'03 Civic EX Coolant smell, Temp rising

Hey,

So the GF has a 2003 Civic EX and today after a 45minute drive, I got a whiff of 'freeze. I couldn't find a leak anywhere, either liquid or steam. Tonight, I go to the drive-thru and while waiting for food, the temp starts to come up. I shut it down and waited for the burgers. Parked and ate, drove 14miles home with no issues. Upon returning home, I sat with the car in park and at idle for about 4-5minutes and the temp came up again. I shut it down again, and then put the key to the on position, and the fan ran and temp started to return to normal (a bit below half, 3/8ths or so). I didn't notice the fan running before I shut the car down.

I have a coolant smell intermittantly, high temps at idle, coolant bottle WAY more full than it should be, but not blowing bubbles. Can't find a leak anywhere. Car will, at least for now, maintain normal temp while driving.

I'm thinking one of a few things:

T-Stat
Rad Cap
fan switch/relay
Water pump
(Gasp...)cracked head or worse

Where do I begin? Cap and Stat is my vote, but i'm not really great with cooling diagnostics or Hondas for that matter.

Any help?

Thanks,

Jay

Update: Replaced the Rad. Cap after topping off the anti-freeze. Now, the fans won't kick at all........ What is the most likely culprit for this? I know they were working the day before yesterday, I heard them distinctly.

Help? It's almost Monday, and this is her only transport to and from work.

Thanks,

Jay

Will they come on with A/C ??

Many of the relays are the same part # you could swap the cooling fan relay with one of the others. (easy no cost test, mark relays so you know which is which)

if the coolant smell is comin from the exhaust and you cant smell it from in the engine bay, its most likely a headgasket. if you can smell it from the engine bay, its likely a leak, or its building up too much pressure and coming out the overflow or rad cap. I suggest replaceing the T-Stat just to be on the safe side, they're cheap and you wont harm anything by replacing it

Thanks for the replies.

The smell is from the engine bay, but nothing is leaking either water or steam.
The cooling fan does not run on it's own. I am going to assume that the AC fan works based on the fact that the AC itself is functioning properly.

I'll try the relays. Sounds like it could be worth a shot anyway.

The temp hasn't come up again since the other night. I changed the cap and topped the rad.

T-stat will be next.

Thanks,

Jay

coolant fan and a/c fan= same thing

Hmm... if he has a half sized rad and condensor.... then no they arent the same.. he will have one for the rad and one for the ac condensor