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05 civic lx 201,000 miles
What i feared the most, The engine had been consuming oil from the last oil change of 5,000miles or so which never happened before and for a few days, it's been shaking randomly when i first start the engine but then all continue normally stable. Today started heating up and both fans in the front were working fine and the temperature will go to normal while moving at 30mph or so.

Now i check the radiator coolant and it was missing some of it, i put new coolant and it starts to bubble up constantly which seems to be consuming the coolant into the engine block. Dang, this car engine still sounds so good and smooth except for the little symptoms recently and i just ordered past week a new set of cv joint axles shafts and an oem low mileage Rack and Pinion. I had lived with this car since 0 miles for 16years, dang. It's my everything car and for delivery

 
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check coolant reservoir. common issue

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

 
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[QUOTE=sdaidoji;4789657]check coolant reservoir. common issue

https://www.civicforums.com/forums/3...reference.html[/
In the morning will start with all those steps.
When i checked the reservoir appeared to be dry but anyway i couldn't see if there was any coolant just after i slowly opened the radiator cap a lot of pressure coolant went into the reservoir. Then i started adding new coolant inside the radiator and then turned the engine on and the bubbles started flowing up. I must be crazy but i like this Piece of junk car, i enjoy driving it all days, and runs smooth and the engine feels powerful and quiet without having to accelerate hard and economical.

This is killing me now having to look for a newer car which makes no sense to me, might end up in a dealership being push by my father to dump the car. I want something simple and reliable and not too much attention seeking. All those newer cars models are so complex ugly looking

 
Rep Power: 366

if it is headgasket, it is fixable.
I have other cars, so took my time to do, but can be done in 2 days first time, people used to it do in a day or less.
700 bucks in a shop?

 
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Very happy to know this, hope is fixable. Something uncommon i noticed the last couple of days was a vibration or shake when i turned the engine on after a while and it did it today when i was idle for a while and then noticed the temp gauge up at max. It, not the first time that happened though, 2 years ago the radiator blew up on the right side near the cap and yes i had added a non-OEM cap that time and i was traveling into another state. slept in the car that night and walking to an Autozone and bought a new radiator. Noticed that the passenger side fan was not functioning which might have caused the radiator to blow up together having a non-OEM cap in it. Well, times later i replaced that fan with a new one from auto parts. The newer passenger fan merely lasted 2 years as i replaced it again a little few months ago with a new fan motor, the most expensive one I could find at rockauto.com. Well, and i also replaced the radiator cap with an OEM one long ago too when i knew about it.
I have done a lot to this car, it even has a jap auto transmission since the original one stopped functioning after getting water flood into the car cabin while delivering food. and i did the timming belt myself back then around 120k and all replaced with top quality brand from japan

 
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Please and also, what could have been the cause of the car consuming engine oil this time? Yesterday i look at the emblems of the oil bottle and noticed how most newer oils say DEXOS on the bottle and so i proceed to purchase one without that logo in it but i still haven't change the oil.

 
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there are two tests in the first test.
DO THE TESTS BEFORE deciding it is the cause.

 
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clean and inspect the engine.
I can't see your car through my computer monitor.
internet forums are as good as the guy that have the car is willing to test himself.
Don't guess, test, check yourself
we can give pointers

 
Rep Power: 221

Probably the oil rings are gunked up causing you to burn oil. You'll know when you take the head off. Do the tests first to see if you have a blown head gasket

 
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3rd photo down, the fan motor which I replaced 2 months or so ago, is all corroded. Must be the coolant leak or just water from rain?
That brownish wasn't there and I could be wrong but smell like coolant.

 
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https://youtu.be/ZJmK8efHjZoJust uploaded this short video into YouTube, this is after the car warmed up. Before it wasn't doing the bubbles like that.

My others concern is finding a place where I can do mechanic, is not allowed here in this apartment complex which is killing me because I can't concentrate. I might have to wait until Saturday to see if I can take it to a cousin home and find a spot to work on it on the yard. The rest is if I'm just will be wasting the money on something that is beyond repair like having the head warped or else. I just really wish to repair it and install the CV joints shafts axle and the rack and pinion and treat it well for the next 50k or 100k miles to be able to save some money and then buy something else.

