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'93 Honda Del Sol Head Gasket Leaking (っ◔◡◔)っ ♥ O I L ♥ (And More!)
Alrighty then... Yesterday, I discovered that my engine started to leak oil. It's leaking from in between the head and the block, probably from the head gasket (refer to the photos). It must have developed within the last week or so because I know that this thing didn't leak oil the last time I checked, and the spots on the garage floor (which I didn't notice until yesterday) look quite fresh. What's worrying me is the amount of oil it's leaking. I think 5-10 drops of oil are leaking per hour (My class is an hour and I checked the spot I parked in and there was definitely more than one drop of fresh oil on the ground).I strongly disbelieve that the valve cover gasket is leaking because I replaced that myself like a pro, using Hondabond. The head gasket was replaced by the previous owner so I don't know how "correct" of a job he did. It seems he used red rtv on the head gasket though (visible in pic) and I've noticed some red chunks of rtv in my coolant reservoir; honestly, I don't know why that would be because there's no oil in the coolant and no coolant in the oil.
Anyways, what could be causing this sudden oil leak? It's a stock engine and I don't really beat on it too hard (hardly ever go to redline). Could this be a blow-by issue? Or is my head gasket about to crap out? What are your recommendations?
Also yesterday, I encountered a problem that I've never before experienced in my whole entire life. I was driving along and I noticed my heater was blowing cold air. I adjusted the temperature with the lever by sliding to cold air and then back to hot, which it did start to blow hot but turned cold again seconds later. At the same time I was messing around with the air temp, I also noticed my temperature gauge started to fluctuate; I think it rose ever so slightly when I switched the temp to hot and lower when on cold, but it never got to overheating territory. I looked in the engine bay and noticed the reservoir had lost some coolant (I don't know where to because there's no external coolant leaks).
Fast forward to this morning, I opened the radiator cap and there was a hell of a pressure-release hissing sound, like opening a gas cap. This leads me to believe there was air in the cooling system, but I don't know for sure what's going on. What do you think could have caused this? I didn't test the heater because I didn't want to screw something up before my ~35 mile commute to school and back. The temperature gauge acted normal which is good I guess.
Re: '93 Honda Del Sol Head Gasket Leaking (っ◔◡◔)っ ♥ O I L ♥ (And More!)
Originally Posted by HairyHarry
The head gasket was replaced by the previous owner so I don't know how "correct" of a job he did. It seems he used red rtv on the head gasket though (visible in pic) and I've noticed some red chunks of rtv in my coolant reservoir...
I noticed my heater was blowing cold air.
I adjusted the temperature with the lever by sliding to cold air and then back to hot, which it did start to blow hot but turned cold again seconds later.
I also noticed my temperature gauge started to fluctuate; I think it rose ever so slightly when I switched the temp to hot and lower when on cold, but it never got to overheating territory.
I...noticed the reservoir had lost some coolant (I don't know where to because there's no external coolant leaks).
I opened the radiator cap and there was a hell of a pressure-release hissing sound, like opening a gas cap.
The head gasket is blown. The previous owner did not do a proper head gasket job. If you decide to replace the head gasket again, buy the Honda head gasket and have a machine shop mill the bottom of the head flat. Do the same for the top of the block, if it is not flat. Torquing the head bolts per service manual instructions is crucial.
Re: '93 Honda Del Sol Head Gasket Leaking (っ◔◡◔)っ ♥ O I L ♥ (And More!)
Originally Posted by muellersfan
The head gasket is blown. The previous owner did not do a proper head gasket job. If you decide to replace the head gasket again, buy the Honda head gasket and have a machine shop mill the bottom of the head flat. Do the same for the top of the block, if it is not flat. Torquing the head bolts per service manual instructions is crucial.
Darn. How long until it completely gives out and mixes the coolant with the oil (and vise versa)? I don't feel any power loss while driving (yet). Should I even continue to drive it?
It is possible that the previous owner didn't do a proper job, but it's been almost two years since I bought it from him and I've daily driven it since without a problem up until now.
Last edited by HairyHarry; 11-21-2018 at 08:13 AM.
Reason: Grammar
Re: '93 Honda Del Sol Head Gasket Leaking (っ◔◡◔)っ ♥ O I L ♥ (And More!)
Heater stops working when a bubble of air / steam / combustion gas exists in the top of the engine instead of coolant. Either all the coolant leaked out or the head gasket leaks. The bubble leads to localized overheating and damage.
It would be unusual for oil to leak from that spot. There is no oil pressure there, only the return passage that lets the oil run out of the head back down to the oil pan. If you're leaking a steady drip of motor oil while running, check stuff on the back of the engine that handles oil under pressure-- the VTEC solenoid, oil pressure switch, and oil filter.
Re: '93 Honda Del Sol Head Gasket Leaking (っ◔◡◔)っ ♥ O I L ♥ (And More!)
Those look like exhaust manifold bolts, if so, that's not the back side of the engine.
And it looks like plastic timing belt cover. Possibly the cam shaft seal blew out?
I remember one of my seals would spin freely in location so I used a little Honda bond on the outside rim of the new one to prevent that going forward. I know now that was overkill and it was likely an incorrectly sized after market seal or so old it shrunk enough to not pit the case correctly.
Re: '93 Honda Del Sol Head Gasket Leaking (っ◔◡◔)っ ♥ O I L ♥ (And More!)
Originally Posted by mk378
Heater stops working when a bubble of air / steam / combustion gas exists in the top of the engine instead of coolant. Either all the coolant leaked out or the head gasket leaks. The bubble leads to localized overheating and damage.
