Rep Power: 0

I have a 1996 Civic 1.6 Vtec, I have gone berserk in trying to find out what is the root cause of having to top up a glass of water weekly into the reservoir. Each time I do a top up, I noticed that there is some brown residues at the side of the reservior cap. Apart from this, there is no other sign of leak and the rediator cap has just been changed as well. Appreciate if anyone can offer any help. Thanks.

 
Rep Power: 811

most likely head gasket leak is burning coolant in the engine. make sure you dont see white spots on anything in the engine bay, which would indicate coolant spilling out the overflow tank. if not, more than likely its being burned. you can check the plugs to see if they have white deposits on em.

 
Rep Power: 214

That is definitely the head gasket.

 
Rep Power: 208

Not neccissarily.

Check your oil for discoloration. If it has a kind white or toothpaste type of residue, then it's a head gasket.

Check your exaust when it is warmed up on a warm day. If it has steam coming out of the tailpipe at high or low RPM's, then it's your head gasket.

Take the radiator cap off and run the engine if air comes up then it is a bad head gasket.

If any of these things are not present, it may still be the gasket.

Check the compression in your cylinders. If one or more is bad it could be your head gasket.

And if you have to move your transmission in order to take a bath you could be a redneck.

 
Rep Power: 0

My radiator still drink about 250 mills a week and have given up trying to find the root cause. All the advices given don't seem to help, so I am living with it until it gets worse.

 
Rep Power: 234

Well, they tried to tell ya. Don't come cryin here when your engine blows. Fool.

 
Rep Power: 0

fail, dont live with that itll get worse fix it while you can

 
Rep Power: 208

Preventative maintenance will save you money and won't leave you stranded on the side of the road. My advice is don't give up till it runs perfectly. Just my .02

 
Rep Power: 0

ok so you think you are not showing signs of a head gasket leak? its very simple. this will be your first and last step...go to autozone and get a cooling system pressure tester(about 25 bucks but they may let you borrow one) it connects to where your radiator cap goes and you pump that thing full of air and just listen..any hissing sounds or coolant that you can see is your leak. also a uv die will work to find your leak if the first and easier way doesnt work. hope this helps.

 
Rep Power: 204

^^ yeah that is the answer.

I had 2 old old civics where is heat gasket only failed on the cooling side. So no milkshake oil. They would drive completely fine until you turned off the engine. Then the extra pressure in the cooling system would push out through the coolant overflow. It eventually would push out about 1/2l to 1l of coolant when I turned it off.

My truck had that exact same problem a month ago. It has a crack in the block that will push out coolant only when the engine is fully warmed up and it leaks so slowly by the time you turn the engine off pop the hood and look around there's no visible sign of a leak. I could smell it for months now and it drove me crazy. When I finally found it I was pouring about 1 glass of water every 800km.

Don't forget about your heater core either when your doing the leak down test.

 
Rep Power: 313

Hmm, another way to check for a head gasket leak is to check for exhaust gases in the coolant system. I don't understand how the advice here hasn't helped you... have you checked to see if your head gasket has failed? Can't help someone who won't listen to advice given. Just because you don't want to hear it doesn't mean it's not true.

 
Rep Power: 0

agian a cooling system pressure tester would have most likely found the leak. if not, good ole uv die would have showed his face. i get lots of diy people in my shop who have looked everywhere for the first clue of a leak. i would say 8/10 i find with the pressure test and i've only ever had one in my life that i couldn't find with uv die.