Accordin2me

An intrepid? REALLY? Lol I cant even change the oil on those without printing a $1500-$2000 estimate. God forbid they need an inspection sticker.

oldbrownhonda

Hi all, I'm a new member to this site. I have a 99 2.3L F23 motor. 114,000miles with the same oil in radiator problem. I changed head gasket and had head checked; it was fine. Same problem after head gasket replacement too. I did leak down test and all cylinders were less than 20% loss so they're ok at TDC which leads me to believe the crack is somewhere at the bottom of a cylinder. Has anyone actually found or seen an internal crack in one of these blocks? If so, where was it exactly?

eaglepilot6

Same story here. '99 Accord LX 4 cylinder, 165,000 miles. Noticed I had oil in the coolant reservoir and the oil levels kept dropping. I took it to a shop and where he thought it could be the HG but after research found out the Honda block problems.

Would a flush of the system and some Bar's leak seal be enough for a temporary fix? Or am I going to need to shell out $2-3k for a used engine?

oldbrownhonda

Nope, the BARS leak wont work because the oil is pushing into the water jacket. Oil pressure is higher than water pressure. If you had water in the oil, the flow would be reversed and maybe the BARS would fix it since the BARS would flow into the leak. It wont flow into the leak that we have because outflowing oil pressure is keeping the BARS from entering the crack.

Do you get bubbles in your rad while running engine? If so, pull one spark plug wire and turn on engine and see if bubbles stop. Do this for each cylinder. When the bubbles stop, you'll know which cylinder has the crack. Mine is #4. The ignition of the fuel is causing some gases and oil out a small crack somewhere in the cylinder below top dead center. By the way, car will run like crap while your doing this and you're going to activate the check engine light on your dashboard but it will clear after 5 or 6 starts after you put all the plugs wires back on.
If you havent already; it's worth doing a leak down test before you buy an engine. I've found used engines in the $750-$1000 range if you're a do it your self-er.

eaglepilot6

Thanks, I'll try that to figure out which cylinder is suspect.

I can do some DIY maintenance but its pretty much limited to fluid, filter, and plug changes, not the whole engine.

oldbrownhonda

If you have a compressor you can perform the leak down test. The test kits are avail at harbor freight tools if you have one in your area. Plenty of instructional vids on you-tube to guide you thru it. A successful leak down test will rule out bad headgaskets among other things but will unfortunately point to a crack in the block if there are no other sources of pressure loss. So in a way, pray that the leak down test finds a bad headgasket rather than a cracked engine.

oldbrownhonda

An update on mine for all you other 6th gen's out there having the same problem. I found a used motor and installed it. It's good so far. I'll be tearing down the old block to find exact location of internal crack. I'll post a pic of what I find. Of all the sites I've researched on this issue, nobody has shown an exact location/pic of these mysterious internal cracks.

Jmb106jr

Check this thread out https://honda-tech.com/forums/honda-accord-1990-2002-2/1998-honda-accord-overheating-2849621/ might give some insight.

davidjrtx

I have a 2002 Honda Accord SE with 134,000 miles on it getting oil in the radiator, runs fine but oil keeps getting in the radiator. I flushed it added new coolant a couple months ago, raised the hood today the hoses look like there sweating but its oil sweat...

ponchojuan

Well, after two heads, about 80 hours of work, I've unfortunately come to the same conclusion. A structural casting problem in the block on a 1999 F23A1 engine.

I don't expect warranty consideration on an engine with 150K on it, but if Honda was a little more open about this issue, I could have saved a bunch of money and just installed a complete used engine.

The effect on Honda is lost sales. We were going to get my wife a new CRV, but bought a VW Tiguan instead.

If you have a 1999-2000 accord with high mileage, runs well, but has oil in the radiator, this is likely your problem.

Other than this (and grounding on the rear speakers) this has been a very good car. Most car manufacturers, Honda for sure, don't seem to give a crap about consumer loyalty any more.

Nicefeet

Granted it sucks that the motor failed, but if you think Honda service and reliability is subpar you just bought the wrong car.

ponchojuan

My message didn't question honda service or reliablity. It questioned honesty and interest in customer loyalty, in terms of Honda and the over all automotive industry.

DanielRemains

Well after reading all the replies here I had to register to share my GOOD experience.

I had the exact same problem as everyone here; Engine oil in coolant.







And guess what, IT WAS THE PROBLEM! No more oil in my coolant for me!

When changing your head gasket, FOLLOW THESE TORQUING SEQUENCES!

Torque force:
- Tight all the bolts to 14 pounds
- Tight all the bolts to 36 pounds
- Tight all the bolts to 49 pounds

Here is my custom torquing sequence:



Torque all bolts from 1 to 10 to 14 pounds, then 36 pounds, then 49 pounds.

To those of you that installed a new gasket and the oil stopped going in the coolant but started again, you probably did it wrong!

If it worked with my custom torquing method, then follow my method

It's been 2 months already and it didn't use a drop of oil.

DR - Self Educated Car Maniac

schererpr

Wish I had joined this forum sooner. My son has a 98 Civic EX which developed oil in the coolant and the Dealer told him he needed a headgasket. Being somewhat handy, (and retired), I volunteered to do it for him. Since I had the head off, I reseated the valves, replaced belts, hoses, plugs, etc as well as the gaskets. Just got it back together and it runs like a champ, except I'm flushing the system with an "Oh ****" feeling after reading this thread. At this point, with a rough body, and 200K on the car I think I have an expensive lesson in doing a Honda head job, and a junk car on my hands. Any thoughts?

Vtec-Steve

I have a 93 civic d16z6 that is doing the same thing...I have drove it for over a year like this...what a crapshoot...Any suggestions on a replacement block? Aftermarket?

schererpr

Quote:

Originally Posted by schererpr

Wish I had joined this forum sooner. My son has a 98 Civic EX which developed oil in the coolant and the Dealer told him he needed a headgasket. Being somewhat handy, (and retired), I volunteered to do it for him. Since I had the head off, I reseated the valves, replaced belts, hoses, plugs, etc as well as the gaskets. Just got it back together and it runs like a champ, except I'm flushing the system with an "Oh ****" feeling after reading this thread. At this point, with a rough body, and 200K on the car I think I have an expensive lesson in doing a Honda head job, and a junk car on my hands. Any thoughts?

My story exactly! Replaced the engine with a rebuilt found on Craig's list for $900, then compounded my "investment" with brakes, tie rod ends, ball joints. So now my son has a 200,000 miles car with mostly new stuff, and I have a spare reconditioned head, and whatever is still good in the old block. Wonder how long the tranny will hold out.

Vtec-Steve

Does this happen with the d16z6 vtec motors as well cuz mine is doing the same thing....oil in coolant bottle but no water in the oil? I been driving it for well over a year like this and could never figure out the problem

Glen Tennis

I am going to revive this old thread because I have this same problem. Oil in the coolant. The "Porous Leak" sounds exactly like what I have going on. I have a 1998 Civic LX.

Was this an official Honda recall? I can't seem to find the recall notice anywhere online. Help! Just bought this damn car!

Cheng Du

usually how much does it cost to swap the engine (parts and labor)?

Chawki Malek

ı had the same in mu honda crv ......thats means that your engine is overheated ...change the head gasket immediatley otherwise your engine could be
harmed.As per no coolant in the upper hose ..check the thermostat that can be damaged so blocking coolant circulation...both gasket and thermostat must be changed as precau