Civic - Honda :: 2003 - Overheating When Sitting In Traffic
Sep 15, 2014
This has been happening intermittently for a little over a year now. When sitting in traffic, my car begins to overheat. I've had two different mechanics look at it - the first swapped out the radiator cap.
The second said my coolant levels were low, but he pressure tested the system and found no leaks. He recommended I check my levels before taking long trips - so this weekend, before driving 380 miles to Phoenix, I checked my levels. They were a bit low, so I topped everything off with coolant and everything was fine on the drive out.
On the drive home, however, stuck in traffic, the car began to overheat. I pulled over and checked the reservoir and it was mostly full of coolant, but I added a little more, let it sit for a while, and then made my way through the traffic and home.
Also, I tested the fan, and it comes on.
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'04 Honda Civic-1.7LFirst the car started overheating only it was sitting in idle. As soon as you would go or if you revved the engine the needle would immediately drop after a few seconds. Replaced the thermostat. It seemed fixed, but started doing it again, put in a new thermostat incase other one was faulty. Still having same problem.The system was pressure testing and everything was fine. Then had the system flushed and new thermostat put in. It worked for about 150 miles and started doing the same thing.Brought it in for the water pump, the old one was corroded and warped so it seemed like the problem.
After about 100 or so miles still overheating when idle.We had the radiator replaced, the old one was complete junk, thermostat replaced too. I drove it like normal in town for a day, the next day it started overheating, this time it was doing it while driving, got to about 3/4 up. Turned the car off for a bit, and it didn't do it anymore on the way home.Today I was driving and it was fine for 4 miles, I sat idling for 1 minute, after driving 1 more mile it started overheating, temp gauge got to halfway.
I parked it for a bit and started driving, there was no heat coming from the heater, I had it full blast, nothing but cold air. The car started overheating again, once again halfway. Parked for about 3 minutes and then turned it on, temp was fine and it was blowing full heat out, the car temp was fine the whole way home, no more overheating.
The next step we will take is to replace the head gasket and/or heater core. Is there anything else that this could be? Literally the same week the overheating started, the rear lights were having issues and one time there was no power to the windows. Then the door locks would stop and then work again intermittently. The door locks no longer work at all. Not sure if it is just a coincidence, maybe everything is breaking at once. But there has been no loss of coolant and the oil and coolant consistency have been normal too.
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I drive a 2004 Honda Civic. About a month ago, my car started to overheat. The next day, I took it into the shop,and they said the thermostat was sticking,and I had a small leak in the radiator. I got a new thermostat, radiator (they did not have anyone to repair), and flushed the system.
A few days later, the car started to overheat again, and quickly went down. We thought it was a fluke. A few days later, it did the same thing and we took it back to the shop. They said nothing was wrong and let the car run with the radiator cap off for a while in case there was a bubble. Since then, it has has started to overheat a few more times. So the, problem is not all the time, just every so often. Several parts have already been replaced, as noted.
What we have found in common is that each time it starts to overheat, we are in stop and go traffic. It has always been hot outside too (but it is summer). When we begin to move at a regular pace, the car temp goes down. I live in a city, so it is impossible not to get in stop and go traffic on a regular basis. Not everytime we are in stop and go traffic it does this, but since the repairs, it has never overheated while moving at a regular pace.
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I have a 2003 Civic EX with 160K miles. The car runs great but it will sometimes over heat in traffic. It does not always overheat so it so the two mechanics I have taken it too have been unable to duplicate. I have had he thermostat changed and the relay to the cooling fan. I also changed the radiator cap. Other facts.
The heater has been very slow to heat up even when letting the car run for 15 minutes in the winter. It will heat up only once on the highway. This started at about the same time as the overheating.
It has never overheated on the highway even with 100 degree weather and the AC blasting.
Turning on the air will most of the time lower the temp.
Today after traveling 30 minutes I came to a stop and it overheated(temp gage on H). I tried to turn on the heater to attempt to cool it down and it blew cold air for about 3 minutes and never warmed. I then pulled into a lot andneither cooling fan was running. I did not have the ac on as I am thinking the fact that the heater is so slow might be a clue to the problem.
