Bbeja

Good afternoon,

I'm in need of some help. I have a 1995 Civic 1.5L. Here's the run down.

I just had the head gasket, all belts, water pump, spark plugs, spark plugs wires, distributor cap, distributor rotor, motor mounts, valve cover gasket, exhaust manifold gasket, intake manifold gasket, O2 sensor replaced. Flushed and bled the coolant.

As I drive now, the temp gauge fluctuates when I drive and stop in traffic (goes up a little past half way, and comes down when I drive or after some time). I am also noticing coolant "boiling" in the reservoir and a loss of coolant. I do not have any oil leak, no white cloud out of the exhaust, no milky residue on oil cap. It's pretty much every time I drive that it does this.

Any insights from anyone or suggestions? I'm also going through fuel like crazy(which I don't think I should) so I am replacing the fuel filter as well.

Any help is appreciated. Sorry if this was posted already I'm just going crazy over here!

Wankenstein

Why was the head gasket replaced?
Who did the headgasket repair?
Was the cylinder head brought to a machine shop to be inspected/milled flat?

Air the coolant? Describe the bleeding procedure used please.

ezone

....

Bbeja

Everything besides the head gasket was done at a shop.

The head gasket was replaced because I was getting oil into my coolant reservoir, and I also had a lot of oil on the spark plugs when I went to change them out.

The head was not machined, I cleaned it up as best as I could and it was pretty clean.

The coolant was bled at the bleeder valve along the coolant hose. I bled it after starting it and I got all the air out of the line. After, I noticed the gauge fluctuating so I checked it again and opened the bleeder and no air bubbles were escaping which led me to believe there wasn't air in the line.

mcnoople

What did you use to clean it? Did you check for flatness? What torque spec did you use for the head bolts? New bolts or old head bolts?

Bbeja

The motor wasn't checked for flatness. I cleaned it with gasket remover (advanced Auto parts) and it was a plastic scraper so I wouldn't cut into the soft metals.

The torque specs I used we're of that in the Honda Civic guidebook that I bought from the store. I used the correct pattern and sequencing and correct torques for each bolt. I used the old bolts after cleaning them thoroughly with brakes clean and wire brush. They looked new. Nothing cracked or was overtightened in the slightest bit.

Wankenstein

Thank you for your honesty as some people wouldn't admit to this or just not follow up on posting any further. Unfortunetly, not checking the block and more importantly the cylinder head for flatness was a mistake. Not bringing the head to a machine shop so the machinist can check for flatness, cracks, leaking valves and seals, valve springs was also a mistake or error in judgement. Putting a warped head on a flat block or vice versa is not a repair..it just leads to repeating it to do it the right way. The head and block should be check with a precision level and feeler gauges. Any area on the head's mating surface (to block) over .004 inches is out of spec and considered warped.

Ideally (when milled) the head should be .002" or less. The block is much less likely to warp due to it's thickness, size and ability to absorb and disperse heat but never-the-less should be checked for flatness as well druring a head gasket replacement that involves overheating.

Bbeja

So what your saying is that I'm pretty much SOL.... The car boils over sometimes. The last two days it didn't do it once. Today, it did it. Could it be air in the line still or that's out of the picture. Other than this problem it runs great. Just debating if I want to put money into it again after spending 800 initially.

Wankenstein

I can't say that 100% until you do do a few test:

1) Monitor both radiator and reservoir coolant levels daily for a week when engine is cold (sitting overnight). If you notice loos of coolant in the radiator with gain of coolant in reservoir then equals strong sign of head gasket breech.

2) Do a Block Test on it.. Youtube it. Free rental tool at O'reilly's, autozone. Test fluid is $10

3) Do a leakdown test on. Youtube it.

With auto repair we've all made mistakes and then end up having to correct them.

ezone

https://www.civicforums.com/forums/3...reference.html

Bbeja

Thank you very much, I will definitely try these tests. I also see it can possibly be my radiator cap, and thermostat. I will be changing those soon. Like I said, it doesn't boil over all the time and I haven't had any oil in my coolant reservoir tank since I changed it out

Wankenstein

Before you replaced the headgasket was there overheating involved and if so what caused the overheating?

Bbeja

The car never overheated. The temperature gauge would always fluctuate. If your driving the car, the temperature gauge would stay in the normal range. When you would come to a stop, the needle would slowly make it's way a little past half way, and slowly back down again to normal range.

Bbeja

Hey guys, here's a little update for those that were helping me with my issues. I appreciate all the help.

I ordered a new fuel filter and a new thermostat and gasket. I installed both within an hour while taking my time and noticed that the fuel filter was completely black, hence the poor running of the motor. When replacing the thermostat, the gasket was completely shot as well and replaced. Car was running phenomenally well and my mpg was awesome. I noticed power back immediately after replacing it all.

The next week, car overheated rapidly out of no where, and I was forced to pull over on the side of the road and get towed 50 miles home. Luckily, a friend had AAA or it would have been a $400 tow.

After bringing it to a mechanic, the only thing they found was a tiny hole in the coolant hose that leads up to the thermostat housing. They cut it back an inch and reattached as there was extra hose to be played with.

Since replacing the parts and getting the car back, car runs well like it did and I have not lost any coolant from the reservoir tank, and it has not boiled over. Could have been the thermostat, could have been a tiny leak which eventually ruptured but I thought I'd at least share the update with you guys in case you get a question on this again.