1997 honda civic spitting out antifreeze?
So about a week ago my 97 honda civic was overheating and found that my water pump was busted. I got the water pump replaced a few days ago but now the antifreeze looks like its coming out the radiator cap. My car is no longer overheating but why is it spitting out the antifreeze now?
Anytime an older Honda overheats severely, you have a chance warp the head or blow the head gasket.
You should be changing the water pump where you change the timing belt, so I wonder how much more maintenance was never done on this car. Being a 97 your poor Civic may be at the end of its useful life span.
The excess anti freeze should go out the overflow hose connected to the radiator cap when hot, then return to the radiator as it cools. Get a new cap and go from there. If the motor got real hot then you may have warped the head and then its junk. Is the electric fan running rite?
A simple cooling system pressure test will reveal that the engine has internal coolant leak or not. If the pressure drop without any external coolant leak: There's a very good chance that the head gasket has leak. This simple video will show you how:
How hot the engine was before the water pump replacement? The head may be warped already. Was the thermostat replace as well? Having a test to find out if the cooling system has combustion gas in it will surely confirm the head gasket or the cylinder head warp or not.
There are two ways to test: Using chemical test or using an exhaust five gas analyzer to test. The first is unreliable as there are so many ways to get a false result: Contaminated chemical, old/aged chemical etc.
The later (5 gas analyzer) can only be done at repair shop who has a five gas analyzer to perform the test.
The radiator cap is cheap so there's no need for testing because if you have to buy the tester it would be at least $50 and the cap is a lot less. If the cap has failed, the cooling system pressure will push the coolant through the leaking cap. That could be in your case: Coolant shooting out of the radiator cap, if the head gasket is not leaking. Hope it help. HTH
Edit: Anyway, have the tests done and hopefully the head or the gasket will be good. Good luck to you and send a message if you have more question. HTH
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