what to do about my radiator
 

hey guys. i have a 96 civic dx coupe and just two days ago it's been overheating. well i know the reason why it overheated is because it was so hot outside and i forgot to flick the switch which manually starts the radiator's fan.

so basically it got so hot that when i was driving coolant spewed off the side of my car (not a lot jsut enough to squeeze through the hood.)

well the car still runs... im glad no wires were messed up from this incident. i opened the hood and i was surprised to see that my radiator cap was still on. i thought that would have been the one that caused the burst of coolant.

well when i got home (after many many times of stopping.) i noticed the plastic part of my rad has a crack. basically, everytime i put coolant it never really reaches the bottom part of the rad... it just leaks out of the plastic part.

the plastic part im talkin about is the one where the cap is. the top part basically.

so... what do i do now? do i have to buy a new radiator or you think theres another fix for this crack on my rad?

u can get it fixed at a rad shop or at home with JB weld (depending where the crack is) but I suggest a new rad, they arent that expensive and its better than one day it cracks again and dumps all the coolant out to leave you stranded

you have to turn the fan on? jeez

in Guam, the auto fan was not an option :p LOL

1st of all, the rad is cracked, replace it. I patched a rad once on a beater, and it was ****... leaked no more than 3 weeks later. I bought a new rad, and it's been steady rockin for a year now!!!

then, replace your thermo fan swich. They are pretty cheap and easy to replace.

by the sounds of it, your car has some good mileage on it, I hope you've done timing belt and water pump, yes?

change your thermostat too!

thanks... nah my cars well taken care of. just probably the ones you mentioned.. the thermo for the fan and rad itself.. thanks guys!