1997 Honda Civic Logo
Anonymous Posted on Jan 23, 2011

I have a 97 honda civic ex, temp gauge shoots up and almost over heats, then it will go back to normal. sometimes i have heat and sometimes i dont, the 2 are not consistant. I changed the thermostat and that didnt help. Any ideas?

  • Anonymous Jan 23, 2011

    how do i do that?

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Randy Ohler

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  • Honda Master 14,585 Answers
  • Posted on Jan 23, 2011
Randy Ohler
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There is air in the cooling system. All you need to do is get it purged out. Air causes both of these problems. When it passes thru the heater core, no heat. when it passes by the cooling sensors it is a lot hotter than the coolant and makes the gauge shoot up and down fast.

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  • Master 3,113 Answers
  • Posted on Jan 23, 2011
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Sounds like the engine is not full of coolant. Air will get trapped in the upper part of the coolant passages and must be bled out.

  • Anonymous Jan 23, 2011

    I am new to this so forgive my stupidity...but how do i bleed it?

  • Randy Ohler Jan 23, 2011

    You can take the cap off the resevoir Add coolant if needed. only up to the line. Start the engine and let it warm up. you may loose some coolant as the air starts to purge. Rev the engine up afew times and this will speed the process. Keep watch on the level of coolant, because if it gets to low, you will have to start over. Once you think there is enough coolant replace the cap and let run for a few more minutes. Then shut it off, let it cool. Before you start it again check the coolant level. Keep check on the level for a few days.

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  • Posted on Mar 28, 2014
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This happened to mine. I would add coolant, but it would show up every month or so again. I would check, and the coolant level would be down. So, I put in a new radiator cap... and that really helped.

I still have the same problem going uphill when I have a low amount of coolant. I guess I just need to check the resevoir more often, because when I add the coolant everything works great again.

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