atkinson40

1. I'm loosing about 1/2 glass of coolant very 100 miles.

2. It doesn't always happen.

3. Seems like only when I drive up into the mountains here in SD with a round trip of 76 miles.

4. Car runs and idles very good. Passed smog.

5. I can't see any leaks

6. No water in oil.

7. No overheating

Blown HG?? Thanks kevin

sdaidoji

iTrader: (1)

why is this on general automotive discussion forums?
what is your car? year?

atkinson40

Sorry if I've posted in the wrong forum. 1990 Civic DX. Thanks kevin

sdaidoji

iTrader: (1)

quite likely.
read here.
https://www.civicforums.com/forums/3...reference.html

also, i suspected 2 months before my 1200 mile trip that mine was starting to loose coolant from the overflow.
it survived the trip fully loaded in the trunk and rear seat.
got the best mileage ever
passed emissions when i got back in TN.

gasket was still leaking.

so start gathering parts for the fix.
plan vacations or a long holiday (not so good if ye need additional parts on the way).
if engine overheats while planning, ye need to check the surface evenness.

04 Honda Civic

iTrader: (2)

Doesnt sound like a headgasket by what you described.

atkinson40

My car does not overheat. Even if idling for a long time which it does at the border wait. The resorvour also does not overflow. It just mysteriously looses coolant.(sometimes) Thanks kevin

sdaidoji

iTrader: (1)

all your description seems same as mine, except for the new inof that it's not from the overflow tank.

read the link anyway, there are a list of other stuff mentioned later on there.

04 Honda Civic

iTrader: (2)

For starters read the link sdaidji posted.

A good direction to head will be getting a radiator pressure tester, jack the car up, take a flashlight and look everywhere where coolant flows for a leak. You cant just "look" for coolant leaks without a pressure tester.

I know you probably are not using your heat with the wheather now, but is your heat hot?

Have you recently done anything to the coolant system? How are you judging the amount of coolant lost? Through the radiator or reserve tank?

atkinson40

I read the link.....twice.

I've done the pressure test you're describing and looked for leaks from above. I'll repeat the test and look from below.

This problem has been going on for months...over 6 months. I'm poring about a half glass in the radiator not the reserve.

I'll check for heat being hot. Thanks kevin

gearbox

iTrader: (95)

if it burns coolant with no leaks, its blown HG. same happened to me and there were no other signs. depending on where the leak is and if its small enough, you may not get any mixing of fluids. after new HG, i havent lost any coolant for years. always stays at max. the shop i took the head to for testing said it did not have a properly machined flat surface from the factory and thats what caused the problem. after they got done with milling, i couldnt believe the difference in how smooth the surface was.

danwat12345

Take out the spark plugs, see if any of the pistons are much cleaner than the others.
Also take off the radiator cap, careful if there is any pressure. Start the car and see if there are bubbles. Bubbles are bad.

palsana

I'd take the advice of GEARBOX and believe it is the headGasket..This is Why?
Its HEAD GASKET BLOWN IF:
If your compression is good and there is nothing in the oil and you are not losing coolant then it is not a head gasket. If you ARE LOSING COOLANT!!!!!!!! it is a head gasket.
raising temps while stopped and idling but not while driving
I have 2005 Honda Civic ex with 65,000 miles. replaced the radiator, the thermostat, the water pump, the timing belts and the fan switch and the car still overheats. The last repair was the fan switch, they tested it for a week and it didn't overheat. I drove it for about an hour on the highway and it started to overheat as soon as I got off the highway and stopped at a light. Compression tests don't show anything but the shop still thinks it could be the head gasket and they want to replace it. There is no sign of coolant mixing with the oil and there is nothing strange coming out of the tailpipe. Has anyone else had this problem? Could it be anything else besides the head gasket?
· it started overheating when slowing down getting off highway.
· noticed disappearing coolant - was disappearing faster and faster - no external leaks
· extra coolant in the reservoir and mysteriously disappearing coolant with no external leaks
· slowly let the combustion gases pass through the gasket to the coolant.
· if when you open the rad cap there is "air", not coolant.
· Heater blows only cold air. (could be a dead heater core, though.
· Coolant overflows the coolant tank. This is already on the extreme cases.
OTHER TESTS DONE BEFORE CONCLUDING ITS HG
replaced thermostat and radiator cap - no luck...replaced whole radiator..no luck..
tried combustion leak check to test for combustion gases and it did not detect any problems - no white smoke out of tail pipe, spark plugs looked OK
Changing the coolant saying maybe it's lost it's cooling ability.
Checked for air bubbles. Changed my new fan sensor.
If you have fluid coming out of your reservoir, im sorry to say, but its the head gasket.
If its not smoking at all then I would have to go water pump.
Start checking for fans not working, leakages, and oh, the radiator cap - use always the honda.


