88rexA6

here's the story. since the motor first ran straight from http://www.hmotorsonline.com (who i've had REALLY good motors from), it smoked just a little bit of pure white on startup occasionally, which i didnt think anything of.
however, i autocrossed my car a few weeks ago, and while i was there i was told that it was smoking white when i'd haul *** down a straight (to the top of 2nd gear), and when i would go to crank the car back up after i shut it off after a run, it would smoke pure white pretty thick (not every time, but a few times), then it would completely go away after a few seconds. i tried smelling the exhaust, but it didnt smell like oil, fuel or coolant to me (and i've blown a head gasket in my old LS before, so i'd like to think i'd know ). also, it would boil coolant out of the overflow tank. i thought it was just the radiator cap going bad. i also ran completely out of coolant on the way home (temp started to rise, so i shut it off and had someone go buy me some aquafina lol). also, there is just a tiiiiiiiiiny bit of coolant in my oil. it's not visible, but the oil doesnt feel as viscous as it should.

since then i've compression tested it...
1 ~ 185
2 ~ 195
3 ~ 230
4 ~ 230

then i replaced the radiator cap, which stopped the coolant boiling out of the overflow tank...and did another compression test for the hell of it

1 ~ 230
2 ~ 235
3 ~ 240
4 ~ 235

engine is a first-gen b16a. i didnt think they were supposed to read that high of compression in the first place. but anyway, i was talking to a friend, and he said that if my compression goes up after replacing a bad rad. cap, my head gasket's done. but there are absolutely zero driveability issues. it drives just the same as the day i ran 91mph in the 1/4 mile (in blazing 90+ degree heat and pretty bad humidity). also, since then, i havent seen it smoke, and it hasnt been eating coolant (to my knowledge). what do you guys think?

ddd4114

I think you have a leaking head gasket.

All the symptoms you mentioned, to me, point to a failing head gasket: white smoke, coolant mixing with oil, odd compression numbers (numbers that are too high means the fluids in the combustion chamber cannot compress like air and fuel, aka there's coolant or oil in there), coolant boiling out the overflow, and overheating due to coolant loss.

A bad radiator cap would cause problems, but I don't think to this extreme (I've never experienced a bad radiator cap personally). Also, just because the car drives well, doesn't mean the head gasket is fine. Just wait until the seal is lost completely. If it has a leaking head gasket and performs fine now, it won't pretty soon...

Have you experienced a bad idle or hard starts?

spoonracer84eg

The coolant in the oil is a dead give away

devils_civic

do a leakdown test; compression test tells that there might be something wrong, a leakdown tells exactly whats wrong. pump some air in there and remove the radiator cap. if theres are bubbles its blown for sure. you might even find out if there are bent intake/exhaust valves

great diy tread
https://honda-tech.com/zerothread?id=1491041

if so get some arp head studs and a new oem headgasket and call it a day. make sure when torqueing them, to do the 2 step and in the right pattern so they seal properly!

88rexA6

thanks guys. i was planning on changing it out very soon anyway, but you know it would be nice to find out that it's something else that you've never heard of (and something simpler).
would reusing my headbolts be a good idea, or is it pretty much mandatory to get new ones anyway? i'm pretty sure this will be the first time the head has come off since it left the factory.

B18C5-EH2

Do not have the head gasket replaced without also having the cylinder head resurfaced to insure it's completely flat.

You might as well have the head pressure checked too, and IMO now's the best time to go ahead and have the exhaust valve guides changed and a valve job done since that head is probably 16-17 years old now.

There's nothing worse than fixing a head gasket and then having valvestem seals/guides go bad and cause oil smoking.

ddd4114

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by 88rexA6 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">would reusing my headbolts be a good idea, or is it pretty much mandatory to get new ones anyway?</TD></TR></TABLE>
I definitely don't think it's a good idea, but people do it (sometimes with luck, sometimes they have to crack the engine open again after a few days...). If you want to keep this engine for a while, I'd HIGHLY suggest new head bolts, or better yet: ARP head studs.

Good luck.

88rexA6

looks like i'll be ordering ARPs tonight maybe
and i planned on getting the head planed (.010" off)...that's actually the only thing i dont like about this. i dont mind doing the work, but last year when i blew the head gasket in my old LS, i ended up spending a couple hundred bucks on just the head planing, after the machine shop f**ked me twice in a row and wouldnt take responsibility for it. there arent any good places here in tallahassee for machine work, and i dont want to have my DD (and only car) down for a long time and spend a lot of money on bullshit again.

thanks for your input guys , hopefully i'll have this done ASAP. i have a track day nov. 11th to go to, and an auto-x event the weekend after that!

eg-owns you

ya go with arp head bolts and i would check your bearing to if you been driving around for a while with it like that could have damaged em with the anti freez you could even go 2 layer headgasket for a tad bit more comp