bought an 04 civic last august. since i've bought it it's kinda been one problem after another. the car leaks when it rains..no holes or anything in the car itself and it kept running hot & started smoking & leaking fluid on sunday, 1 shop says the head gasket is blown another shop says they cant find anything wrong with it. any ideas??

 

How many miles?

What's done to it?

have you done regular/scheduled/preventative maintenance?

What color smoke?

What kind of fluid?

if one shop says head gasket, and another says nothing, you are either dealing with a head gasket, or retards.

Sounds like the leaking is the least of your worries.

 

do you see any milky fluid in the oil?

are you losing coolant as measured in the reservoir?

how are the door and sunroof seals?

 

DICKS

 

How long has it been running hot before you decided to get it looked at? If it just started smoking and leaking fluid but has been running hot for a while, chances are you've caused a head gasket failure from neglect. This might have been prevented by a thermostat replacement or whatever when it first started doing that.

 

it has 67,000 miles. not sure what all has been done to the car cuz i have no idea about cars at all.
the smoke was white not sure about the color of the fluid a guy told me it was radiator fluid, but i have no idea

as far as the seals and all that goes i dont have a sunroof, but when it rains it looks like the water is coming in thru by the doors and spreading in that way. it's really bad in the drivers area and then passengers and sometimes in the back. usually only spreads to the back if it has been raining for a few days.

i only noticed it running hot a few times and didn't think anything of it because as soon as it went hot it would go back down to normal.

 

After market stereo ? If so, did they wire it through the firewall or do you see the cable running to the battery terminal ?

 

Sounds like you should sell it and start using public transportation.

 

headhasket

 

Ding ding ding, and I am positive you will find that the water pump failed, then lack of knowledge on your part led to a blown head gasket. The water leaking in the car is most likely from bad door seals from normal wear and tear or possibly cut from moving something into the car.