My 2001 Honda Civic LX has 214,000 miles. The saga begins two months ago when I noticed the temp gauge climbing to “Hot” pulled over, shut off car, called tow truck. Garage returned the car to me a few days later saying that they had been unable to replicate the overheating behaviour, but replaced the thermostat just for good measure. One week later, while sitting in traffic with air conditioning on, temp gauge again climbed to “Hot.” I pulled over, shut off car, called tow truck to bring car to a different garage. Three weeks later, that garage returned the car to me, again swearing up and down that they had never been able to replicate the overheating behaviour, air conditioning on or off, driving on the highway, or idling in the lot, but nevertheless replaced the engine with a reconditioned engine, replaced the water pump, the timing belt, transmission solenoid, a few other odds and ends, for a total of $3,700. Two weeks later, driving around town on a not-terribly hot day, with the air conditioning on, I again noted the temp gauge climbing to “Hot.”
I have returned the car to the garage and await further information. I just know that they’re going to call me again to say (again) that they cannot get the car to overheat. The secretary at this garage keeps shrugging me off, saying that I should just stay off the highway (I drive 70+ miles to and from work every day on 84) and not use my air conditioning, b/c after all, older cars tend to overheat with the air on.
Did anyone ever take out the radiator and give a back-flush or boil-out or whatever they do in a radiator shop to clean out alkalai residue ?
You could have floating debris in there which stays suspended and flowing…for a while.
Then some begins to get trapped in the passeges and traps even more resulting in over heating.
Untill parked for a while when the debris can loosten and most pieces flow again…until…
Look at the front of the radiator.
How much debris like dead bugs is stuck in there ?
Bent fins ?
You can buy a fin comb at a parts store and clean all that out as good as new .
"Three weeks later, that garage returned the car to me, again swearing up and down that they had never been able to replicate the overheating behaviour, air conditioning on or off, driving on the highway, or idling in the lot, but nevertheless replaced the engine with a reconditioned engine, "
Huh? By any chance did the shop chief have a peg leg, an eye patch, and a parrot on hhis shoulder? Or is there a whole lot of the story missing?
“The secretary at this garage keeps shrugging me off, saying that I should just stay off the highway and not use my air conditioning, b/c after all, older cars tend to overheat with the air on.”
Say What? The secretary must be Blackbeard’s wife. She’s clearly not a technician.
Get away from this shop. The guys here have made some great suggestions, but a competant shop needs to look at it. The radiator would have been the first thing I’d guess, but there could be other complications such as a collapsed hose or an eroded pump.
When it overheats or while you drive it normally, do the fans ever turn on? Are they on with the AC on?
They replaced the engine just on a whim or guess? Wow…
If they did, those guys are morons. If they didn’t and said they did, they are crooks.
"One week later, while sitting in traffic with air conditioning on, temp gauge again climbed to “Hot.”
Years ago my cousin had this symptom in his Accord.
First thing I did was turn on the AC with the hood up.
Only one of the two cooling fans was running.
Turned out to be a loose connector.
My vote is for a clogged radiator or a cooling fan issue; possibly the fan related to the A/C operation.
I wish that I could offer some solid advice but simply can’t. This tale is as tragic as it gets and unless the overheating issue is resolved that 3700 dollars may turn into a legitimately bad engine.
What the counter person told you is pure, 100%, unadulterated BS.
My mother had a similar problem a long time ago. She was driving a Mercury Marquis and it overheated, so she shut it off and had it towed to a Montgomery Ward shop. They couldn’t duplicate the problem, so they sent her on her way. Then it overheated again, so she went to a different Montgomery Ward shop, and they couldn’t duplicate the problem, so they sent her on her way. When it overheated again, she figured the temperature gauge must be malfunctioning, so she kept driving and blew the engine. After installing a rebuilt engine, it overheated again. I took it to a shop and they couldn’t duplicate the problem. Finally, out of frustration, I replaced the radiator and the problem was solved. Evidently, none of these mechanics bothered to flow test the radiator.
Replacing the engine without flow testing the radiator is, in my opinion, gross incompetence. I suggest you find a better mechanic ASAP.
At first I was thinking head gasket, but since you replaced the engine, that idea is no good. So now I’m thinking as @ok4450 above says, it must be a clogged radiator or something wrong w/the cooling fan. Due to the intermittent and non-reproduceable nature of this problem, I’m leaning toward the cooling fan. On my Corolla I’ve had two separate problems w/the cooling fan. The first was that the electrical connector to the cooling fan (for the radiator) got corroded and failed. But for a while it was intermittent, sometimes working, sometimes not. The second time, the coolant temp sensor which senses what temperature to turn the cooling fan on, it also failed, and became intermittant. Sometimes it would get stuck, and wouldn’t turn the fan on. Sometimes it would get stuck and wouldn’t turn the fan off.
fyi, there’s another failure mode w/radiator fans, where the fan doesn’t turn as fast as it should.
Asking your local radiator shop to do a flow test on your radiator is a good idea too.
With 214K on the first engine, replacing it isn’t totally without merit. It was nearing the end of its reliable life in any event. Hopefully you got a good one in there now that will last for many more reliable miles. If it overheats in the meantime, remember you can get some add’l cooling by turning on the passenger compartment heater to max and heater fan full on. Best of luck.
I figured they tested the fan. That’s one of the easiest things to test. You let the engine idle, and if the fan doesn’t come on, it overheats while it’s sitting there.
Whitey, your assumption would be rasonable for a competant shop. But clearly, these guys are either totally clueless or an organized gang of theives. When I read the statekent about their having replaced the engine I actually got angry. This is unconscionable.