So my stupid Honda Civic starts overheating.

[Topgumby]

and being frugal by situation and nature, but not mechanically inclined by training or temperament, I swallowed hard and vowed to do it myself.

Not a big deal to you motorheads out there, but I put in a new thermostat and gasket (old one was shot) Radiator fan sensor switch, discovered the radiator was leaking like a congressional intelligence committee, drew a deep breath and put in a new radiator.

For somebody who has skills, the right tools and knows what they are doing, it would be simple and quick stuff, but for an idjit like me who is using channel locks on those blankety-blank dinky spring hose clamps, and resorted to a Sawzall at one dark moment, it was a minor triumph when hours later things actually turned out to be repaired and functional.

My youngest boy observed me intently peering at various hoses, looking for leaks, glanced at the defeated corpse of the old radiator lying in the driveway, and raised an eyebrow. I was bursting with male pride at having used tools to conquer steel, aluminum, rubber and ethyl glycol. I asked him what he thought about the old man in his moment of glory.

"Dad, you really, really need to shave."

I think the kid's gonna turn out OK.

 

[Wingnut]

TOP IS BACK, AND BETTER THAN EVER!!!

 

[Dusty1]

Sounds like it turned out ok. I have had plenty of times where after all said and done I either forgot something or it still leaked. Happens to the best of us and if anyone tells you different they're lying.

 

[Icarium]

congrats, sounds like you have a great relationship with your son

nice work but the fact that you even knew what the parts did and where to put them makes you way above the average joe
gotta love channel locks, make a great backup hammer too
personally, i can do most of the stuff my cars have needed done but i developed a great relationship with my mechanic in 1980
i much prefer to drop by for a friendly chat [and a drink if i'm there near closing time]

 

[DrColossus11]

Sounds like you were triumphant. I replaced the thermostat in mine only to find out that it had a bad head gasket... Haven't attempted that repair yet.

 

[Artimid]

Nice work! While I have no idea about the tools names, I could probably figure out their function by looking at them. Way to score one of the normal guys, Top! Granted you are above me in that you figure out where those things were in the car, but still, Booya for the non-auto-tech! Love the write up as well, and hope you enjoyed bringing that defeated carcass of a radiator back for core (I think radiators have a core.. I have no clue), or recycling... or mounting it on the wall!

 

[luvmysuper]

"Dad, you really, really need to shave."

I think the kid's gonna turn out OK.

The point of the whole story! Excellent.

To me, the issue isn't the auto repair, or that spring clip pliers would have been the proper tool, or that it should or should not have been done in a given fashion.
Heck, it isn't even really about fixing a car, per se.
It's about the gumption and the intestinal fortitude to tackle something that is maybe on the edge of where you feel comfortable, and to emerge victorious.

And that his kid is sharp enough to know dad skipped a shave.
I agree that he's likely going to turn out ok, he's got a fine example to emulate.

 

[JellyFox]

Sounds like you were triumphant. I replaced the thermostat in mine only to find out that it had a bad head gasket... Haven't attempted that repair yet.

That's a job to do carefully. My dad snapped a bolt while replacing a head gasket on his car. He was only on the second of three torquing stages when it happened.

 

[cb91710]

Hope it's not the water pump

 

[oc_in_fw]

Feels good, doesn't it? I hate working on modern cars, much more pain involved, but I will do it. Oh, and I rebuilt my shovel head (83 HD) from the crankcase up. I did have the heads professionally done, however, as I had the exhaust ports ceramic coated.

 

[_JP_]

Sounds like a win-win!

 

[ricardo9505]

awesome story.
i love cars, so sometimes you gotta take a scientific approach. Theories and test them. For starters, buy the manual to the car. This saves me hundreds and hundreds down the line. always investigate and buy a multi tester. (you could have tested the resistance on the fan switch and see if its working properly)\
again, great story and congrats on the job. these are moments that make many of us happy. fixing the engine, starting her up and she's running perfect, thinking "I did it!".

 

[Topgumby]

So far so good. I actually did use a multi meter on the fan switch while boiling it. Dead. Boiled the new t-stat and fan switch too just to be sure, and I'd checked the fan motor with a high tech 9 volt battery.

My theory is that the switch went bad first, and I didn't notice it 'till the t-stat puked and there was no fan to assist and that's when she overheated. I did know enough to pull over right away and I'm hoping the aluminum head and gasket survived. No oil in the coolant, no coolant in the oil and no sweet or metallic smell in the exhaust. I have no idea when the radiator cracked (up high in that damn plastic) but I did notice about two weeks ago that my mileage wasn't what it should be...probably about then. Water pump is good (for now).

Kid picked out a gold fat handle tech for the evening shave, and I went with Cella and my humble, yet lovable Tweezerman. Felt darn good to scrape off the weekend whiskers.

 

[rxonmymind]

Excellent finish to the story. He will be Ok. Probably learned a lot more that day about pops than one would if you were to take the car in. I still have memories of my dad fishing out an outboard motor off the pier in Okinawa, fixing cars etc. Teaching work ethic is something to be proud of.

 

[Jasonian]

Hope it's not the water pump

That's no joke. I remember replacing mine in a 1-car garage with minimal tools while I was in college. Boy, that was a learning experience. Not as difficult the second time around.

 

[tnevy4]

I have been messing on my cars and friend's cars for a few years, and i have never had the spring clamp tool. I use channel locks or vice grips every time. Congratulations on your DIY car repair

 

[ChefJohnBoy-ardee]

I replaced the alternator, battery cables and installed a hitch on my 14 year old Cherokee... The hitch was the hardest part. Ended up drilling a hole in the floor of my bed to get to it...

Everything else was a tight fit but luckily I'm still small and young enough to use a cardboard 'creeper'. (It took three days to get the hitch on...)

 

[sbain]

Been learning how to work on cars ever since my father in law gave us his old 94 geo metro. He had it for about 2 years before us with zero problems, and it's been nothing but trouble since the day I got it. The owner before him was a shade tree mechanic who only liked to put things together halfway.....I think his theory was "this car is small, so 1 bolt on the x part instead of all 3 should be fine." I've got her running pretty great now at this point, but I've probably spent a good 2 weeks worth of labor under that darned car...and clones of it at the junkyard
Feels good to get er done though.