oranginal

So I'm losing oil, approx 1qt every 750 miles.
Also losing coolant but it's not in the oil (or doesn't appear to be in the oil when i did an oil change) and there are no visible hose leaks.

Some days i look at the coolant reservoir and there is black sludge in there instead of green coolant and the reservoir hose is covered in black sludge when i pull it out. So when that happens for now I've been emptying the reservoir and filling it up with fresh coolant and then filling up the rad with coolant.

Overheated only once when this all began and at that time my rad was really low on coolant.

So i'm thinking a new headgasket will solve these issues, thoughts or recommendations or any other suggestions would be appreciated.

it's a built h22a4 block btw
will a leakdown test confirm the bad head gasket? (using a cometic gasket with arp)

The only other thing i can think worth mentioning is that right before this began i screwed an oil sandwich place in between the filter/block. the sandwich just has an oil pressure sending unit attached.

redh22alude

i have an h22a that has been bored to 89mm or 2.4 liter and i have the same thing going on hope you find the problem

oranginal

it is definitely black sludge and i don't think it is oil and coolant mixing now. If coolant and oil mix together i believe they create a tan colored substance so i don' think it's oil in the coolant.

I also have a theory that my oil pan isn't sealed fully and the oil leak may be why i am losing oil.

the rad is a civic half rad so maybe the coolant is getting low and maybe it is some sort of rust that could have been in the bottom of the rad?

ideas?

twkdCD595

leakdown checked it?

0Golden Eagle

1st thing i would sagest is getting rid of that cometic gasket and go with over bored oem gasket and see if that helps. we have had and seen tons of problems with the cometic gasket thats why we started cutting oem gaskets to fir they work much better

integraturbo

I had that problem it ended up being my headgasket.my car would lose about 1q of coolent every week and it would over heat it the morning just for a second.but yeah it could be a small leak in the head gasket.

oranginal

car doesn't overheat. i will try to do a leakdown test this weekend.

not sure where the coolant is going as there are no leaks i can see and it's not in the oil.

if a leakdown test reveals a possible head gasket i will get that replaced and hopefully the problem stops.

twkdCD595

when you leak down the motor you might also think about pressurizing the cooling system for leaks.

philafelman

i am also going through the same thing with a stockblock jdm h22a. i overheated taking my friend to the airport on the freeway...compression good, leakdown good, cooling pressure test good. milky in the radiator though, not in oil. i dont lose oil though, im thinking my radiator is plugged up with this milky stuff (the reason it overheated on the freeway). im in for answers.

oranginal

went with a Golden Eagle GE bored out stock oem gasket and things are much better now. more symptoms lead me to get this changed. figured a leakdown tester could cost anywhere from $50-$100 and the head gasket costs about that so i went that route. here are some more symptoms that lead me to this conclusion:


symptoms: black sludge like substance in coolant reservoir, not 100% sure it is oil. No coolant mixing with oil though (have done 2-3 oil changes since this first started to occur)

I was going to try to get a hold of a leakdown tester but never really had the time so i've just been emptying and refilling the coolant reservoir for now.

more recent i notice my car will be hard to start/stutter when started up after i am done a drive and let the car cool down but when the engine is still warm try to start it. It sounds like it is about to start but doesn't. If i let it cool down some more it will eventually start but it sputters until i rev it out. I'm thinking maybe coolant is starting to leak in the cylinders causing combustion issues making it hard to start and also causing a puff of white smoke on start up due to the coolant being burned off. When the car does finally start and stutter i can rev it out and then it runs fine.....until i turn the car off and try to start it while the engine is still warm.

Seems like it only happens when the car is warm (so the coolant is still pressurized unlike then the car is cold and the coolant has no pressure)

Wopsicle69

Pull your plugs after you go for a drive and look to see if the tops of your pistons are wet. Friend of mines h22a4 had ALL the same issues your going through, pull the head and check your sleeves. One of his was cracked.

0Golden Eagle

glad it worked for you