2004 Honda Civic Slight problems with modified car

DJAYSIN04

MEMBER
2004 HONDA CIVIC
4 CYL
FWD
MANUAL
50,000 MILES

Hello,
well I drive a 2004 civic ex and its been turbocharged inter-cooled and all the things included in turbocharging a car. Its been fine for four years but finally experiencing some problems. My car has been overheating to the point where the needle cant go any further cause its so hot and its been doing this for months now and I dont know if I have a reenforced head gasket or something but its finally taken its toll and I believed the gasket is cracked now cause im getting white smoke, you can smell coolant, and my car continues to overheat. Would a shield covering the manifold and/or a turbo wrap help the overheating problem? And could loose or leaky intercooler piping cause overheating if air is escaping before it gets to the engine?

4 Replies

KHLOW2008

MECHANIC
41,814 POSTS

Hi djaysin04,

Thank you for the donation.

When overheating occurs, there are a few possible causes.
1. Lack of coolant in cooling system.
2. Clogged radiator.
3. Cooling fans not working.
4. Stuck thermostat.
5. Faulty water pump, turbines worn or damaged.

Putting any heat shield is not going to solve or reduce the problem if it is cooling system related.

You need to get to the root of the problem. As you mentioned a head gasket problem, if that is the case, you should have coolant losses.

When you can smell coolant, there should be a leak somewhere, do a pressure test to find if the water pump, radiator or any of the hoses are the cause.

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Saturday, October 11th, 2008 AT 6:35 PM

DJAYSIN04

MEMBER
3 POSTS

Hello,
well that sounds about right, one other thing. Would having a performance/ reenforced head gasket really help since its been turbo modified and after everything is fixed do you think a turbo wrap would be beneficial?

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Saturday, October 11th, 2008 AT 6:51 PM

DJAYSIN04

MEMBER
3 POSTS

I havent checked for leaks but I know that my car gets so hot that my coolant boils and when it tries to relieve pressure it comes out from a tube on the side. Now when I unscrew the radiator cap I can hear the air from it being pressurized. I dont know if my car is suppose to have any pressure or if my cap is faulty and it shouldnt be pressurized?

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Saturday, October 11th, 2008 AT 6:55 PM

KHLOW2008

MECHANIC
41,814 POSTS

Hi djaysin04,

There should be pressure and radiator cap has anoperating pressure of 14 to 18 psi. If the cap is bad, or coolant is insufficient, it would cause the coolant to bubble out to the reservoir. Check for worn rubber seals at underside of cap.

Of course thermo wraps does help, at least it would reduce the heat in the engine compartment.

Reinforced gaskets is good as your engine is a modified one and not specificically made for the extra add ons. If you do a lot of high performance driving, you can consider adding another gasket to turn this into a closed deck block.

If you Googled it, you can get some idea of where to get the parts.

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Saturday, October 11th, 2008 AT 11:01 PM