I think I may have a cracked head or failed head gasket. My car started missing a couple days ago, particularly at low RPM. I inspected the plugs and found that one of them had some standing liquid in the bottom of it. and the adjacent one was damp.

These were the 2 in the middle.

I promptly dried them out thoroughly inspected the plugs and put it all back together. At the time I had just the day before washed the engine so I thought "no big deal" i was probably just a little over zealous with the washing and got them wet. Well 2 days later and the misfiring is back. I again inspected the plug passages in the valve cover to find that one was damp again and the other had a few drops on it.

This liquid smells like coolant and cant be water as the car wasn't near any between the first drying and the 2nd inspection.

its a 2000 Type R with about 70k on it. It is still covered under an extended warranty that I purchased from the acura dealer.

If anyone has any suggestions as to how to proceed with this I would greatly appreciate it. I am very worried that the dealer is going to try to deny the warranty claim or fail to provide a loaner car while they repair it.

Additionally if anyone has any advice on other things to check to confirm what the actual problem is i would love to hear it.

Other relevant information.
I just changed the oil, there is no coolant in the oil.
It does not currently have the factory exhaust on it. Although i am in the process or putting that and the factory air cleaner on it before I go to the dealer to try to get it fixed. It has a DC sports JDM stainless header a test pipe where the cat was and an aftermarket "muffler"
The car doesn't get driven particularly hard.
The tires were rotated the day before I noticed the missing out.

If there is other information that is relevant or would be useful in providing assistance I will gladly provide it.

thanks for any tip, advice or suggestions.

 

How warm was the engine when you washed it?

Did you not have the misfiring at all before you washed the engine bay?

 

the engine was cold, didn't have the misfiring before. However it persists after the engine has been dry for a couple days. And the liquid is starting to come back in the plug holes

 

Sounds to me like a blown head gasket, but do you have the plug wire cover on? Also, are your plugs torqued to spec?

 

cover was on and plugs torqued properly according to helms manual.
I assure you I am relativly maticulus about details like that. But I do appreciate the questions as they will help paint a more clear picture.

 

don't torque the spark plugs in the future, unless you have a low torque wrench.

hand tight + 1/4 turn is good.

 

I had the same problem, but I'm not convinced it could be head gasket related. My #4 plug had 2 inches of water sitting on it. How could coolant find it's way to the spark plug hole??? Makes no sense to me.

 

I have an inch lb torque wrench and they were torqued to spec.

Coolant could get in there when the gasket fails and water from a coolant passage seeps between the head and the block and into the cylinder and up through the plug.

It may have gotten in there a different way, I am hoping that if it does someone will know how and let me in on it.

otherwise its getting the factory exhaust back on and the dealer can replace whatever is broken.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by twuelfing &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
Coolant could get in there when the gasket fails and water from a coolant passage seeps between the head and the block and into the cylinder and up through the plug.

</TD></TR></TABLE>

Seems to me any coolant that reaches the inside of a firing cylinder will be vaprized and leave through the exhaust valves, forming huge white clouds behind you.

 

i would think so too except for when the engine isn't hot yet like right after you start it my best guess is that the rubber seal keeps the vapor in there and it re-condenses when the engine cools down.

 

i would say its your head gasket

 

Is the car running hot? Are you getting water in the combustion chamber (evidence would be super clean spark plug) These are both good questions to answer if it is a head gasket.

You could have just went too crazy with the water when you cleaned it. The miss could be water in the distributer cap or corrosion (from the water) on one of the plug leads.

You can determine if it is a head gasket by doing a leak down test if you have the tester. If not, there is a kit you can buy for about 30 dollars that will tell you if there are combustion chamber gasses in the engine coolant. Lilse Tools part number 75500 you can probably get one from Napa.

I hope all of this helps and it is not a blown gasket.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by twuelfing &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Coolant could get in there when the gasket fails and water from a coolant passage seeps between the head and the block and into the cylinder and up through the plug.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Do you mean around the plug, or literally through the plug? The plug should be air tight, if it was leaking water then it'd be leaking exhaust too, and you'd have a nasty mess on your hands.

 

probably i am just paranoid.

it has not started acting up again.

Is the car running hot? nope, its about 1/3 of the wayup the guage as always.
Are you getting water in the combustion chamber cant tell, spark plugs werent super clean they were white.