help: replacing head gasket

[gearbox]

did you check the coolant level? turning heater on routes coolant throuhg the heater core and if you dont have enough, the level will drop below normal.

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[speedfoos]

Yep. Gotta burp baby or she gets fussy.

[greeen01civic4d]

its either a blockage or air bubble inside the heater core, bring it to running temp, open the radiator, and turn on the heater, see what happens

[civcspool]

i see some bubble coming out ill just wait if im still loosing coolant ..

[greeen01civic4d]

bubbles in coolant is bad, needs to be bled

[civcspool]

yea i bled the everything out i'm not loosing any coolant for 2 days.. but this morning i turned on my heater and drove for 30 mins and started to loose coolant what could it be ? could it be the heater ? thermostat ? or something ? im running tsi kit with 6psi boost .. turbo gurus i need your help ..

[speedfoos]

What did you torque the head studs down to when you put it back together?? Do you have any puddles of coolant anywhere? Do you smell coolant burning in your exhaust? Have you run a pressure test on the coolant system to check it for leaks?

[civcspool]

no i didnt channge the head gasket yet .. what could it be ? its only giving me problems when i turned the heater on..

[speedfoos]

Have you run the car at idle for like 15-20 minutes with the radiator cap off and the heater on full blast? Jack the front of the car up so that the radiator filler neck becomes the highest point in the cooling system. This will force any air bubbles to come out in conjunction with the car being warmed up and the coolant system circulating all the coolant. What you're describing is in air the system. You have to get it out.

[civcspool]

blown head ... planning to swap my head to ex.. but my funds are running low and i need my car to get to the street ... im running tsi kit @ 6 psi currently running tsi f/c . Can i swap the head to an ex and buy an emanage later on to activate the vtec? or i can use the car even without activating the vtec. will i end up detonating? need some advice here...

[speedfoos]

Oh jeez. There's the problem right there. TSI fuel controller.

I know hindsight is 20/20 but you should never have put that piece of shit on your car. That's what caused your current problems - detonation caused by that POS. Stop what you're doing, buy an e-manage, a F/IC or a PCS XFC and ditch that TSI controller. Are you running real injectors, or the TSI add-an-injector setup with the stock injectors?

You would be better off keeping your current head and just getting a decent piggyback, some RSX injectors, a head gasket set, and some ARP head studs.

I know it's not what you want to hear, but its the truth.

[civcspool]

yea but i have read some thread that vtec and lx buttom us the perfect combination right? so im planning to use the ex head for a month and buy a emanage after a month. will the ex head work with my current settings and change after a month ?

[speedfoos]

All right. Please do me a favor and post your setup. I know you've got a TSI kit, but I need to some other basic facts about your setup before we can go any further. Let's focus on fixing your current problem so it doesn't happen again and then we'll look at future mods. Here's what I need to know:

1. What is your fuel setup?

2. Have you gotten the vehicle tuned?

3. How many miles since you put the turbo on?

The EX head will work, you just won't have VTEC and it will run like a dog. It will always run on 12 valves since the the VTEC solenoid will never engage to open up the other four until you get a VTEC controller.

You need to fix your setup first though otherwise you're just going to pop another head gasket and probably even worse.

[civcspool]

1. What is your fuel setup?
TSI fuel set up with 2 extra injectors and tsi fuel controller..

2. Have you gotten the vehicle tuned?
yes dyno tuned long time ago...

3. How many miles since you put the turbo on?
around 30,000 now.. not sure

i recently bought rsx type s fuel injectors can i use that with (emanage blue will buy in 2-3 weeks) along with tsi controller ? plus install a ex head ? need some advice

[speedfoos]

Good pickup on the injectors. Once you get the emanage, you'll ditch the TSI controller (and two injectors) completely. The emanage will do everything for you.

So the problem with the coolant is that your headgasket is leaking due to the turbo. That you've made it 30K on the TSI kit is pretty impressive, but its time to get some ARP head studs and a new head gasket and replace it. Then crank the boost down until you get the e-manage and RSX-S injectors installed. E-manage isn't great, but it's better than what you're running currently.

With the EX head, you will still need to run something besides the emanage to control the VTEC engagement. Here are your options to run the mini-me setup:

1. EX ECU + EX wiring harness + EX thermostat housing with EGR valve (If your new head comes with an EX thermostat housing and you want to use it).

Get an EX ECU (about $100) and wiring harness (about $50), plug everything in nice and easy, drive it to the dealership and have them reflash your key to match the ECU so your immobilizer light goes off. This is probably the easiest, but you have to replace the wiring harness (not difficult, but if you're new it can be intimidating). Plus you don't have to mess with tuning (I'll get to this), and you can use the EGR valve on the EX thermostat.

2. EX ECU + LX thermo housing. Not recommended as the ECU will look for the EGR valve and throw a code if it doesn't find it.

3. LX ECU + Apexi VAFC (around $200). Physically install everything and wire in the VAFC to control your VTEC solenoid. You will have to tune the car yourself to engage the VTEC, or find a tuner who will work on the VAFC. You do get some more features with the VAFC that may make this worthwhile, you don't have to swap the ECU and the harness and you can find VAFCs for a reasonable price. Also if you go this route, I know a few folks who have done this and can put you in contact with them to help you with the tuning.

You can pick up a plug and play VAFC harness from Boomslang (www.boomslang.us) for $140 or you can wire it in yourself.

4. K-pro. Most expensive option is using a Hondata Kpro ECU. But all you will have to do is wire the VTEC solenoid wire. Doesn't need EGR valve or VTEC oil pressure sensor wiring. It will run you roughly 1400$. Not a cheap solution but I just thought I'd throw the idea out there.