I installed a aftermarket thermostat last year, one that specifies it would stay open if it went bad. Dang, another mistake probably

 
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I contacted local honda dealer parts for the head gasket pricing and also local machine shops, all by email and awaiting response tomorrow. I cant afford to buy another car at the moment and i will do anything to fix this completely. If is still running it must be fixable as stated in your guides. My only concern is finding a spot to work on it, if not i might as well do it on the side of the street outside.

 
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Gasket looks to be a bad shape
Having a hard time with the last bolt under the head the middle intake. Need to buy a flexible 12mm wrench 🔧 tomorrow.

How do you people see those pistons ? Looks dirty, what what other suggestions besides getting the head milled?

Also I will be replacing the whole rack and pinion which I have already and looks so good shape to be used and came with all the pressure hoses all excellent. I am now ordering a steering pump too. Last I will do the drive axles.

 
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P Please are you guys around

 
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You realize we all have day jobs right?

Looks like it's burning oil, what do the valves look like?
Probably need to change the rings as I stated earlier

 
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Thank you for this, I understand.
I couldn't get the head completely off yet, waiting tomorrow to go buy a wrench. I have my car outside on the street where It's not allowed to park. Trying to get in it done before any cop comes around putting tickets. Already got 2 in the past and can't afford at this time.

I am searching trying to figure out what are the rings, does it go around the piston or is elsewhere. I can't imagine if I have to take the whole time belt off again

 
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It's in the name piston ring.

 
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The entire head is going to come off to replace piston rings. You may be able to access it from under the block (and just gutting from under), but I doubt you could do that feasibly on the side of a road.

 
Rep Power: 366

the clean and inspect meant to clean and then run the car to see where oil might be seeping out... with the head out, that step is not possible...
for now, your option is to replace the head gasket - it seen to have been breached in several places.
head milling only needed if it is warped, so you need to send the head into a machine shop to check.

the oil loss can be later. Possibly (mind you, possibly) it's the oil rings in the piston. These are harder even to change than gasket. Easy way to know if burning oil is if it have white smoke coming out of exhaust even if engine hot and ambient temp hot ignore if engine is cold

 
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Blue smoke for oil, white for coolant, black for fuel.
The cat will eat most of the smoke if it's working properly. Might be able to see a sooty residue on the bumper above the tail pipe

 
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Awesome. No, it never had white smoke coming out the exhaust. Exhaust looks always still very clean.

So I will proceed with the gasket and possibly try to milled the head myself following some YouTube video I hope, also what happens the other part? Does the top head only gets warped and not the bottom?

If a machine shop is too expensive I might end up doing it myself and while here I already started pulling out the rack and pinion and steering pump. Then after both drive axles.

 
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Check evenness before you try to mill the head!!!! If it did not overheat, most of the time it is OK!!!!
thanks for the correction, Colin!

 
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Do not attempt to mill the head flat yourself. That will not end well. These cars have an extremely small tolerance for the head surface. Take the head to the machine shop. It won't be that expensive.

 
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Got it 👍. Thanks so much for this people.
I called several machine shops and got one for tomorrow $90, some other wanted $150.
All much better now, you were right and less hassle risking doing it myself👍👍

​​​​​​💥💥💥💥

 
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Out of the machine shop, they did the valves but I didn't trust it much and readjusted myself more precisely. Everything going good. Doing the drive axles and rack and pinion and steering pump replacements. Ordered the ngk laser iridium spark plugs. I may need the coils since they are over 200,000 miles.

 
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Looking good!

 
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At 200,000 miles, how likely are the valves seals to go bad? The machine shop told me they were going to replace it for extra $20 but they didn't. They told me they were still good but not sure if that's credible?

I'm still waiting for parts to deliver to mount the head and everything should be ready. This has taken longer than I thought but too many other problems.

The valves seals part is still killing me thinking if they are good or how long they normally will last

 
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I just had my cylinder head checked at a machine shop about two months ago. They did not replace the valve seals as they found no problems during testing. I haven't noticed any problems with oil burning.

However, my engine only had 154K miles at the time

 
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awesome, good to know. The intake manifold to the head connection, the inside channels were completely dirty muddy all stuck in it. EGR gets a little dirty too and the intake.

 
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Ive gotta ask how long was it at the machine shop for? Just curious for if I ever have a head gasket... Heard people say it takes 2 weeks minimum... Scared me a little... lol