Rep Power: 0

So I went to the races out here in Vegas last night for my first time...I ran REALLY crappy times by the way. But this morning I had to drive up to Utah and I noticed that my coolant overflow bottle was full and had spewed in the engine compartment. My temp was running a little hot but not too bad, a little over half way up the temp guage when it's usually a little below half way. I ran a 50 shot of nitrous last night and I'm wondering if I screwed something up really bad...a head gasket or something. How can I tell, I know it's a bad sign when the coolant is spewing. My oil is about a half quart low right now, it's a little dark. I run Mobil 1 Synthetic....how can I tell if I screwed something up????

UPDATE: I was just letting my car idle to see if it would spew the coolant again...and I went and looked in the car and my temp guage was pegged all the way up...what did I screw up????

 
Rep Power: 289

leaking coolant? what did you do with nitrous? did you misfire when you sprayed the night before?

 
Rep Power: 0

blew a head gasket... If you sit in the car and watch the temp guage go up, rev the motor up to about 1500 rpm and see if it goes down .... I had the exact same symptoms and when I put on the ported head, I put on a new headgasket and ARP headstuds .... Put the ported head with reground cam back on and went straight back to the spray and it hasn't done it since ... I didn't see any unusual cracks or marks on the gasket, but it stopped doing that so .....

 
Rep Power: 0

I wasn't leaking coolant...it was spewing it out of the overflow....i didn't do anything wrong with the nitrous...i didn't even get close to redline with it....about 6500 rpms max....i just replaced the thermostat because the fans aren't kickin on for me when temp gets up to half ways so I'm hoping and praying that it's just coinsidental that i needed a new thermostat

 
Rep Power: 289

sometimes I overdue it and spray alot at once. Like light after light. After constant use I can smell the coolant also, so I stop spraying. No problems yet, temp is still below middle. resevoir is still below.

 
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^ Headgaskets!

 
Rep Power: 289

so should I watch out if Im spraying and smell the engine heating up?

 
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ya know, i just replaced the thermostat and so far so good, it's sitting there at idle after i just drove it pretty hard to get it hot and it's not heating back up...

anyone ever heard of a thermostat going bad after nitrous use??

 
Rep Power: 413

Gotta be head gasket....

Hope its the thermostat (doubtful but small chance it could be)

 
Rep Power: 0

so like i said, i had a gut feeling it's the head gasket...but i replaced the thermostat....it's not heating up....and my fans are kicking on again when they're supposed to....so now i feel like it's just the thermostat, what's the best way to tell if it is the head gasket???

 
Rep Power: 413

Bunch of ways, white smoke out the tailpipe, milky oil, or even if it overheats and sprays coolant again....

 
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ya know, everything really seems to be fine now....i've taken the car out and driven it to heat it up and then let it sit there at idle with the hood closed....the main problems before i replaced the thermostat were that my car heated up and pegged the temp gauge when at idle, i had spewed coolant everywhere on my trip to Utah, and my fans wouldn't kick in.....now my temp isn't rising...i haven't spewed coolant yet.....and my fans kick in before the temp gauge even gets to half way up....

my dad and i just figured since the fan sensor is in the thermostat housing and the fans weren't kicking on....that the thermostat wasnt opening...causing the coolant to spew out the reservoir and since the coolant wasn't flowing the fan sensor wasn't reading properly...

so hopefully this fixed it...if this doesn't sound right to anyone i'd appreciate any more info you have....thanks for the help so far Havok

 
Rep Power: 314

Thermostats go bad when they feel like it!
Sounds like your overheating was a "normal" not raceing problem.

 
Rep Power: 295

My bet its the thermostat. Especially when you say you just had to replace it. Good luck.

 
Rep Power: 413

What you said makes sense. Always try the easy fixes before starting the big jobs.

Hope it was just that.

 
Rep Power: 328

The best way to know is to do a pressure test.

A blowned head gasket synthoms are as you described:

Noticed that my coolant overflow bottle was full and had spewed in the engine compartment.

Temp was running a little hot but not too bad, a little over half way up the temp guage when it's usually a little below half way.
it's a bad sign when the coolant is spewing.

My oil is about a half quart low right now, it's a little dark. UPDATE: I was just letting my car idle to see if it would spew the coolant again...and I went and looked in the car and my temp guage was pegged all the way up


Deffinately a head gasket.


Just face it
replace the head gasket. $500
get the head resurfaced for warping and valves reset. $150
(ask the machine shop to check every screw hole make sure the threads are in good shape)
get the whole upper motor gasket kit from Honda.$90
get the ARP studs. torque 70 to 72 $100
Don't cut any corners or you'll have to do it all over again.
And don't drive your car any more severe short block damage may occured it it gets too hot even once.
Ask the mechanic to check for warped block.

