Engine Troubles: Need your brains!

Ok,

So I am having 2 major problems with my 88 Civic HB DX lately.

1) My car is overheating. I have done the following.. Thermastat, Water Pump, Inspected the Rad. 02 sensor... still overheating. I am losing water somehow, because I am finding myself putting more water in almost daily now. It was very strange though, it all started on a road trip. About halfway to my destination, the temperature gauge started bouncing, up really high, then down low, then back up high, then down again, and it got gradually worse and worse until it would just sit in the red. Strange thing was, it would go from RED, all the way to normal temperature in under a couple seconids. Very Strange.... Any ideas?

2) My car is runnign REALLY rough lately. sitting at an idle for more then 5 seconds cause the car to shake heavilly, and then once it shakes, if i start to drive, it sounds like a lawnmower for about 5 seconds until it "clears its throat" and then goes back to normal until i stop again. its like something isnt firing or something...

ALL THE HELP/SUGGESTIONS YOU CAN GIVE WOULD BE GREATLY APPRECIATED!!!

blown head gasket, your loosing water because your car is burning it, thats why it runs bad......... gonna have to rebuild it......


gunnmen01

blown head gasket, your loosing water because your car is burning it, thats why it runs bad......... gonna have to rebuild it......


gunnmen01
Yep what he said

i agree, blown headgasket.. I just replaced a blown headgasket on a 89 DX a week ago. It's gonna cost you about 100 to get it fixed if you do it yourself. 50 to get the head resurfaced, and the rest on gaskets/coolant/oil..

It may not have been your headgasket, but if youre driving a civic thats overheating then you may have destroyed your head.

I had similar problems a while back. Hondas get air bound very easily. It can be something as simple as taking off your radiator cap. Once air gets into the coolant system, it gets trapped inside various spots and prevents the coolant from flowing properly. The reason your coolant flows is b/c of the temperature differance between your engine and your radiator. Thats why when you stop, the temperature probably goes up. Thats b/c the radiator is no longer providing cooling, and the water pump is struggling to do its job. Once you start moving again, air hits your radiator, and it cools the system down.

IMO, you should go to an auto parts store and get the tool to bleed your coolant system of air. Its a funnel that sits in the place of your radiator cap and has a plug in it. It basically burps your system of air and replaces it with coolant. I think theyre like $15 or so...which sure as hell beats taking your car in for diagnosis, or tearing your engine apart.

but like i said before, if youre continually driving a car that has overheating problems, you may have warped your head. Thats something thats not easily fixed. Good luck.