It seemed like a lovely day, 70°, as I drove my Civic, but my engine temperature was too high, and I had only driven five miles!
In 70° weather!
I started having problems with her overheating a year ago, but that was Phoenix, where it hit 117° last year. I do not remember the drama, although I probably posted about it. The radiator fan only worked when I pulled on the cable and when I put a paper clip in the connector. I also bypassed the heater core. I was still working on it when I moved north, to a higher elevation. The hottest day there was 92° back in May.
My Civic drove fine for nine months.
I stopped at the first place that sold distilled water and popped my hood. Nothing looked too bad. The radiator was cool to the touch.
What?!
I popped the cap and it was low, so I added water, but it gushed out the top.
I was about two miles from an appointment and that was one of the last steps before I can start my new job.
I drove carefully, popped the hood, and my engine was smoking. I left the hood open and spent a couple of hours inside.
I should have asked for a paperclip!
I stopped every couple of miles, purchasing paperclips and jumping the cable as soon as I could, and then stopping and letting the engine cool before continuing.
The temperature shot up when I entered the neighborhood and was at High when I reached our street. I stopped, turned off the engine, and pushed the car the rest of the way.
Slightly uphill.
A new radiator is $70, but that is a waste of time and money if the engine is damaged. I started a compression test, but the first cylinder was only 0 PSI. I checked it a couple of times, reconnected the hose, tried again, and when I added oil it quickly dropped to zero, but was still moving when I moved back to the hood. I popped up the gauge with a wooden clamp and watched it hit 70 PSI.
That is not useful.
This was the spark plug:
That is just weird.
I twisted the next spark plug boot, but when I pulled on it, the wire came out, and the boot came apart. I soaked it in silicone lubricant, twisted a screw into the clip, and extracted the metal part, while the plastic tube is still stuck in there.
It looks like I will need to haul the car to a junkyard.