It would be unusual for oil to leak from that spot. There is no oil pressure there, only the return passage that lets the oil run out of the head back down to the oil pan. If you're leaking a steady drip of motor oil while running, check stuff on the back of the engine that handles oil under pressure-- the VTEC solenoid, oil pressure switch, and oil filter.
Before my last drive, I filled the coolant reservoir and I switched the air temp to cold. After the ~35 mile drive, the coolant level was exactly the same but I opened the radiator cap (once engine was cold) and again with the hiss of air/pressure escaping. The engine temp was normal and did not fluctuate during the drive.
As for the oil, yes that would be a weird place for it to leak since no oil is getting in the coolant (I think).
Re: '93 Honda Del Sol Head Gasket Leaking (っ◔◡◔)っ ♥ O I L ♥ (And More!)
Originally Posted by TomCat39
Those look like exhaust manifold bolts, if so, that's not the back side of the engine.
And it looks like plastic timing belt cover. Possibly the cam shaft seal blew out?
I remember one of my seals would spin freely in location so I used a little Honda bond on the outside rim of the new one to prevent that going forward. I know now that was overkill and it was likely an incorrectly sized after market seal or so old it shrunk enough to not pit the case correctly.
Yes this is the front of the engine next to the timing belt and I guess that could be the possible source of the oil leak. How do I find out for sure?
I will try to do a compression test as soon as possible.
Re: '93 Honda Del Sol Head Gasket Leaking (っ◔◡◔)っ ♥ O I L ♥ (And More!)
Bringing this thread back to life (even if it'll be a short one). Had to finish up with fall quarter and finals and other bullshit so I haven't had time to do diagnostics. But now I do.
Originally Posted by eghatch9295
pull off the upper timing cover. a block test will determine if you have exhaust gases in the coolant.
Here's my block test results. The liquid is definitely not blue like is originally was, but it's not really yellow either. I did not drain the radiator like people suggest to do, but that's because the coolant level was low enough that it was inch or so away from the tester inlet. I did two tests with the same results: green.
Re: '93 Honda Del Sol Head Gasket Leaking (っ◔◡◔)っ ♥ O I L ♥ (And More!)
or the head is cracked somewhere. with the gasket having been changed so many times, there was probably a significant overheat at some point. if that's the case, you could have a warped head or block. do you know if it was ever resurfaced?
Re: '93 Honda Del Sol Head Gasket Leaking (っ◔◡◔)っ ♥ O I L ♥ (And More!)
Originally Posted by eghatch9295
or the head is cracked somewhere. with the gasket having been changed so many times, there was probably a significant overheat at some point. if that's the case, you could have a warped head or block. do you know if it was ever resurfaced?
I do not...
As stated before, there's no coolant in the oil or oil in the coolant, the exhaust doesn't blow smoke and it currently doesn't overheat. I've been daily driving the car since I made this thread and no noticeable problems, except the oil leak (I do depressurize the radiator before every drive which could be helping).
I did hear that having none of these symptoms is an indicator of a crack in the head... so is that really what's going on? I'm just trying to figure it out because I'm contemplating on buying another car and setting this thing aside for a while.
Re: '93 Honda Del Sol Head Gasket Leaking (っ◔◡◔)っ ♥ O I L ♥ (And More!)
headgaskets can fail without any mixing of coolant and oil. the symptoms are based on where the failure occurs. with civics, i typically see the coolant/oil mix, but i have had two that were forcing coolant out of the reservoir without overheating, and a handful leak oil. ebay has rebuilt cylinder heads for your car for under 300 bucks, i'd go that route with new headbolts to reduce downtime and eliminate the uncertainty surrounding the current head.
Re: '93 Honda Del Sol Head Gasket Leaking (っ◔◡◔)っ ♥ O I L ♥ (And More!)
Originally Posted by eghatch9295
headgaskets can fail without any mixing of coolant and oil. the symptoms are based on where the failure occurs. with civics, i typically see the coolant/oil mix, but i have had two that were forcing coolant out of the reservoir without overheating, and a handful leak oil. ebay has rebuilt cylinder heads for your car for under 300 bucks, i'd go that route with new headbolts to reduce downtime and eliminate the uncertainty surrounding the current head.
It's not clear whether the head is cracked and needs replacement. This would require machine shop testing.
Both the block and head mating surfaces may be warped. Fixing would require engine removal, block disassembly, and machine shop work.
Not worth time and money for an old and tired D15B7.
Re: '93 Honda Del Sol Head Gasket Leaking (っ◔◡◔)っ ♥ O I L ♥ (And More!)
Originally Posted by muellersfan
Also probably the most common cause for head gasket failure after installing a new head gasket.
Ever read a thread where an OP says that his head gasket failed soon after replacing it. It's very common.
I can attest to this regarding an Accord (I know...not a D). Blown head gasket confirmed, threw a new head gasket on and had the head resurfaced, blew the gasket again within a month. So then I had to spend the money on another gasket, another trip to the cylinder head shop, and also taking the block to the machine shop for decking. Runs like a champ now, but I also replaced just about everything that was replacable.
I agree with muellersfan - I wouldn't sink the $ into a B7, because you're likely going to find other stuff to replace once you have it that far torn down. It gets out of hand fast when you start peeling back the layers of a tired engine.
11-20-2018, 09:45 PM
'93 Honda Del Sol Head Gasket Leaking (っ◔◡◔)っ ♥ O I L ♥ (And More!)
I adjusted the temperature with the lever by sliding to cold air and then back to hot, which it did start to blow hot but turned cold again seconds later. At the same time I was messing around with the air temp, I also noticed my temperature gauge started to fluctuate; I think it rose ever so slightly when I switched the temp to hot and lower when on cold, but it never got to overheating territory. I looked in the engine bay and noticed the reservoir had lost some coolant (I don't know where to because there's no external coolant leaks). 
