Why would a 1995 Honda Civic EX manual trans only overheat when climbing a hill and NOT overheat at other times even with the AC on?

Answer 1

This happens because the ignition timing on your car is too advanced. In addition to overheating while climbing a hill it may also be cackling. To remedy the situation have the ingnition timing retarded. Your Owners manual will indicate what the correct ignition timing should be. I don't know what it is for your car but for my 91 Corolla it was 8 degrees before Top Dead Center. Hope that was of help to you. My mechanic said this happens when the radiator is old, and needs to be replaced. I used a radiator cleaning product to clean out the corrosion, and found pieces of the foil seal from the antifreeze bottle in the pan when I drained it. I drive with the control set to hot on small hills, and turn the fan to high on big hills. This helps a lot! Otherwise - I stay in town on level ground! The thermostat may be causing overheating. If you have removed thermostat, it may also be cause of trouble. The A/C operation in these models have little effect on overheating. The correct timing for this model is 16 digrees before top dead centre. Shahid Rasul email: bkbfsd@yahoo.co.uk