 civic H/G's quicker then one 04 everyone thinks there easy till they do one. Doable yes,fun no!, language involved yes.

Also if timing belt has never been done crank bolt can be fun to get loose ( 3/4 impact here with 1/2 line running the impact).
 
So I finally got around to doing the chemical test and it came up negative.

I'm going to try another radiator cap but that's been tried once already.

Can a waterpump push air into the system without leaking? Like I said my mechanic pressurized the system and no leaks showed up.

Kinda lost here
 
Try a new cap, make sure it burped so all the air is out of the system. Has it be driven since the last posts or has it sat?
 
Have you looked at the heater valve? It should be against the firewall, that allows the coolant to pass into the heater core.
 
Dabba said:
So I finally got around to doing the chemical test and it came up negative.

I'm going to try another radiator cap but that's been tried once already.

Can a waterpump push air into the system without leaking? Like I said my mechanic pressurized the system and no leaks showed up.

Kinda lost here
Click to expand...


I have seen some water pumps that leak ever so slightly out of the "weep hole" that the coolant evaporates before collecting on nearby parts and lets air sneak into the pump--the only evidence it leaves might be a salty looking stain on the pump housing and nearby parts..
However,you say a new pump was installed--its not common for a new one to leak or be defective..(but anything is possible--rebuilt ones can be suspect)..

I hate to say it but the head gasket is likely the culprit on an engine with over 100K on it--seen some fail much sooner,depending on the type of use and maintainence the engine saw..

Have you flushed out the heater core with a garden hose or some compressed air ?...it might be clogging up enough to restrict water passage,and bleeding the system temporarily moves the blockage..
I am often shocked by what I see come out of heater cores I watched a friend flush out at his shop...peukey looking rust,old radiator sealant,"mud",you name it...looked like sewage and didn't smell much better either!..
 
I dont know about the civic, but my kid had a subaru and you had to pull the bolt on the opposite side of the radiator to fill with out air. He went for a month trying to top off and never could. The cap and neck on the radiator are below the top and inherently trapped air. Thebolt allowed you to fill up while air escaped.

As I said, not much off a Japanese car mechanic, but thought I'd throw this in as an idea.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest Posts

Top Bottom