i have a 1991 honda civic dx if i turn on my head lights or heater hit the horn turn on the cd deck anything at all and try to crank it it wont crank nothing at all...and if u dont have anything on it will start and run untill you turn anything on or hit the brakes then it dies. and if you turn on the head lights the temp gage goes way over hot...thats is where the problem started i belive..it always said it was hot but you can put your hand on the motor and it is cold..i replaced the temp senor and rad...still hot. and now i have this other problem that i think is wiring. the alt is putting out 14.5 volts well running so i dont belive that is my problem. but if anyone has any ideas or anything for me to try please let me know. id love you find this problem

txgreasemonkey

Check for corrosion or mineral buildup blocking passageways in radiator, causing your car to overheat. You may need to have it rodded or replaced. Only use 50/50 mixture of antifreeze and distilled water.

91civicdx

hey it has a brand new rad the problem was an air lock

txgreasemonkey

Cool.

veronv

I am back !

What exactly do you mean by an Air Lock ? ... cause my car is showing the same symptoms too ... overheating and stuff ... antifreeze (isn't that the same as coolent ? ) is too low is what I was told when I did the oil change this morning ... what do I do ? ... is it OK if I just buy and pour green liquid (antifreeze/coolent) myself ... ?

thanks !

txgreasemonkey

An air lock is a major air pocket that develops in the cooling system. If it develops around the water pump, cavitation can result and coolant is no longer pumped through the system. To prevent air locks from forming when the coolant is being changed, Honda has an air bleeder bolt and a recommended filling procedure.

veronv

thanks... I got it now... so to continue with my problem, I had the same problem as reportedin the beginning of this topic... car dies when I apply brakes and lights etc... but it doesnt happen all the time... happens intermittently... and I have a new alternator too... so I believe my problem runs on the same lines... what should I do now ? ... if I assume that it has an airlock, what comes next for me to do ?

thanks..!

91civicdx

hey with my car for it dying i played with the fuse block and the cluster wiring and then the dying with the lights on and stuff went away...the guy i got the car off of told me it happened to him to and thats what he did. the air lock was just because i put a new rad in and never bleed it right so it just over heated had notihng to do with it dying hope that helps

txgreasemonkey

Makes perfect sense to me. You may want to disconnect the neg. battery cable, unfasten the under-hood fuse box, and regrease all connectors with silicone dielectric grease.

veronv

yeah... that helps a lot... I will do that asap... thanks folks... its always so easy with you guys' help...

Something related to the same thing in view here...

I went through things under the hood... it was pretty crazy actually what was happening in my case... my battery cable was touching an inlet pipe which in turn goes to the casing, I guess, which is grounded... so eventually when the battery used to come in contact with the pipe, it used to drain down... it burnt some wiring on the casing too... thats why the car was dying with lights on and stuff... (I hope this makes sense to the experts... ! ) ... so I had to get insulating tapes all around the pipe and on the battery connectors... seems like it solved the problem... as yet !