I just wondered if I've got a problem with my '95 civic ex coupe. I was driving back from my folks' place in Iowa to MN, and the temp when I left IA was around 100F. The car's temp was running higher than it normally does, about halfway on the guage, but when I kicked the a/c on, it shot up alarmingly quick, like over 3/4 on the guage in about 30 seconds. I didn't run it but for about 1 or 2 minutes like that for fear of it continuing it's climb, and it seemed to take about 30 min or so at 75mph for it to settle back down to just a little over 1/2. I read in my manual that only if the needle goes to the red on the guage do you need to pull over. Are these engines prone to run really hot in conditions like that? Also, will it hurt the engine if I do run it with the temp at more than 1/2 way on the guage? TIA

Btw, I did recently have the timing belt and water pump replaced (with oem parts) and so the coolant has been flushed, filled, bled. Also running oem plugs and just recently changed the oil, so it seems odd to me that it would run so hot.

Benny

 

No it shouldn't do that. It should be taken care of before it gets worse. First with the engine cold, take off the radiator cap and make sure the radiator is completely full. Maybe it just isn't completely refilled yet. If you have coolant in the bottle but the radiator keeps getting empty, replace the radiator cap.

What happened to mine is the brass fins fell off of the air side of the radiator and then it would overheat on the highway.

The air conditioner shouldn't make a huge difference on a '95 because it is seperate from the radiator, but it does put heat under the hood and that'll only make things worse.

 

I just went out and checked the fluid levels, they look fine. There are a couple of other things I noticed and it could be possible that they could be the culprits. I know one thing that the mechanic did was replace the radiator cap. Now, I don't know if he used factory or not, so I thought maybe that's a possibility. The other thing I looked at was the condition of the radiator fins. And well.....they are pretty beat up. I swear from the paint chips on my hood that the previous owner drove behind a gravel truck losing it's load. So the fins on the lower half of the radiator are all smashed in. There's also a pretty big dent in them a little further up from the air intake area on the the front bumper. What do you think? The a/c side didn't look as bad, only minor bends in the fins, whereas the bends on the engine rad. are pretty dramatic.

Note that when the temps are in the 80's-90's, I usually don't run the a/c, but I have run it a couple of times for short periods and hadn't experienced the overheating symptoms.

 

well if the fins are all bent flat then id say either pull the radiator out and use some small flat screw driver or something to straighten out the fins so they are decently right.........

OR just replace it with a new radiator... which is WILL be alot easier and than at least you KNOW the radiator is good


ALSO another idea is try that Royal Purple Ice Radiator Super Coolant Additive
stuff...... its SUPOSED to help keep radiator fluid cooler BUT ive never needed the stuff so never tried it out.....
worth a shot at least....

did your shop ever replace the thermostat?

 

Make sure both fans are working with the AC on. The fan for AC should be on when your car is at temp and the rad fan should cycle on and off. Also, if it has been awhile since you replace the thermostat, you should replace it.

 

I'd just pull the radiator and get a new one - they're only $90 or so at any of the major chain parts stores. Straightening out fins is a kind of a PITA and rather time consuming for small gains. You might get lucky and it could solve your problems. My experience is that flushing really doesn't do much anymore since the EPA standards have pretty much taken all the bite out of the flushing solutions - they used to work much better. My '95's previous owner had the radiator and coolant system flushed by the stealership, and the radiator was still pretty much clogged when I got it, which wound up being only something like 2 months after all of that.

 

Yeah if you have the cash, just change out that radiator rather than trying to clean it up. More trouble than it's worth.

 

I don't believe that they replaced the thermostat, but the weird part is, that everyday that I've driven it, even on hotter days in the lower 90's, the guage has always stayed put at between 1/3 and 1/2. It's always rock solid at that temp, that is, until this last weekend, and now with the cooler temps, it's back to normal. One would think that if the stat was bad, that it would run hot all of the time regardless of the air temp. I just hate to drop any more cash into it if this was more of an anomaly since it was so damn hot and I was driving at a high rate of speed for such a long time......I'll call my mechanic and discuss the possibilities, and keep a close eye on the temp.

I know both fans work, since they kick on at the appropriate times while I sit at idle.

 

well cheapest would be replacing the thermostat and manualy straightening the radiators fins...
another idea is taking a hard comb cuting it up alittle and try using it to straighten the fins.... they dont have to be super straight just enough to air to get thru.... if ya pull the front bumper off you should be able to straighten the front fins preaty simply enough.... i dont think the back find ever get bent...

but like i said its worth a shot to just try...

 

Yeah, I might do at least the stat. I think my son has a friend that is in hvac, and I think he has those fin straightening brushes, so maybe I'll borrow one of those from him to try and straighten them out. I'm also going to look into a new rad.

Is it imperative that I use oem radiator? or are those insanely expensive like every other honda part?