SYMPTOMS (systematic sequence of events)
The way 99% people realize something is wrong is when their car starts overheating and the overflow is full to the top and the heat only blows hot when moving, not when idling.


HEAD GASKET TEST ( STEP BY STEP)
1. Check your fans to make sure they are turning on and functioning properly, if not you need to replace either the fans themselves, the switches or relays.
2. You need to bleed the coolant system of air, which consists of jacking up the front of the car while it is cold. Removing the radiator cap, starting the car and turning the heat on full heat full blast. As the radiator drains down you need to refill it with OEM Honda coolant. Once the air is all bled out I lower the car back on its wheels, leave the radiator cap off overnight and top up the radiator in the morning. You will notice it has gone down a little bit top it up, put the rad cap back on and off you go. If however, the overheating problem comes back go to step #3

3. A thermostat and radiator cap are common causes of air getting into the cooling system. They tend to age and are actually part of a cars regular maintenance. Since your POS is overheating, change them out and repeat step #2. If the overheating continues go to step #4.
4. Great, the cheap stuff is out of the way, now it's probably a head gasket... if the overflow however is not overfilling it could still be a water pump or a clog in the system. Unlikely though, since there are about a hundred threads a week here about people asking whats going on with their head gasket. On to step #5...
5. Now it's time to check for exhaust gases in the coolant system. The absolute best method is not a leak down test... or a pressure test because it may miss the problem. The best way hands down is a combustion leak test, where they check for actual exhaust in the radiator. If you don't discover exhaust gases in the rad, the car is not blowing white smoke, spark plugs or oil cap are not white... your coolant system may be plugged up somewhere causing overheating. However, you car does not have to blow white smoke, have white spark plugs or oil cap in order for it to be the head gasket... it could be blown and not be showing any symptoms whatsoever except overheating/full overflow. On to step #6, and yes it's gonna hurt.
6. Time to start taking crap apart... start removing the head using hondas awesome service manual... when you get to the timing belt portion remove the water pump and make sure it's okay. If you find the water pump is corroded or some of the blades are gone replace it. Do go on and replace your head gasket anyway though. Your not only halfway there but if you detected gases in the exhaust system it is guaranteed to be the HG.
Head gaskets tend to blow because of an underlying problem that caused the car to overheat. You should do your due diligence and find out what the initial problem was or you risk blowing your head gasket again. Or you can just rely on it being the thermostat or rad cap which youve already replaced. Keep a close eye on your temp gauge after you repair it. The last thing you wanna be doing is replacing it again a few months later.

palsana

If your compression is good and there is nothing in the oil and you are not losing coolant then it is not a head gasket. If you ARE LOSING COOLANT!!!!!!!! it is a head gasket.

UPDATE: I m loosing coolant but compression tests show no major problems &/or there is not5hing in the oil!!!!!!

What do i make of it? HG for sure. There is lot of oil leak coming from valve cover gasket.

palsana

My car does not overheat until such time that i loose all my coolant from the radiator. That happens nearly 48-72 hours of 50+ miles driving &/or waiting at traffic lights or stops or drive thru at McD .

palsana

There are definitely bubbles coming out of radiator cap in my car, however i m told to bleed out the coolant two three times & bubbles will not appear.

palsana

gearbox my exact point!!!!...It doesn't really tell me where the leak is from but it definitely burns coolant!!!!!!... i can vouch for that!!!!!!...all tests I have done has been negative!!!!!!!!
Other than valve cover GaSKET, which has major leaks happening, there seems no leaks anywhere, i have verified using compression tests on the radiator cap.

