Jeffrey D. wrote:
> Hi Guys!
> Need all your help and expert opinion.
> My second-hand (or used car) honda civic 97 vtec model has a new
> radiator but the engine gets hot when my aircondition is turned on for
> quite sometime. I just had the aircondition system "overhauled",
> meaning all have been refreshed, and also have a new motor fan. Though
> the fan is not original honda, but it works really fine. The fan of the
> radiator turns on when the engine is hot. When I drove around 50kms,
> the reading at my meter starts to increase from midway to close to the
> highest temperature allowed so I have to pull my car in the shoulder
> everytime this happens.
>
> There are no leaks I can observed from all hose lines and I observed
> that the radiator fan does not turn on too long, only around a minute.
> Is this normal?
>
> I do not have problem with overheating if the aircondition system is
> not turned on while driving for an hour, this only happens when i turn
> the aircondition system on.
>
> Other known fact was that the previous owner of the car (I just
> recently learned) have experienced total overheating twice but the
> engine was not damaged.
>
> I still don't want to dispose the car and all i want is to fix it.
>
> Looking forward for all your reply and comments. Please email me at
> this address: jeffrey.t.dellosa@philips.com
>
> regards,
> jeff
>
1. check coolant level inside the radiator - looking at the expansion
bottle doesn't work because leaks break the seal that allows it to
operate correctly.

2. replace the thermostat - maybe it's defective - it's 9 years old.

3. test for leaking head gasket. there's a couple of recent threads
here, one titled "Proper Radiator Cap Pressure Rating for 1994 Honda
Accord EX". read them and check your car in the same way as described.

4. report back with your findings.