Best yet get another head and do all the foot work to the machinist before you take your car to the mechanic.

This shis ain't cheep man
You must pay to spray.

Good luck man

 
Rep Power: 0

Dont get me wrong...I'm not disagreeing with you at all...but if I did blow a head gasket...I'm just wondering why I'm not having any problems now....how would changing a thermostat help me get rid of the symptoms of a blown head gasket???

 
Rep Power: 0

well, I just took it out for another test run and hit the "juice" a bit and it spewed coolant again...so it looks to be the head gasket....

so here's the next step of advice i need....

i still have some extended warranty from an aftermarket company....if i dump all my stock i/h/e back into the car...and pull off my VAFCII...and make it look as if I never ran nitrous...is there a way the warranty company can find to deny my claim???

i'm pretty much stuck in small town Utah...i grew up here and know all the mechanics at the shop i always take my car to so i'm sure they'll help me pull it out in anyway they can, i'm not sure if they can do warranty work or not....how does this whole warranty thing work??

 
Rep Power: 0

its the head gasket dude. I'm just suprised you blew it on a 50 shot. what was your bottle pressure and what kit are you running?

 
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yah, i know that now unfortunately....My bottle pressure was at around 850 and I'm running a 50 shot, I can't beleive I blew it either....everyone I asked said I'd be fine....I'm pretty damn upset about the whole situation....

Is the head gasket something I can do myself with a DIY to walk me through it? Any good DIY's out there for it??

Is there anyway I can doop my warranty company into covering this? I already pulled the nitrous kit out and if I have to I'll pull my I/H/E and my VAFC off and put all the stock back on. I grew up with the mechanics here in town and I'm sure they'd help me out.

 
Rep Power: 0

What kit are you running? Is that a wet or dry shot? Until now I've never heard of someone blowing their HG 50 shot, but accidents do happen. Headgasket is gonna be a bit of a pain and pretty much not do-able without a decent set of tools and some info from a helms service manual. (decent name brand like craftsman or better) I paid someone to do mine because the labor cost was so cheap, it was almost a steal plus I dont have all the right tools either so. When you do get the HG replaced, get the nippon leakless gasket along with the arp head bolts over torqued to 60 lbs. That should be a lot better.

 
Rep Power: 0

I was running a NOS Powerfogger Wet kit with a 50 shot. I can't beleive it happened either. Everyone except the two people I REALLY trust when it comes to something like this said I'd be just fine. I'm pretty pissed at myself for being so stupid. I've already pulled the NOS kit out, I'm done with the "juice", it's not worth it to me.

So the labor isn't very expensive to replace a head gasket? I heard someone say doing the HG itself would run $500, then if other stuff, machining etc. would be even more. Does that sound right??

 
Rep Power: 0

Oh, and about this, do you think I'll still need this if I'm not gonna use the nitrous anymore? I doubt they'll have one in town and I've gotta get back to Vegas ASAP for work

 
Rep Power: 413

You can try and claim it on warranty, it really depends on who authorizes the claim and if they care about the aftermarket things (even if you put the stock stuff back on)...

 
Rep Power: 295

I wonder went wrong. How long have u had the kit and everything.

 
Rep Power: 328

The insurance route may be a tough one but if I was you I would tried too.
Start saving your $$$
Do not drive your car any more!

And do not cut any corners
follow the steps I told you before.
I done this to my car at least twice and others many times.
First timers want to save money just to spend more later of end up sellling their car out of frustration.

Good luck

 
Rep Power: 0

I've only had the kit about 2 weeks....

I'm not sure what the hell went wrong....I only made 3 passes at the races the other night, and one of 'em the nitrous didn't work because my throttle wasn't hitting the WOT switch, so I only used the nitrous for 2 runs....

 
Rep Power: 0

so here's what i did this morning, last night when this all happened i called a honda mechanic with a really good reputation in Vegas...what he told me to do is fill the radiator and leave about an inch in the bottom of the overflow bottle so i did this and after driving for a bit the over flow bottle was full and had spewed a bit and now that the car is cool i just went out and looked in the radiator and it's definately low....

so how exactly does a blown head gasket cause this??

i'm sure it's the head gasket, but i don't have any smoke coming from my exhaust, my oil isn't milky at all when i look down into the valve cover where i put the oil in, and i'm not over heating...so i'm just wondering how the head gasket is causing the coolant to go from the radiator into the overflow and spew out...

 
Rep Power: 314

Cooling systems run at about 10 psi, combustion chambers test at 140 to 180 psi (aprox). A small leak will transfer that pressure! ie: up and out

 
Rep Power: 0

how many hours of labor should it take a professional to change a head gasket?? as i've stated, i'm in small town labor and the rates at the shop i'm going to take my car to are only about $65/hr.