zrydervr4

So I was given a 2004 civic lx sedan to me. The car had 188,000 on it. The car has a huge crack on the exhaust manifold, has to be more than 3 inches. My brother in law told me the crack wasn't a issue as it's just exhaust gases. I figured a crack exhaust manifold was bad but I had no money to fix and no idea how to fix it.

Anyways at around 193,000 the car start over heating really bad randomly, I flushed out the radiator. and the car seemed fine. but then a few days later started over heating again. so I kept filling up the radiator and the car wouldn't over heat for a few days then would over heat again. I was never able to find out where the coolant was leaking from but its all over the front left (passenger) side of the engine. I think it's coming from the lower hose but I could be wrong.

I kept filling up the radiator every few days till one day at around 199700 miles in the morning I noticed white smoke. I don't know if it was a lot of smoke as I have never seen white smoke from any of my previous cars I have owned, even when starting up on very cold mornings.

Then at around 199850 miles I noticed the smoke again, looked like less then the last time. AT 199950 I cranked my car to start it and it didn't start at first. It cranked (clicked) like 4 times then was silent. Every time after I turned the key nothing would happen. Then after about the 10th time the car finally started.

Then two days later at around 200,050 the same thing happened but this time my brother-in-law jumped me and the car started up instantly. today at 200100 miles the car wouldn't start at all, even when my brother-in-law tried jumping the car this time it would not start.

I took the battery to AutoZone they checked it and they stated the battery was fine. the battery is 2 years old. My car doesn't even crank anymore and there is coolant all over the left side of the engine. I don't know if the coolant shorted something out or if the coolant got in the starter and messed it up. I will check the starter in the morning to see if it's covered in fluid.

Also I should note the battery light has been flickering on and off at any sort of bump since I got the car at 188000 miles.

I know these are all issues I should have addressed before but money is tight and now I know I'm going to be paying for it

As far as getting my car started anyone have any ideas? and how should I address the problems, if I finally able to get my car started.

edit: Also I should note I have done searches but I cant find anything with my problems but I can find post for similar problems but all separate. I seen some for over heating, some for the cracked manifold and some for the car not starting but not for all of them put together..

would it be cheaper to buy a used engine and replace mine?

toyomatt84

iTrader: (1)

Judging by your experiences, I would say you had a blown headgasket, didn't replace it soon enough, and now have a potentially seized block as a result. Along the way, you may have destroyed your alternator (hence the battery light).

When you noticed your exhaust manifold was cracked, you should have replaced it. Without proper readings from the oxygen sensors, your engine does NOT run at proper fuel ratios. This should have caused a Check Engine Light to appear. That alone should have warned you to do something.

Then, the moment you started overheating, you should have kept a watchful eye on your coolant levels. These cars are prone to headgasket failure, so replacing them is common practice.

zrydervr4

Thanks for the reply toyomatt84. is there some sort of test I can do at home to check to see if the head gasket is fine? also it's weird but the check engine light never came on once since I have owned the car. I think I might take out the alternator next weekend and get it check at O'reily's or autozone.

I worked on my car today and got it running again. As I had thought the starter was not working well. I took it apart and cleaned it up and reinstalled it, and the car started up just fine. I replaced the radiator hoses and from the looks of it I was right it the was the hoses leaking. I flushed out the system coolant system. I will keep an eye on the hoses to see if it was them. I noticed some smaller hoses that seem to run to the radiator also looked like they could of been leaking too but it was hard to tell with all the coolant everywhere. I also replaced the rotors and breaks, not part of getting the car running but that's what I was planning on doing today to the car anyways and since I have the car on jack stands why not. Now all I have to do it get a new exhaust manifold.. that's not going to be fun.

I have heard of people just replacing the manifold with a header and high flow cat. would an after market header fit the stock exhaust or would I need to put a after market exhaust to fit the header?

the only other thing I can think of is to hopefully find one at a junk yard or pick a part that isn't crack as it seems its a common problem with civics. I did a quick search online and found some new ones for about 200 and then a California specific manifold for about 500. I love California but I just hate their laws!

EM2abe

honestly theres really no way to sincerely "test" the head gasket to see if it's fine. you'd have to take the head off and see if its corroded or if it has any residue on it from your coolant. even at that, when you have the head off, you might as well replace the head gasket anyway, because of the work put in to just check it. also you might as well resurface it. change your thermostat and fan switch as well, being that is was most likely the culprit. the cracked exhaust manifold also could have contributed to the overheating as well, being that it just blows extremely hot air all over the motor and around the motor bay.

as for the alternator, it would be much cheaper and BETTER if you just went somewhere that rebuilds them instead of buying an aftermarket autozone brand.

toyomatt84

iTrader: (1)

Because you have an LX, your car has the catalytic converter within the exhaust manifold itself. That's why its going to be costly to replace. You can convert over to an EX exhaust setup, but it will require the manifold, downpipe, and catalytic converter/b-pipe. (This topic has been covered before several times, just as an FYI.)