pizzapizza

i took my car into get a troublesome coolant leak checked out. my mechanic has already replaced the thermostat and from all the things i saw and search here on the forums, i'm 99% sure it's a head gasket problem. there's always a 1% chance it a cracked engine block, but i really hop it's not.

the car is at 145k km and i have to figure out whether it's worth it to fix the head gasket or trade in the car for a '06 lx. the car's front struts are bad, the front brakes need replacement, the timing belt needs changing (at 160k km, but i'll do it now if i get the HG replaced), and the master power window switch needs to be replaced.

i pretty much know how much it will cost me for the windows and brakes, but no idea for the head gasket. the mech said to do a proper job they would need to pressure test the head offsite (and machine it after that if it passes) if the head is cracked then it would cost about $1500 for a new replacement head. (i would also get the belt replaced at this time since the top of engine would be pretty much taken apart). the weird part is, i thought honda uses metal gaskets and gasket leaks are rare, but from all i read here, they are not as rare as i would think.

and as a last thing, has anyone ever cracked either the engine block or the head on a 7th gen? i've search and really haven't seen anything about this.

thanks

gearbox

iTrader: (95)

around $500 at the dealer with me bringing EVERY part (gaskets, new head and resurfaced, fluids, etc). I found the head on here for $180 and had it fully cleaned and tested at the carquest machine shop here for $75.

threeupclothing

You know what, this might some too simple but this is what I did before. I also had a leak, or atleast the coolant kept running out. The last place I thought it would be was my radiator cap and that was it. My car had about 120000 when this happened. It did not look like it was leaking out of the radiator cap, but when I got a new one, it was fixed. I just got a regular one from Autozone. Try this and see if it works.

gearbox

iTrader: (95)

yea you better be sure its the head before you do anything. there are a ton of other things it could be. have you even done a compresion check or cooling system test?

pizzapizza

my mechanic is pretty good. i saw him doing the actual compression leak test. it was steady for over 20 min, no drop in pressure. there's no sign that it's the rad cap. it appears that the coolant is coming from the overflow reservoir. it appears that when the coolant get too hot or gases are being passed back though, it's precolating the coolant, resulting in the leak. it's hard to prove since i only really see the leak when the car has been driven around. there appears to be no leak when the car just idle stationary.

once the thermostat was replaced, my engine overheating disappeared, so that i'm pretty sure was one problem, the leak is still the major problem. from all i read on the head gasket search, all the symptoms look the same.

gearbox

iTrader: (95)

did he do a cylinder compression check? it sounds like you have alot more to do before concluding the head is leaking.which if it was that bad, the car would be out of commission by now. did you try a new cap? maybe there's a ding in the radiator, maybe the return line is kinked. doesnt sound like your mechanic is all that good to me.

threeupclothing

the same happened to me. I thought it was coolant was coming out of reservoir but it was actually coming out of the cap. Mine had the ove heating problems too, and now it has disappeared. Of course now my tranny is dead and I am now selling the car as is.

pizzapizza

i'm going to check this out soon and will let you guys know.

pizzapizza

i replaced the rad cap a few days ago and had to wash out the engine compartment well to get rid of the old coolant smell. i have driven the car at highway speed on the open highway and it seems to have disappated for the most part, and i can't see any more signs of coolant leak. so far it looks like i may have had a bad rad cap after all.

i think what probably happened was my thermostat failed and the engine started to overheat, increasing the prssure to the point where the rad cap started leaking. replacing the thermostat fixed my over heating issue, but the rad cap was bad and probably passing gas throught the reservoir, bubbling out coolant throuth the reservoir cap. i haven't driven the car under heavy traffic conditions lately, but i shall in the next day or two to see whether the problem has truly gone away.

gearbox

iTrader: (95)

cool.

pizzapizza

well, it appears my problem has returned. it's not as bad as before, but it is still there.

i only ever see coolant leak after i take the car on the road with lots of stop and go traffic. on a clear night and open stretch of highway, i can drive for 100 km (60 miles) and not even get a wiff of coolant.

my final test was the past few days when i drove it on the city streets duing rush hour. the temperature was normal and stayed below the half mark. after i got home i checked under the hood and noticed the unmistakable smell of coolant which was not there the previous days.