I have very many posts already here so sorry for that many posts, i hope & pray god i will do everything in my power to confirm it is my HeadGasket, and so why so many posts!!!!

Anything else i should attempt before admitting to HG

tyuhl94

hey i dont mean to post on ur thread im a newb and idk how to make a new thread can any1 help?

gearbox

iTrader: (95)

check the plugs for white residue on the electrode grounds. thats burnt coolant. if your car shakes on a cold start even for a short 10 seconds, its a small HG leak and that cylinder is misfiring until the coolant burns out. you may also see white residue in the exhaust pipe. bottom line is if you are losing coolant and its not dripping anywhere, its the HG. there is no other explanation other than it being burned, unless you have really big air bubbles in the system right after a coolant flush and you forgot to bleed it. if you try to bleed the system and bubbles still appear after 30mins when looking at the coolant in the radiator, its HG. some combustion gases are constantly being added so you will never be able to bleed properly. if too much air gets in the coolant, you can overheat because air is not a proper cooling medium and it can also trick the ECT sensor if there is no coolant touching it, causing a false overheat. i really think they should switch to clear see thru radiator hose because you can see this happening much easier without testing anything.

SpeedDownZone

Check your water pump gasket.

04 Honda Civic

iTrader: (2)

Check your plugs like gear said.

If you are bleeding the coolant and it seems like a never ending amount of bubbles are coming out chances are that is exhaust gas being pushed into the coolant.

Outside of trying a new radiator cap, a headgasket sounds about right.

Still funny your not overheating at all.

palsana

The other day I had a mechanic add Freon to my car. He started the engine & tried adding freon, at this time he left the car engine running. After some 15-20 mins of car running on park, and with A/c on & inside car temp around 70F the car engine was vibrating so badly that his pressure readings were going out of hand & after very much trying to add freon all attempts failed & he was unable to add freon to the car. His conclusion

The A/C compressor was on its way out & being unable to handle additional freon.
I do know when I put on the A/c it blows cold air & in a few minutes the load on the engine is severe enough to make it shake & shakes intermittently. This is also true when i am driving the car & putting on A/C. I have a very hard time putting foot on gas pedal and making car go beyond 30mi/hr. Once i shut off the A/c car does drive just fine.

gearbox

iTrader: (95)

if the compressor seizes, it could rip the belt and you will have no alternator and possibly a messed engine depending on where the belt pieces go after it breaks.

marc_angelo

Lets keep this thread alive!

I have a 94 civic dx hatch with 188k miles. I replaced the timing belt, water pump, thermostat, radiator cap at 182k. I did a compression check recently: 180, 140, 155, 160. Did a leak down on the cylinder with 140 no air bubbles came out of the radiator. According to the mechanic that helped me air was coming out of my exhaust (I couldn't feel it) and he said the valve is bent. To make a long story short, I assumed my radiator fan didn't turn on so we changed the switch and he left without testing the other cylinders.

In an effort to bleed the radiator, I let the car idle for 40 min. and the bubbles would keep coming every few minutes. I placed the cap and noticed a constant steam of air bubbles flowing into the reservoir. I confirmed it by putting the tube in a clear cup filled with coolant.

My car starts and drives fine. It didn't overheat after I drove it 40 min straight (mostly highway 30 miles). During that commute I turned on the A/C for a couple minutes every 10 min. However once I parked my coolant reservoir was full.

I have been advised that I might as well get an engine swap than pay to replace my head gasket. I don't know what to do, any advice/suggestions would be appreciated. Let me know if you know a cool mechanic or shop in the Bay Area.

Here are my options:

1. Try Blue Devil ($70)
2. Hire a craigslist mechanic to replace the head gasket for $390 but head wont be resurfaced
3. Find a shop that can swap my engine (price?)

Thanks in advance!