02 Honda Civic Cooling Problems?

I have a 2002 Honda Civic LX Manual. I bought it from my cousin about 8 months ago and he put a new radiator in it before I bought it. I'm having to put in water every day or so. Especially after driving on the interstate it seems it needs more water like it's pushing water out somewhere faster with higher rpm. Basically it will almost run hot if I'm in a drive through or a long red light and occasionally when I start and stop a lot. And rarely when I'm driving at higher speeds.

Anyone know what is causing this? Its really frustrating considering I can be left on the side of the road having to put water in the radiator when I'm on a tight schedule.

Any and all help is greatly appreciated

Why wait for so long? Eight months ago with adding coolant on a daily basic? Someone should look at the problem. How many times you ran the engine hot? Enough said!

First, a simple pressure test on the cooling system will reveal where all the coolant gone on a daily basic, and I have hoped that it will be external leak(s) instead of a head gasket leak or the engine need a major work done like crack head or block. Was there any white smoke coming from the tail pipe? Hope not!

The radiator cap is cheap, replace it before you forget about it unless it has been replace 8 months ago along with the radiator. What about the cooling fans? Does anybody check them for proper operation for both low and high speeds?

If everything checked out good so far, the only things left to check for the overheating problem are: Air in the cooling system, the thermostat and the water pump. This is strange because those are the first three things people normally check first for overheating in a car.

The question and your description has so many missing links so I have guessed you have left out a lot of what the car been through for the last eight months. Spend some minutes and update the information. Let us know what you need and we'll reply with properly advises. Need more help? You can e mail me anytime. HTH

Engine has 2 methods of the cooling system,1- oil cooling 2- water cooling.
Oil cooling is sealed system piping (holes inside motor body) which does do with your oil pump and oil level and oil type.
water cooling it's again a sealed system piping that it's circulated with water pump, hose and radiator.
In both methods after any replacement you have to make sure there's no air in the system.
Another problem that if you loose water level in the radiator without any leak it can be head cylinder washer burn (in this type of the problem, you will see water drop on the exhaust and dark smoke or bad burning smell of gas, which is drop the speed (RPM) and also power of the engine.
Another reason can be water pump it self that it's not work well and it cause that water vaporized in the engine body and water gage it go higher than middle line.

Sounds like a head gasket, add water when the engine is cold full it to the very top. Keep the cap off and then the car on if you see air bubbles then it's your head gasket