97 Honda Civic Leaking Water And Coolant But Not Overheating. What’s Wrong PLEASE HELP
Posted in Internal Engine Parts | Asked on Sep 7, 2011
I have a 97 Honda Civic that I bought used in May, since the second day I’ve had this car, I’ve had problems.
I had to replace the transmission, the timing belt, the crankshaft front seal, the camshaft seal, the valve cover gasket set, water pump, timing belt idler, and fuel filter, and that was just the 2 days after buying it. My car started to overheat 7/21, it was a leak in the hose. It was spraying radiator fluid all over the inside of my car.
This time, we were driving home and it didn’t seem to be doing anything fishy, we parked and it started to spray steam out under the hood. It was just water though. We filled it up, drove around and it started to do it again after a little while of driving. We parked it again and watched under the hood, it was hot, but the fan meant to cool the engine wasn’t moving at all, we checked the fuse, and it was not working so we put a new one in. We drove around for 30 min, and it wasn’t getting hot, we went up hills, drove fast, and slow. Everything seemed to be fine, we parked, and heard dripping, looked under the car, and it was leaking anti-freeze. The next morning, my boyfriend filled it with water, and said it looked like it was leaking, and then filled it with anti-freeze too. Drove to work, but no overheating. Is there a leak maybe? Is there a reason it would be leaking, but not overheating? I just don’t want anymore problems with this car. I can’t afford to sell it, but I can’t afford to put any more money in to it. It was originally supposed to be $4,999. But we’ve ended up spending more like $8,000.
There are 8 Answers for "97 Honda Civic Leaking Water And Coolant But Not Overheating. What’s Wrong PLEASE HELP"
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If it leaking it could be your radiator. Have it checked out.
water gasket is shot! not expensive! or hoses need replacing
Are you sure it isn’t water coming out of the air conditioning evaporator drain?
Overheating
Make the following checks first:
Engine cool, check the coolant level both in the overflow tank and if possible to check – in the radiator. Top off if necessary.
Start the engine with the radiator cap and / or reservoir pressure cap removed. Run the engine at idle for 10 to 15 minutes or until either the temperature gauge rises above the normal range or you can observe coolant movement through the radiator or tank.
If the temperature reaches an excessive level and little or no coolant flow is observed then the Thermostat (most likely ) or the water pump ( less likely ) is to blame. If belt driven water pump – a loose drive belt can also cause this!
If the coolant flows before the temperature becomes excessive, our attention shifts to the radiator fan, If electric, the fan should come on when the temperature reaches the upper end of the normal range and also it should come on at any time the A/C compressor is operating.
If the fan is mechanical it may have a loose drive belt or a thermal clutch, if you do not hear the fan roar when the temperature is high ( hood closed to contain the heat ) the clutch may be bad ( but wait there is more! ), if too many tubes in the radiator are plugged the temperature may not get high enough to activate the fan, giving a false fail indication!
This brings us to what I believe is the second most likely suspect: the radiator itself, a flush may help, but if the tubes are completely blocked, the cleaning solution will not be able to get to the blockage and in that event a flush will do little good ( flushing is great for maintainance – poor as a repair ) If you reach this point, the radiator IS suspect, try the following check – top off the coolant again if necessary because it may have burped out during the previous checks if the engine got hot, replace the radiator cap / reservoir pressure cap then squeeze the upper radiator hose (use a rag or wear gloves to avoid being burned ! ) and rev up the engine to around 3 to 4 thousand rpm, if the hose gets hard (pressure inside) each time the engine is rev-ed up this is a near absolute indication that the radiator is plugged. If it is an all copper radiator, a radiator shop can remove the tanks and either rod out or replace the heat exchange tubes, if the radiator has plastic tanks the only practical repair is replacement with a reconditioned radiator.
Hope this helps.
There is a crack in the resivore /overflow chamber
Have the cooling system pressure tested. There ia a tool (about $100) that mechanics use. Remove the radiator cap and attach the tool which has a gauge and air pump and pump it up until the gauge reads the same as what is stamped on the radiator cap. Then let it set for about 5 minutes and check the gauge again. It should be the same. If it is then the cooling system isn’t leaking. If the pressure hs fallen then there is a leak. Assuming a leak, ‘a hunting you will go’ to find the leak. It maybe as simple as a loose hose clamp to as expensive as needing a new head ($$$$$$). Good Luck!
If your leaking anti-freeze inside of your car then i would say it,s the heater core leaking. it won,t overheat as long as there,s anti-freeze in the radiator.