I have a 89 Honda civic wagon. We had new gasket put on car, new water pump and timing belt. The problem is when you take the car on the interstate it overheats. If you drive in the city the car if fine. When the car start to run hot you lift the hood and the water is bubbling out of the coolant bottle. What can this be because othe than that the car runs great...

If the cooling system has not been properly maintained, by changing the antifreeze every 3 years, corossion may have developed in the radiator and engine block. Drain the cooling system, including the two plugs on the engine block, and examine the radiator. If corossion is bad, replace the radiator and possibly the thermostat. This is an excellent time to replace radiator and heater hoses. Refill with 50/50 mixture of Honda antifreeze and distilled water.

There is one other thing, we took the car back to the shop that fixed the head gasket and they are trying to say the head gasket is blown again. Would it be possible for the car to drive as well as it does...

Yes. It sounds like your car overheated and warped the aluminum head, which is why the head gasket keeps blowing. This is why it's so important to maintain the cooling system on aluminum head engines. A friend of mine drove his Acura a little ways on the freeway, after the top radiator hose blew, and it cost him $2,300 to get the head and valves remachined. It's a very serious matter to have an aluminum head engine overheat even once. It's not like the old days with cast iron heads.

This is why I'm so big on preventive maintenance and doing things by the book. You do it to avoid the big unexpected expense.

When they replaced the head gasket the was machined before it was put back on no cracks or warps. The car has no white smoke, the dipstick is not milky. Is this possbile there would be no symptoms other than overheating while on the interstate??

If the engine has overheated since they did the work, it could warp again. When heads are machined, the compression goes up in the cylinders and maybe it's distorting the new head gasket. Machining can be tricky business. Did Honda do the work?

Head gaskets can blow also because the head was not torqued again after so many miles. The gasket compresses somewhat and a "final" torque sometimes needs to be made. They can also blow if the proper tightening sequence was not followed and if the proper torque was not applied with the torque wrench. I'm not sure how it is on your vehicle, but this can get involved; e.g. should the threads be lubricated or dry and after an initial torque is there a final "torque to angle." Attention to detail makes all the difference in matters such as this. If you can't do the job yourself, my advice is always take your car to Honda for servicing. They will usually give you a warranty for 12 months or 12,000 miles. You get what you pay for in life.

Where does your thermostat ride? Usually temperatures drop on the interstate, because of the increased airflow through the radiator. Examine your radiator and thermostat--the problem likely resides there. Many Honda radiators need to be replaced around 150,000 miles, due to leaks along the plastic top of the radiator and due to internal corossion. You should see visible evidence of corossion, if you remove the radiator cap and look inside. Is "plaque" developing in the cooling tubes (veins)? If the temperature gauge is riding where it's supposed to, may the only thing wrong is the radiator cap, which is easy to check out.

Check the timing. If the cam timing is advanced it will cause the engine to run hotter than it normally would.

I have a 1989 honda civic staionwagen ,bolt from brakebooster broke is it an easy fix?