01001010

Hey guys! I had to abandon my car this morning and have my wife pick me up so I could get to work so I wasn't able to check too many things...

The patient is a 1993 Honda civic 1.5 sohc. I heard squishy sounds coming from under the dash and found coolant and some oil leaking into the passenger side footwell. Stuck in traffic there wasn't much I could do. Eventually, I got A Lot of white smoke coming out the back and experienced loss of power but I was still able to make it to the next exit. Temp gauge went up 90% of the way. After I parked it, found the coolant res. empty.

I'll be back at the car later this evening when I leave work. But based on these symptoms, is this...

...A head gasket issue?

...Some other major malfunction within the engine?

Your help is greatly appreciated!!!

Your fellow auto enthusiast!

JC

WSA

The only way for coolant to be getting into the cabin is if the heater core burst. The only way oil got into the cabin is if your head gasket is blown and oil mixed with your coolant. My guess would be the head gasket has had a slow leak for a while that went by unoticable and caused the coolant to get thick and milky from oil which burst the heater core. If your good with cars it wont be to expensive of a fix. If you have a shop do car work for you....might as well start looking for a new one.

S2BumpsticksGSR

Yep white smoke out back was steam from blown head gasket. And heater core blew!? Sounds like poor cars life has been filled w/neglect. When you get it fixed check your fluids a LOT more often than you did before.

apexi_rsx

when u kept riding till u seen white smoke u took 1 problem and made it 2 problems. one being a blown headgasket and 2 for the busted heater core. if the temp gauge goes any where near 75% u should shut the car off and know that something is wrong . good luck with the heatercore replacement . while u got the head off u should get a waterpump and timing belt and u should be good for another 70k (recomnd)...

01001010

Thank you for your prompt response guys! And yes, you are all correct, including the part about niglect. This car was just given to me by my brother in law and it did sit in his driveway for a few months. I went over as much as I could before I actually started using it daily. It runs really well but it's ugly. Mismatching hood, fenders, and rear bumper, no carpet, and no ac/heat. The engine ran smoooooth. Until Tuesday that is. I have replaced many suspension components to give it a like-new ride with no noises. Its a nice little project car so with some time and money hopefully I can get it running by the weekend and keep giving it the love it deserves.

I come from the classic Land Rover realm and have restored several V8 muscle cars before so I have no hear tearing into an engine but these 4cyl jap engines have different valvetrain systems than what I am use to working on.

deschlong

iTrader: (8)

Sounds like it's time for another rescue project! Good luck!

Andrew Marquis

Grab a manual from the Autoparts store when you change the water pump/timing belt/tensioner. It's pretty easy to change the HG on these things, just gotta take your time...

I'm sure you know, but it is to your advantage to get your head milled and checked out for cracks. Shouldn't be more than $100 at the Machine Shop. Maybe they'll freshen up the head with new valve seals too.

Post a progress thread and we can help along the way!

-Andrew

01001010

So I found the Honda service manual and a gasket set for $40 and got busy last week. It's Been really cold and windy these days and haven't been able to work on it much but as of this morning, the top of the block is almost ready to go. Still have a few spots to scrub down. The new gasket has been sprayed with copper and now waiting to be put in. Last week I got the head all cleaned up and squeaky clean.

Andrew Marquis

Nice job!

S2BumpsticksGSR

Doesn't look clean enough to me, guess I'm particular. I can still see marks from old gasket on r side and coolant residue on left. Good luck!

94EG8

DO NOT use copper spray! It will not seal properly.

Andrew Marquis

No doubt he will wipe everything down before he puts it together...

Mr. Dabolina

Really? Whys that? I did a HG on my Civic and it reblew a month later. I didnt get the head resurfaced so I assumed the head was warped.

Brettboat

What does the honda service manual call for? I'd open mine up but I'm too lazy to get it lol

Mr. Dabolina

It doesnt call for anything special. Just a prepped surface and a new HG. Didnt figure some copper spray would hurt. My friend used it on his 200k mile F22B1. It has 250k now and its still kicking.

S2BumpsticksGSR

Can't just wipe it and expect to seal, needs to be roughed up a bit. Ie; die grinder w/3 m abrasive pad. How many head gaskets have you done Marquis?
Edit: I really hope you had head resurfaced, Honda heads do not take much heat to warp.

94EG8

It just peels and turns into a mess. IIRC Honda pretty clearly stated do not use any type of spray or adhesive on the gasket if you read the service manual.

No. You do not want a roughed up head. A mirror finish is what you're after, especially if you use a 3 layer steel gasket (I would) if you use the original style graphite gasket some slight roughness shouldn't hurt anything but I wouldn't go at a head with a die grinder and an abrasive pad.

Andrew Marquis

I've done 4 or 5. Not saying I'm a master of them, but I've never had one fail.
I like your idea of the abrasive pad on the grinder! I've always roughed up my mating surfaces with some 320 grit and a block or some Scotchbrite pads (same as your 3m, obviously.)

Good show! OP, post up some pics when you do more work!

01001010

Oh yeah guys, I should have posted a Before pic... I still have some scrubbing to go but the way it looks like now is night and day!

As for the copper, this is my first time giving it a shot (I'm always willing to try new methods). Others have used it on turbo engines and I know of other guys that used it with their naturally aspirated Diesel engines with crazy compression ratios.

EDIT: I'll post a non-instagramed macro photo of the surface when I'm done.

S2BumpsticksGSR

@94eg8, I'm talking about the block surface. Not getting crazy with it, just lightly. Enough to remove old gasket material and corrosion. Wiping it off is not sufficient. There are very smooth 3m pads I use just for this. I never touch the head when it comes back from resurface besides wiping it off to remove any residue.

S2BumpsticksGSR

https://honda-tech.com/album.php?alb...0&ref=gnr-next
edit-this was before i cleaned deck spotless. sorry, phone was jacked up so no after pic.

Andrew Marquis

One important thing to note is the Copper gasket spray is supposed to be applied just a few minutes (<30) before you install the head gasket. Basically, (IIRC) it's supposed to be Tacky when installed, so it assures a good seal.

I've never used copper spray before, but back when I was running a Cometic gasket I asked them about it, and they said NOT to use it with their metal gasket.

I suppose it may be a different ball game with the metal v. fiber ones.

01001010

Here's an update...

I've taken the Cylinder Head to my favorite machine shop to have it checked, resurfaced, cleaned, and get all the valves worked on. Should have it back by tomorrow.

01001010

Another update,

EVERYTHING is clean now, seals replaced and everything ready for reassembly tomorrow afternoon... will post pictures and progress later in the evening.

The guys and the shop did confirm the head had warped.

S2BumpsticksGSR

Replace o rings on both ends of coolant pipe on back of eng while you have the head off- save yourself a leak later.