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I have a 2004 Honda Civic with 75k miles, I did the timing belt at 68k. When I did the timing belt I didn't line up the timing marks correctly and the crank was about 20deg advanced with the cams. Well the head gasket eventually blew at all 4 cylinders. My symptoms were losing coolant and when I tried to burp the cooling system the bubbles wouldn't stop. I caught the problem before all the coolant was displaced and the engine completely overheated. I took off the heads and sent them off to be redecked and a valve job. The head deck came out to be a few thousandths off, I'm guessing from a hotspot in the head where exhaust gases was displacing the coolant. I'm picking up the heads today and I was looking at the cylinder walls and realized that the top of the cylinder walls were well burnt. The burn marks go down about 1/24th of an inch from the top, I'm guessing from the carbon buildup was from the timing being off and the spark plug igniting the fuel mixture when the pistons weren't at TDC. Is this block resuable as it is? If I place my heads on this is this engine going to be a habitual oil burner? Since the cross hatching is gone from the top would this even make good compression?
Thank you all for your time to read my post and I hope y'all has a good day.
I was gonna say, looks like the bottom of the stained area lines up with the top of the pistons. You had nothing done to the block, right? I'm surprised the cylinder honing marks are still there. Impressed, actually.
definitely clean the tops of your pistons before you reassemble. I've had good luck using Marvel's Mystery Oil to get rid of carbon deposits. Brake cleaner, too. ****, a combo of both if you're feeling frisky. Scrub with a nylon brush, wipe down, brake cleaner for good measure.
If you are burning that much oil and you can afford more downtime, replacing the rings might not be a bad idea, if you're so inclined.
The rings dont get up there, you should be fine. However it looks like you're burning oil pretty good
I burn about 0.25qt. every 5000 miles. Not sure where all this carbon build up came from. I bought the car with 65k miles on the clock and since then I’ve been putting 2fl oz. of mmo every tank, I was a bit disappointed with seeing the dirty crowns.
Originally Posted by xRiCeBoYx
I was gonna say, looks like the bottom of the stained area lines up with the top of the pistons. You had nothing done to the block, right? I'm surprised the cylinder honing marks are still there. Impressed, actually.
definitely clean the tops of your pistons before you reassemble. I've had good luck using Marvel's Mystery Oil to get rid of carbon deposits. Brake cleaner, too. ****, a combo of both if you're feeling frisky. Scrub with a nylon brush, wipe down, brake cleaner for good measure.
If you are burning that much oil and you can afford more downtime, replacing the rings might not be a bad idea, if you're so inclined.
Correct, nothings been done to the block. I’m able to turn the crank to the top of the cylinder walls where it’s just about flush with the deck. Im presuming that’s when ignition happens. Cleaning the piston top and block deck is definitely on the to do list, thanks for the advice of what solvents to use. I have some mmo that I’ll let soak on the crown overnight. Unfortunately I can’t afford that much more downtime, I’m moving to my college dorm in mid August and a ring job would put me pretty close to my move in date.
My local machine shop promised me that my heads would’ve been today but he was blowing smoke up my butt. Oh well gives me time to clean up the block and pistons. While I was down there I changed out the rear motor mount and the high/low power steering lines.
Thanks for the help guys! I’ll keep y’all updated on my progress.