It would appear it could be something with the cooling fan but neither mechanic thought it was that as they couldn't duplicate the problem.
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I have a Civic that is overheating after even short drives (ca. 30 mins). Today the heat gauge went up to 3/4 after 20 minutes, and was still rising when I stopped. The radiator fluid is topped up, oil was just changed and is full and not cloudy. No white smoke has been seen out of the tailpipe. The following repairs have already been attempted. New thermostat (replaced 2X), new radiator, timing kit, coolant temp sensors (both), water pump, AC condenser, AC refrigerant. It is still overheating after all that. Why?
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I've owned this Civic since new, now at 153K miles. This is a recurring problem that I've been having for over a year. First symptom was there would be no heat coming from the heater at idle with the motor well warmed up. Add some rpm's and the heat returned. The reason was not enough coolant in the system, filled up radiator and all OK. Then it happened again and there is coolant in the overflow tank, but pull the radiator cap and no fluid under cap. Fill radiator and all OK, but it kept happening. I replaced the OEM radiator cap with a new "Slant" brand for an '03 Civic. No better, no worse.
Last week I had a significant overheating event while on a highway. I pulled into a "Dollar Store" parking lot, went into the store and bought 50/50 coolant and shop rags and let the car cool off for 30 min. When I pulled the cap, it was a steamy mess and I let it cool some more. Eventually I put in the coolant and finished up the drive with no more overheating. The overflow coolant container was at the "full" mark all during the overheating event.
At this point I took it to my trusted mechanic. My mechanic determined that the overflow tank was clogged and he blew out the line. So, I hoped all was fixed. But I don't think so. With the car cool this morning I pulled the radiator cap and got a swish noise indicating some pressure release. The level of coolant in the overflow contain hasn't moved. It still seems coolant is not being pulled from the overflow container back in to the radiator when the car cools off. I blew into the radiator top (where the cap goes) and that did produce lots of bubbles in the overflow tank. It seems it is no longer plugged - but why isn't the coolant behaving properly?
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I have a 1997 Honda Civic with 275,000 miles on it. After driving for an hour or so, it starts getting hot when stopped or nearly stopped. It goes back to normal temperature when I start driving. It does cool down if I turn on the heater. I just changed the timing belt/water pump and put it a new radiator and changed the thermostat hoping it would solve the problem, but it hasn't. I checked and the fan does come on when stopped. Could it be a cooling system clog that a flush might be able to solve or might it be the head gasket?
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My 1996 honda civic cannot handle the heat. Every time the weather gets warm it freaks out when stuck in traffic for any extended period of time. It generally will start to rev while stopped, sometimes will jerk forward, and once continued to rev in park with my foot completely off the gas, checking the gas and the break pedals numerous times to make sure not stuck, etc., for about 2 minutes. Another time it locked the steering wheel and would not release. This really only happens when it's warm outside. The car does not have air conditioning, if that makes any difference. We've brought it to two mechanics and they both said car looks great. What could be going on?
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1991 Honda Civic, automatic transmission, the car/steering wheel shake badly when the car stops at the red light. It only happens when brake pedal is pressed AND in D gear. If shift from D to N, the shake disappears. As soon as the traffic light turns green and the car starts to accelerate, the shake disappears. Four spark plugs were replaced, no effect at all.
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I have a 2001 honda civic. Its been sitting for a few months, and now it won't start. The battery is fine (radio, lights come on just fine). It tries to turn ( kinda does a "wrr wrr" sound) and stops, and then it makes a clicking sound. What do I do? I was thinking about using starter fluid to get it start.
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I have a 2007 honda civic lx 4doors my problem is that when the car is sitting overnight the battery gets almost flat when I drive the car in the day everything is perfect I get test the battery starter n the alternator everything is find what is the problem here....
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My wife drives a 2002 civic (mostly around town). when the car is at running temp.with the heater on and she gets top a stop sign or red traffic light, the heater starts to blow out cold/colder air. We took the car to a dealer and asked them to flush/fill the radiator and fix the problem. Well they flushed/filled the radiator and said "Yup, it still does it. Would you like us to diagnose the problem more for a minimum of 1 hour labor cost?" What could be the problem with the reduction in heat?
