Guys:
My '95 civic is over heating. I'm suspecting a head gasket but want to make sure.

Within 2 miles of driving, hot water is pushed into the expansion bottle and over flowing. The radiator cap is not blowing The temp gauge goes into HOT.

No water is mixing with the oil. It it possible that there is a leak better the cyclinder and water way?
I don't have a engine compression gauge or a rad. gas analyzer. But can go out and buy a compression tester. Always wanted one for the Stag. Would it help? If one of the cylinders is lower than the other, then surely this will a candidate for a blown gasket.


Are rad. gas analyzers cheap?
Sujit

 

Maybe you just need a new radiator.

What makes you suspect a blown head gasket?

 

your water pump maybe screwed, or thermostat, or fan sensor, or just a leak, or maybe its your radiator - if it was the headgasket, i think you'd know by now :-P

 

i hooked up a switch straight to my fan and it stopped
i took out the plug and made my own addapter
so i drive and turn the fan on and its good

 

All cyclinders read 150-155 PSI. I had the waterpump and thermostat changed at 90k miles with Honda parts. It's now done 135K
I've been losing water for some time, through the expansion bottle but I just top it up. This time it it came out too fast.
The rad. hold water no signs of a leak anywhere.

If it's the fan sensor, then I'm assuming the fan won't come on at all. By the way where is the sensor? Is it in the rad? As I mentioned eariler, I've been losing water for some time.

 

always start with the easiest, and 90% odds that its the thermostat.

 

When the temp gause was going into hot, I had the heater on to help circulate the water around the system. The air was hot. If the themostat is faulty, would it be stuck open or closed? I can check it's operation with it in a pan of water on the stove.
Where on the civic is the temperature sensor?

 

hold up....stop all the answers......where did you say it is bubblimng out from????? is this even with the fan on???? you mentioned the overflow container....well...check to make sure that the plastic screw on is tight. does it sit flush???? i bet it doesnt. get a new overflow and hook up your fan the correct way with the factory switch. dont try to rig something. you will forget about your overheating problem when you run to the store...or in the drive thru....or even worse you will forget to trun off the fan and the next day your car will be dead.

wherever it is leaking from...replace that first. if it is leaking from the resovoir cap with no fan ever turning on...that is because you dont have a fan....if it is leaking from the cap while fan is on....because that cap isnt sitting flush

 

like i said my car is doing the same thing.
the problem is engine coolant temp switch is shot
just like mine
tim

 

When I meant fan, I was meant to say the heater fan inside the car. I was hoping that by switching on the aa/heater fan in the car I would get the water temp down a little.
The water is overflowing from the resevior. The cap sits well and it is not cross threaded. I've tightened it as much as I can.
The rad. cap has been replaced. I changed that when I first started losing water. At that time, I couldn't trace where the leak was coming from.

Now I have a more serious issue, after performing a compression test, by removing all the spark leads, I now have no spark. That's for another thread.
Sujit