I have a student with an overheating 1999 Honda civic EX. It does not boil over and the dash gauge according to him never goes into the red but he is right it smells very hot when he pulls into the shop. Never a problem before this. New radiator over a year ago. We did the thermostat. Put the old one in hot water and seems ok but did not open as much as new one so that was a good lesson. Still smells very hot! Antifreeze checks out ok. Checked all fuses and relays. Jumped the sensor and fan runs. He has started to run with fan on with the paper clip in wiring. Still comes in with it hot. Reports MPG is dropping. I noticed lack of circulation or firmness in upper and lower hoses. Could water pump be bad? How do we check it? I thought the pump runs continuously. I'm running out of diagnostic methods on this one. Suggestions before we start replacing random parts?

Mikel Cobb
Educator/Instructor
Ladysmith High School Auto Dept
Ladysmith, Wisconsin, USA