I have a 2002 Honda Civic EX with overheating problem. The car has 209,000 miles. My symptoms were radiator coolant bubbles and I' m unable to bleed the air out completely. Replacing the radiator and fan switch did not help. In two weeks the car would consume 1 gallon of coolant and needed to be refilled.

Visual inspection showed no external leaks but I can smell coolant evaporating from the engine area. No visible signs of a white gases coming from the tail pipe.

Finally I took it to the mechanic and they tested coolant in the exhaust and confirmed a leak in the head gasket. Total cost with timing belt change, water pump, new radiator, misc parts and labor $2400.

I thought this was a great car.....actually it can be a great car if I could figure out why it is overheating. I have been dealing with the overheating issues for almost 3 years now. When I first got the car I could go anywhere I wanted and not have it overheat on me. Now I can barely make it to my mailbox. I have replaced just about everything that has to do with the cooling system. I have replaced the radiator, radiator cap, reservoir cap, thermostat (4 times), water pump, timing belt, all hoses, all sensors, and I have spent endless amounts of money in draining the radiator and radiator fluid. I have had it block tested for head gaskets, which surprisingly not the cause of it overheating. I am at a lost here!

It doesn't overheat all the time, just whenever it feels like during the wintertime and almost every other week during the summertime. It does not smoke, it does not skip, hell, if it wasn't for me checking the damn temperature gauge every 2 minutes I wouldn't know it was overheating until the motor blew......that's if it would have ever blew!

I am tired of throwing away money on this car. As much as I love her and take pride in her 2 door stylish look, she is getting very, very expensive to keep, especially with two small children. Also, just one thing I could never figure out was the weird paint job my Civic had. It wasn't a dark tan.....in some lights and at night it looked silver but during the day it looked tan. Why the paint job was like that, but I never understood it. lol.