imported_-cj-

I recently bought a 94 CX with a blown head gasket. After replacing the gasket and temp sensor, the car now runs the fan (on high) pretty often. I was at a drive-in tonight (It was cool out) and the fan would turn on every 5-10 minutes and run for 10-15 seconds. The temp gauge sits at normal the whole time.

I've been driving the car for over a month and it's been fine. Aside from bogging down a little on aggressive starts, it runs fine. No coolant loss.. no over heating.

I also get an exhaust/fuel smell when the fan is running. The engine idles perfectly...

Any ideas? Is this normal for a Civic? (This is my first Honda)

kwasley

hows the oil?

imported_-cj-

Not sure, going to change it this weekend. There's no oil loss... Not sure what condition it's in though. It'll be the first change after the gasket replacement, so I don't know what to expect.

imported_-cj-

Okay, oil looks normal. It was pretty low on oil though, barely registered on the dip stick (doh!). Wonder if the low oil situation could have contributed to the fan running often...hmm.

imported_Cablerat

Cars start to heat up pretty quick when idling. Sounds normal to me.

imported_mikepasini

stop ripping it everywhere

imported_-cj-

Ripping it? LOL, it's a 100hp CX winter vehicle. Okay, I do drive it hard from time to time... But honestly, I've never owned a vehicle where the fan spins on HIGH very often while idling... I never recall my cousin's 95 SI doing this while idling...

It can't be normal. All joking aside, I was at a drive in, sitting still and the fan was spinning on high every 10-15 minutes.

imported_mikepasini

imported_Cablerat

on high? The fan either comes on or doesn't.

Every 10 - 15 minutes seems normal @ idle. The only things I would say that would result in the fan coming on more often is old coolant, worn out radiator and/or a failing water pump.

When was the last time you changed the coolant? What mixture level are you using? Inspect the radiator fins (on the fan side).. Rub your fingers against the fins, if they start crumbing apart, the rad is probably getting to the end of it's life. (make sure car is off when your checking the rad of course). The water pump issue is unlikely.

Check those out and report back.

imported_-cj-

Maybe that's why I'm flipping out --- My other car has a two stage fan. A regular slower speed setting and a high speed setting. I didn't realize the Civic only had on or off.

Whenever my fan kicks on it's friggin loud and you can feel it shake the car a little (It doesn't sound broken though, just fast) --- Is that normal or am I being picky?

The only reason I'm paranoid about my cooling system is that I just replaced the head gasket and I don't know how the car ran before I bought it, I want to avoid another possible overheating situation. Thanks for your advice guys.

chris_si98

you may have a weak rad, causes the temp's to be slightly high.. a good indication of this is the gauge will slightly go higher while in traffic after a nice drive.