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Hi,

’97 LX AT 218K miles. Coolant overflow reservoir gets bone dry aftter about 1-1.5K miles. Oil - add about quart at the same intervals (closer to 2K).
The inner walls of the coolant overflow reservoir are sticky with what I presume is a film of oil.

Car does not overheat, oil cap looks normal ( does not look like it is covered in mayo). I do not see any bubbling when running
w/ radiator cap open.

Engine overheated about 2.5 years ago due to that hose that goes under dizzy busted. It was noticed promptly and it had not been not driven until all “main” hoses had been replaced (the hose that goes to heater core remains original). It has new radiator. No drips overnight under the car. It does leak some oil but not significant, does not even leave spots on the pavement. More like oil pan is just covered with oil. There are some seeps from valve cover gasket. Not significant.

Exhaust looks normal. Not black/blue, more whitish, but not like it is billowing white. Looks normal. Exhaust does not smell of coolant. Generally no smell of coolant under the hood as well.

When my wife had the car at Meineke to replace rotted muffler they wanted to “fix leaking water pump”. I thought they were just fishing and refused the service. Did not even ask why they think it was leaking.

Car drives perfectly fine. No codes. Compression is normal and uniform (within 10%) across all 4 cylinders :

cyl dry wet
#1 160 185
#2 160 185
#3 170 175
#4 175 190

(measured not longer after overheating incident)

So.... would these symptoms be consistent with “leaking water pump” or I have blown head gasket? Probably have to have it block tested.

I guess my question is - would it be possible for coolant to mix with oil if water pump is leaking. And it is more like there is oil in the coolant rather than
coolant in the oil. Else I would have seen milkshake on the oil cap, no?

Thank you very much!

 
Rep Power: 366

test

https://www.civicforums.com/forums/1...reference.html

 
Rep Power: 0

[img alt="Block test rsults

"]https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.civicforums.com-vbulletin/2000x1504/20251102_160837_58d1838029727c4a8fd8ca000b043cb78d c88824.jpg[/img]

I conducted the block test and I don’t know what to make of it - a little leak or the test is not done correctly.
Left glass - liquid out of the bottle, center - after radiator test, right - control, by bubbling exhaust through the liquid straight from the tail pipe.

The attachement rubber plug does not really fit the radiator opening. I pressed with one hand real hard to create a seal and have been pumping that thing for may be 10 minutes straight.

While at it, I made sure to pay attention to bubbles coming up the radiator opening - did not see any. I was revving the car, engine was at opetating temperature.

I must say that years ago, when I had a Subaru and when it finally had HG blown (Subaru trademark), the color of the test liquid was rather similar, but in case of Subaru I had all other classic symptoms - oveflow resevoir overflowing, “boiling” and engine overheating when it has pushed all the fluid out of it.

 
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I conducted the block test and I don’t know what to make of it - a little leak or the test is not done correctly.
Left glass - liquid out of the bottle, center - after radiator test, right - control, by bubbling exhaust through the liquid straight from the tail pipe.

The attachement rubber plug does not really fit the radiator opening. I pressed with one hand real hard to create a seal and have been pumping that thing for may be 10 minutes straight.

While at it, I made sure to pay attention to bubbles coming up the radiator opening - did not see any. I was revving the car, engine was at opetating temperature.

I must say that years ago, when I had a Subaru and when it finally had HG blown (Subaru trademark), the color of the test liquid was rather similar, but in case of Subaru I had all other classic symptoms - oveflow resevoir overflowing, “boiling” and engine overheating when it has pushed all the fluid out of it.

P.S.: If I go for HG replacement, I need the MLS gasket, right? Should I stick with Honda one, e.g.
https://www.hondaautomotiveparts.com...bC1sNC1nYXM%3D

Also I guess I need to replace valve stem seals. Also Honda?

Another question - I scanned service manual, It does not look like the head bolts are TTY and it does not state they need ot be replaced. Is this correct?

 
Rep Power: 366

overflowing coolant reservoir is all the clue you need. Headgasket. All written in the link in my post. Also, have a fail-proof test video in the first post...
chemical tests does snot work on this engine for the gasket.
some say aftermarket worked for them, some reported failures.
no need replace studs, they do not stretch

 
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In my case it is not overflowing, it is empty after about 1-1.5K miles. I keep adding coolant (and oil). TBH, that’s the only “inconvenience” - I have to be mindful of coolant level. But yeah, folks say if tets liquid became greenish - there are exhaust gasses.

 
Rep Power: 366

so, looks like yours is pushing a lot of exhaust gases. The gaskets in these cars start pushing the gases very little at first, then worsens over time (early cases there is not enough to react and change color). But enough to push the coolant over the overflow.
When car cools down, coolant goes back to engine. Just go to the link and do the tests linked there.
But my cents are that you have a gasket job in your future.