i also notice a very small amount of coolant on the bottom part of the car just underneath the coolant reservoir. there was no sign of coolant splatter on the battery which woul have indicated the coolant was leaking from the reservoir cap. there was no coolant on the rad cap as well.

they did a coolant pressure test, not a cylinder compression test. the coolant pressure test showed no drop in pressure at all after 20 minutes. the rubber coolant lines looks fine and there are no signs of coolant anywhere around the engine. the only spots wehere i can see coolant is on the frame just underneath the reservoir cap. the rad looks clean and there is no sign of damage.

i'm at a loss to figure this one out. my worse guestimate is still a head gasket or a cracked head/block. it is really strange that i only notice the leak when the car is driven in high traffic/load. when its on the open road, there is no leak. any more suggestion?

gearbox

iTrader: (95)

hmm have them do (or diy) a cylinder compression check. see if the values are all similar at each cylinder. average should be around 135psi. the tester is $40 at the store and pretty easy to do. just warm up car, stop, take off airbox, unplug injectors, take out plugs, go floor the gas and crank the motor around 5 times. go read the psi and repeat for all cylinders.

pon55

iTrader: (19)

Do a coolant pressure test warm, or hot! It is not uncommon for a radiator to "seep" fluid after overheating problems.
I really don't think its a headgasket problem cause they usually leak pressure much worse than you describe.
(did you check overflow tank for leaks,and around replaced thermostat?)

gearbox

iTrader: (95)

i had a small gasket leak, not enough to show with a compression test or a coolant pressure check! so you never know. it became obvious once i was finding burnt coolant in the exhaust pipe and the car would misfire on a cold start (after coolant slowly filled in the cylinder). so there are ways of checking everything. just takes time.

pizzapizza

here's the latest update. aftr a few weeks of watching the temp gauge like a hawk, the car started overheating big time last saturday. so much so i didn't wanted to chance it and drive it around. on the monday, after suspecting it was the head gasket i tried to purge the air out of the cooling system. it just wouldn't purge after 30 minutes. coolant was percolating out as well as what smelled like combustion gas and i pretty much knew i had to take it in.

i dropped it off to battle endless on tuesday. terry is a great guy and working on the engine. definitely a headgasket problem. after he took the head off, i saw cylinders 1 and 4 had clear signs of coolant leak. as much as i wanted it not to be a headgasket, it was a headgasket.

terry at BE are doing a great job. hats off.

larynx

How much longer could you drive the car after this fix? I have an 01 Civic with a similar problem. Also the smoke from the exhaust looks like white fog.

sdaidoji

iTrader: (1)

this thread was in 2006...
17 years ago

Colin42

​​​​​​​until the engine blows. Could be 5 mins, could be 5 months.

t.kenny

Had a similar problem on an 05 civic with 289,000 Km. Changed rad cap. Changed thermostat. Tested the cooling system for exhaust leaks. Detected a lot of exhaust fumes in antifreeze. Almost certain I had a blown head gasket. Sent it to the local shop for removing head and replacing head gasket. The shop removed the head but found no indication of gasket leak. That was also my observation. Gasket look in perfect condition. Also no indication of antifreeze burning in the cylinders. Decided to run the head out to a machine shop for machining but after checking the head with a straight-edge, the tech found it to be well within the accepted tolerance. Head was about as good as new. I suggested the possibility of a crack in the head but the tech at the machine shop said he'd never seen one in these heads. The shop put the engine head back on with a premium gasket and the problem seems to be solved.
I have a theory, maybe a bit far out, but it might explain why the gasket did leak and yet no indication of antifreeze in the exhaust or in the cylinders. Just wondering if my idea is possible or if anyone has experienced something similar. Here is what I think was happening. Under the extreme pressure of the exploding gases in the firing cycle the head acts like a one-way valve raising ever so slightly from the extreme pressure of the explosion, allowing some of the compressed gases to escape into the water passages. As the pressure decreases and the cylinder moves down, the head settle back down, not allowing the antifreeze to enter the cylinder head. Like I said, a bit far out.

sdaidoji

iTrader: (1)

it's well known.
https://www.civicforums.com/forums/3...t-leakage.html
https://www.civicforums.com/forums/3...reference.html