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So i recently bought this 2002 honda civic, and seeing as the owner said it only needed a new windshield, rear strut, rear brakes, and new front tires, it wasn't a bad deal. I never got time to fix anything before I went on vacation for 2 weeks. It's been parked in the garage the entire time I was away, but when i went to start it up and pull it out it wouldn't move. It started perfectly fine, i took the E-brake off, but it wouldn't move unless I revved it to around 4-5k rpm, and even then it wouldn't go more than an inch.
So I put it in neutral to see if i could push it. it only moved when i got it rocking pretty good, but that's when i noticed the right rear tire had skidded the whole way. When i first got it i did notice a slight grinding type sound coming from the rear every time the car moved, but I didn't pay too much attention to it seeing as the car wasn't leaving the driveway for awhile anyway. Well now its permanently stuck until i find a solution.
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I'm convinced my 02 honda civic does not like traffic nor hot weather. Whenever i'm in traffic for more than 20 minutes (which is about everyday) it starts to make this loud buzzing noise. Seems to be the way my car is telling me that it does not want to be in traffic. I can sure relate. Me neither. When the weather gets hot, my car does the same thing. Can you relate to my car as well?
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My 2007 Civic Hybrid is having trouble starting. This happens when it's cold out, it's been sitting outside overnight (I don't have a garage), and the IMA battery is low. I've taken it to the dealership but they were not surprisingly no luck. The car has about 65,000 miles and a new battery - the one in front - was put in not too long ago and tests fine.
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When I'm sitting still in traffic or going up a hill the temp gauge will go up. But it goes up real slow. You can set and watch temp gauge and it will just jump up every minute or so. And it has 2 fans on it but they won't kick on till temp gauge gets up over the half way mark. But when temp goes up i can raise the hood and the motor does not feel hot at all. What could cause this?
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2005 Honda Civic which has been pretty reliable up to this point. Had all the suggested maintenance services up until the most recent which just passed. Last oil change and inspection: Early November.
Last month:Went to start up the car and it basically went all blinky with power. But after letting it sit for a minute or two, it started up just fine. This happened three times. On the third time opened up the hood and found corrode on both polls of the battery. Scrubbed and cleaned the posts and connectors. Had the battery tested and it was just fine. After that no problems or occurrences. Only things that lingers in my head is that perhaps the driver door window rolls down slowly (thought the motor was going out and would have to replace soon) and the headlines would slightly dim and waver at times, but not consistently.
Now:Just got back from vacation and car has been sitting about two weeks. Mostly in weather below freezing, but in a garage. Went to start up the car and the starter would rev but the engine would not turn over. Battery seems to be good still. Jumping did not work either.
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My daughter's 2002 Honda Civic is overheating unless you drive over 60 mph. The heater is also not working - it blows air but the air is cold. It is full of coolant - we checked. The thermostat was replaced about 2 months ago.
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I have been driving my 2002 Honda Civic for about 6 years now. For the past 4 years its been all highway, driving 50+miles a day. I have just moved to a small town where its all town driving.
When I would get off the highway before, I would notice a burning type smell, but no smoke and no signs of overheating. Once I moved here where the winter has been significantly colder than what my car is used to, and I am doing all in town driving, I have noticed smoke coming from my engine, but my temperature gauge shows all is well. I have always done regular oil changes etc on the car. I will be making a long trip this summer back home and i am not sure if I should be worried about the car overheating. Should I try and find someone to investigate this problem further or is this just some engine gunk burning as the car gets hot?
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I have a manual 2000 Honda civic that is acting up. When I drive it after about 15mins it gets really hot. Then right before I pull over it starts to cool off if I have the heat pumping . It also seem to over heat when ever I am sitting idle . I replaced the radiator and thermostat but I'm still having the problem.
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I have a 2004 Honda Civic Lx and I was driving one day and I look down to see if I was speeding or not (easy to do) and I see that the thermostat is almost all the way to the red line. So I pull over to a store and check my fluids. The oil was low so I put two quarts in. There are no signs of leaks anywhere. I also topped off the coolant. Ever sense the care has been fine so could of it been the low fluids?
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