Mikey Hernandez

Hey guys, first off this is on a 98 civic cx d16y7. So the problem i am having is that i am loosing coolant. I have to refill my reservoir about once a week. I am not leaking any coolant through hoses or radiator( no puddles). I suspected a head gasket. I only have white smoke though at first start in the morning when i go to work. I changed the oil recently and it looks fine no milky color. I have done a block test and it seemed fine(the color of the product you use to test did not change). I have done a compression test and each cylinder was around 150. I am running out of ideas and i would like to confirm it is the head gasket. Any input would be great. Let me know if there is any information that i have left that would help. Thanks.

grumblemarc

iTrader: (4)

If you're not leaking it then you're burning it. Simple. BTW you shouldn't be getting white smoke at any time.

TomCat39

Do you smell coolant in the car with the heater? Could be a bad heater core. You usually smell it in the car regardless if it's set for recycled air or fresh air.

Another check to see if it's going into the cylinders is to pull your drivers side wheel (use a jack stand of course) and pull your spark plugs. Using the mark on the crank pulley put the crank to TDC through the sights. Now shine a strong flashlight down the #1 tube and you can see the top of the piston. If it's black with light carbon it's not seeing any coolant. Now rotate the crank counter clockwise until #3 is sitting TDC. You will know because the resistance in the crank suddenly lets go and it tends to stop pretty close. Now look down #3. Turn crank again until resistance gives way and inspect #2, then one more time on the crank for #4.

What your are looking for is a very clean and shiny piston. If any cylinder is taking on coolant it will act like water and steam clean the cylinder. If all your piston tops are blackened like they typically are, then you are sure no coolant is going into the combustion chambers.

If that's the case you have some sort of pin hole somewhere that is vaporizing the coolant before it can "spray" and leave residue of the leak.

Since you don't have an FITV, I'm not sure what other components on the car use coolant beyond the normal block water jacket, heater core and radiator.

Mikey Hernandez

I know i shouldn't be getting it, but my tail pipe likes to shoot it out in the morning. so if i am burning coolant, replace the head gasket right?

TomCat39

Steam in the morning is not indicative of a bad head gasket. Every car steams in the morning. The exhaust cools and the moisture in the air condenses all over the inside of the exhaust system. This is why over time the exhaust rusts out, heat and moisture on a daily basis.

Anyways, when you start your car the exhaust begins to warm, at some point the whole thing can boil water. At first it's the cat that burns the water out first and then the next 15-25 minutes the rest of the exhaust system does. After that, you drive steam free for most of the day, then it sits over night with the cool air and the exhaust cooling off after your last trip home and the water condenses on the insides all over again to do the same thing the very next morning.

If you have a head gasket leak you get steam 24/7 unless it's so minor it's virtually non existent.

Mikey Hernandez

Tomcat, i do not smell anything. I will have to try that test of yours. what do you mean a pin hole? like a crack?

TomCat39

I mean like a very tiny hole in one of the rubber hoses. Just big enough to let steam out but not spray fluid. Very hard to find.

Mikey Hernandez

I forgot to mention today i got a check engine light. a misfire on 1,2,3, and random misfire.

TomCat39

I was sort of doubting you had a head gasket issue being you did the block tester test and the blue fluid stayed blue. So in reality my back yard inspection was just overkill for your piece of mind.

But with the misfire, I'd be wanting to see the spark plugs anyway.

Did you pull the actual codes, if so what were they. Also reset the ecu (pull the 7.5a backup fuse for 15 seconds) and then see if the codes return. If they do return, pull them again and post them here.

Sounds like you got some issues going on.

Oh and a thought occurred to me on my way to work. some clarity on steam/white smoke etc.

When people say white smoke, most people picture thick consistency steam/smoke thus you get responses like grumblemarc's reasonably so.

What I was describing is also true but many variables have an effect. What time in the morning? How cold is it typically? How humid is your environment? Etc.

Typically the morning steam though isn't very "thick" unless it's really cold out like middle of winter. Also dryer climates like the desert's of Arizona may not get the same steam issues most other places do being there is much less water in the air to condense anywhere, let alone inside an exhaust system.

So if you are blowing plumes of steam in the morning, it could be an issue. If it's about the same as other cars you see around you in traffic then you are normal.

Hope that clarifies things.

Mikey Hernandez

So the codes if i remember right are p0300,P0301,P0302,P0303. which is random misfire and cylinder 1-3 i deleted it before and it came back pretty fast. I live in utah so it is not very moist and right now i think the temperature is around 60. it depends on the day. weather here is bipolar haha. When i start it in the morning it seems to kinda struggle like the car is going to die again. the rpms stay at like 1500-2000. the smoke is pretty thick at first but once the engine warms and rpms go down a bit, the smoke is gone. i warrantied my spark plug wires to see if that helped. it didn't. the spark plugs i took out the other day when i did the compression test. i should have taken a pic. they seemed fine, only the anti-sieze was on them. had a light brown color on the tips. I am not too worried about all that, just want to focus on why am losing coolant and fix it. I am not going to lie it has been like this for the year i owned it and idk how long for the guy before me. I was hoping not a head gasket with how long its been going i would have thought it would have blown by now if that was it.

TomCat39

No, my Honda Tech friend told me a story of a buddy of his had a leaking gasket, coolant being sucked down quite regularly into one of the cylinders. Guy didn't want to put any money into it so he just constantly topped up the coolant with water and drove it like that over a year before it finally bit the dust.

I think he was having to add water almost daily towards the end.

You still shouldn't have passed the block tester test but stranger things have happened.

Check the piston tops like I suggested and that is another way to tell.

Good luck.

tony_2018

Similar situation on my sisters db8 integra, it was her headgasket going. It was already too late to save because she drove it until the car died when it was overheating. No way around it because you can't leave a car on the highway or else risk being slammed into.

slogfilet

iTrader: (1)

You can check the pistons like TomCat suggested... this definitely sounds like a head gasket. Mine did the same "stumble" on startup, and believe me... it doesn't get better on its own.

Nitronaught

Ive ran a block test and it really depends on how bad the leak is and how long... I was losing about 1 quart of coolant in a week... Pulled the head and you could see the blowby.

Also if you engine has a good deal of mileage on it, Honda Service Tech notes states to replace the head bolts if removing the head after 80,000 miles or if freshening up the top end.