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Hi all, hope you can help !

I got back from a long trip and knew I needed a head gasket. Found a mechanic and did every seal, machined heads, water pump, alt belt, coolant and oil change.

Seemed ok for a week after, but mech said my rings might stick a bit and I should add a can of tuneup after I lost some oil. After that it seemed to drink a little more oil. This progressively got worse and then it started to blow white again .....

Coolant: The car now is drinking around 500mL a day, 250 if I just drive 10 mins to work and back.

Sometimes it puffs white very little, stays cool and has no power (torque/rpm) issues

Other times when I start it up it seems like the engine is completely full of coolant. Sometimes to the point where the starter can't crank it over even a hair!

After 3-4 times it seems to have pumped a little out maybe and it cranks enough to actually start up.

If that ever happens, it runs at 5% power for 30s until it burns a good half litre of coolant out the tailpipe

Then it drives normal, but temp rises to mid fairly quick and I need to replace a lot of water. (due to being very low / almost out at that point)

He says my seals have to be good still, which leaves my head? I don't know if I can afford to have it pulled apart again. Not sure what testing I can do to verify the problem. Ordered some Sodium Silicate just in case ... not crazy about having no car after dropping 900 on a (mostly) rebuild

Any thought?

Thx in advance

 
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Forgot to say:

1995 Honda Civic CX

D15B7

Also some testing:

Open Rad doesn't bubble or shoot out water when full. Reservoir was bone dry, but was rad full to neck when I checked

oil down to 3/4" on dipstick again. Slightly grey hue to it. Had tried using some heavier weight oil back when the rings seemed to be the only issue. Its been regularly 'missing' for weeks too, thought perhaps that was the ring issue

 
Rep Power: 314

Clearly an improper seal on the head gasket. Take it back to the mechanic and see what's going on. How many miles on the motor?

 
Rep Power: 0

110k mi

Expected to at least double that after the work put in. Or minimum a year or 2 of good driving

I kinda feel same way TBH. The heads were machined down and I can't see em cracking with no heat stress since all the work done :/

 
Rep Power: 314

You have a severe leak take it back see what the mechanic says but make sure he does not charge you for ANYTHING.

 
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Let it idle today while in store for 5 mins. Came out to stalled car and took about 4 minutes of cranking before it would actually 'catch'

Spoke with mechanic and he doesn't think it has to do with his work .. lol. He's the one that suggested rad/cracked head.

I did notice a bit of black residue in the coolant reservoir and a bit on the rubber tube. Honestly am not 100% sure if that was there prior to the work or not.

I can have him pull it apart again, I think he's scaring me away with talk of head replacement costs lol. How many hours ballpark to get to the stage where one would see the issue? Have a feeling I just need to offer to take it over one evening and get a diggin'

 
Rep Power: 314

If it is an improperly sealed gasket it's the same as a complete HG job to find out... And, sometimes you'll never even know once the head is off if the actual gasket has a leak. The rad won't cause oil in the coolant.

 
Rep Power: 0

Dang, so he may have an out for the warranty regardless?

(and potentially need to buy another part?)

 
Rep Power: 314

He may.. it gets tricky when errors get involved. All I'm going to say is good luck you might have a long ride ahead of you depending on how hard he is willing to fight it out. You have to take it to another mechanic and get it diagnosed, maybe 2 of them. Then take it back to him and show him the diagnoses. (who knows, it might be the rad but you need some proof that it is the HG again before you can say boo to him).

 
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Well he agreed to pull it apart, and only charge labor if its a blown head.

Why a machine shop would re-do a head that is cracked is beyond me .... would they not have some sort of warranty either? He mentioned some **** about $300 for a head machining with all the tests .... I paid $160 for that part of the job. Wouldn't they just x-ray it? I realize a crack could be somewhere other than the surface ..

Kinda flustered and damn tempted to sodium silicate it tomorrow. >.>

 
Rep Power: 518

I think you already know what you will be told, he already told you.


BlueEM2 is right. Egos and profit sometimes won't allow errors to be admitted. Do-overs for free really suck.

"If you have integrity, nothing else matters. If you don't have integrity, nothing else matters."

Do you really need to hear any more of my thoughts on this? Probably not.

They would have to find it cracked first.


Depends.

You forgot profit.
You can't X-ray Aluminum. (In other news.....Machine shops have X-ray machines?)
You can't Magnaflux Aluminum.
A machine shop would vacuum check it and maybe a visual check as basics, but stop there unless someone let them know there is a problem. Even then, they are limited as to what can be found.
Suspected cracks might be confirmed with ink or dye.

No comment.

 
Rep Power: 314

Get a second opinion and deliver it to him. Lots of places will diagnose it for free. Once you have proof that the head gasket has failed again you can go back to him. A redo of a job should never be charged labor.. If it is for sure the head gasket (make sure you prove it first, or related to the job he did) go to your local newspapers and every other media outlet you can find. He will change his mind quickly.

 
Rep Power: 0

Well I think its 100% that the gasket is gone, nothing else could contaminate my nre oil so fast or dump so much water into my combustion chamber

It really boils down to what caused that. A bad head or did the gasket just fail after 1-2 weeks. It certainly ran fine for the first week lol

 
Rep Power: 314

If it is a bad head it's still his fault. He said he got the head checked.. If checked it should last a hell of a lot longer than a week.

 
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Indeed. Although he said "you only paid for a resurfacing etc ... $160.00 It would have been $300 if you wanted pressure test etc"

I quoted CnC lathe prices for making a new head and time etc for a quick x-ray fracture check ... lol. Said if they did the work and sent a cracked head back its both your faults. One for their work and you for installing ><

In the end, I stopped wasting my time with this jerk. Glassed my engine and stopped my gasket issue / fluid contamination.

Followed a many step, half day procedure with flushing etc. Sucks my car won't get worked on again, but it is just a short commuter car that I wanted to get a yer more of life out of. $50 from lab supply company and another $50 on new coolant/oil after.

 
Rep Power: 314

Probably one of the worst things you can do but if you only plan to have it for another year why not