Headgasket, or something else?
 

Hello everybody, I just recently bought a 1995 Honda Civic with the D15b7 engine in it. It recently started running poorly so I preformed a compression test, the numbers in psi came back as such: 0-180-60-179, when I added oil to check the rings I got 0-185-90-179. Am I correct in assuming that the head gasket, or some part of the head is ruined? I am a Saab enthousiast at heart, so I have nearly no knowledge of these Honda engines, they are really quite different, how is it to pull the head on one of these engines? And do the headgaskets commonly go? Thank you all for your help.

Re: Headgasket, or something else?
 

Sounds more like worn rings, although that first number being zero means you have no compression in that cylinder, probably intake valves stuck open in that cylinder, nevertheless its time for a rebuild.

Re: Headgasket, or something else?
 

+2 on the rings, is it smoking white or smoking blue? also if it was the headgasket it isn't hard on the D series engines to replace, I took a head off of a B series in about 30 mins.

Re: Headgasket, or something else?
 

It's unlikely that you have two separate cylinders that both blew through the HG. We could make guesses as to what the problem is but if the valve timing is correct, any other cause will require removing the head. Once you do that, you'll see for yourself what's going on. Replacing any HG is a major undertaking but as far as HG's go, most Hondas are on the easier side, comparatively speaking. The HG's don't usually blow unless something else, like overheating, contributed to it.

Re: Headgasket, or something else?
 

Well, I now KNOW that the headgasket is one of the issues, if not the sole issue. The car was burning a little oil pre failure, so I took it for a drive around the block and about halfway around it started leaving HUGE clouds of white smoke, and by the time I got it home there was a sever lack of coolant, so I suppose its headgasket time, then I'll see if a rebuild is necessary. Thank you for help Soul!

Re: Headgasket, or something else?
 

I'm not too worried about changing the headgasket, compared to the Saabs that I am used to this car is insanely easy to work on. Would this be an acceptable headgasket kit, or do I really need to get the OEM?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1990-...Q5fAccessories

Re: Headgasket, or something else?
 

Get a head gasket for the D16Y8, it's supposed to be a bit thinner. And if you aren't going to swap the whole motor, at least get a VTEC head. You could probably find one for $60 or less.

Re: Headgasket, or something else?
 

Would any of that affect the reliability or economy of the car? The main reason I bought this vehicle was to have a cheap beater, but it is admittedly underpowered so a little extra compression could help.

Re: Headgasket, or something else?
 

not that hard to do, just do a search for "mini-me" that will give you plenty of info on the vtec head swap.

Re: Headgasket, or something else?
 

Wouldn't putting the vtec head on the high mileage bottom end wreck the rotating assembly because of the high revs? If the bottom end would need to be more robust to handle the new head, what would I need to replace?