Ok I just did a headgasket change on my civic and a thermostat change. I did it all by the book, torqued to spec.

Now the thing is overheating and for some reason the coolant in the coolant resevoir has all turned to a coolant-colored sludgelike foam?!?!?! I have never seen anything like it, what causes thsi? I can get a picture if needed-

PLEASE HELP!

 

HEADGASKET. u prob did something wrong

 

ahh that sucks.... its getting like white foam in there... dude the head or block might be warped.... what is the reason you did the headgasket change?? just for the hell of it? or was the old one blown????

other than that.... you can try to drain all of the coolant..... get a hose and put it in the top radiator hose... then take off the lower hose and run it through there for a couple of minutes.. hook it back together...upper and lower hoses.. then fill the radiator up with coolant and water... leave the cap off. start the car.. let it idle for 10 minutes to get to operating temperature.. letting all the bubbles come out and keep topping it off when its stopped bubbling then put the cap back on and take it for a spin....

if it doesn't stop bubbling you might have a warped head or warped block... possibly a cracked block.

good luck tho

 

also yeah put a picture up here too of what it looks like...

 

thanks for the replies...

yeah i didnt do anything wrong with the headgasket, ive done a few and i did it all by the book and to spec.

I changed teh headgasket becuase it was leaking oil all over the engine. So the head/block deck might be warped?

What would cause the coolant/water mix to become a solid? Extreme heat? I am going to attempt to flush the radiator and block tomorrow and refill it all, the sludge isnt too thick so i think it will flush out ok....

Keep the suggestions coming!
Thanks

 

Sounds like the headgasket is upside down, pull the head and take a look.

 

here is the culprit:




Now I got the head on fine and stuff, all the guide sleeve things were in and all. First off is it even possible to put the gasket on upside down? I thoughtt the holes werent symmetrical so putting it on upside would make the holes not match....


anyway given these pics what is the H-T diagnosis?

thanks much

 

omg somebody diarrhea'd in there

 

sorry it was me

 

I didnt know this could even happen to a vehicle. bump for this guy. that looks bad.

 

yup, you got engine oil in there. same thing happened to my A4 when the oil cooler went bad. brown foamy sludge in my resevoir.

gonna have to say headgasket as well, or warped head causing it not to seal fully. i could easily be wrong tho too, im no expert

 

yeah thanks please help i have never seen anything like this..... all i did was the procedure and then refilled everything with a 50/50 coolant water mix. I checked the oil and its still clean and NOT sludge.

pretty confused thats why i came here

 

if i torqued the head down in 2 steps to the right torques like the book says then the only possible cause is a warped head right?

This isnt a oem honda headgasket- i got it from advance auto could that be part of the issue?

 

its hard to tell if the oil has coolant in it without draining it, when you drain it and there is a milky layer floating on top of the oil, thats coolant. otherwise you wont really see it.

i have never done a headgasket, but have had issues with oil/coolant mixing. wish i could help ya more

 

Holy CRAP that is nasty!

When you have this problem resolved please post an update!

 

some honda head gaskets look pretty much the same upside down, i hope that is your problem, otherwise its either a bad gasket or something warped or cracked...anyway if its not that its something expensive. pull the head again and take a close look at how the headgasket is on there. maybe even post a pic so we can see what the insides look like. never seen one that bad. oh yeah and does the exhaust smoke when you run it? if so what color?

 

I haven't ever seen a Honda headgasket leaking externally. Working for the dealer for years that puts my head under the hood of thousands of them...Sooooo, the good and bad news is that the head is probably not warped because you changed the gasket when the leak was most likely elsewhere. If the head was warped that bad before you changed the gasket you would have been overheating like a **** and blowing white smoke out of your exhaust like a mosquito fogger. I would bet it's on upside down and/or it's the aftermarket parts that got you. Get an OEM gasket and roll up your sleeves. i would also get a new radiator, thermostat, reservoir, and flush the living hell out of your block and heater core. Good luck man, I haven't ever seen anything like that on a honda.

 

OMFG! that looks nasty! I've never seen such a thing.

 

holy ******* **** dude..... i didnt think it was that bad.... i just thought it was white foam.. ive had that before...

okay.. start your car.. have someone stand behind it and see if it smokes at all.. if not... leave the car running.. check your oil if it looks like a milkshake gasket no good. if it looks normal check to see if youare losing oil.. i dont know man... that stumps me.. go buy an oem honda gasket.. i have used a felpro gasket before with no problems.. good luck man

 

You replaced the head studs too didn't you? OEM headstuds can only be used once since they stretch. ARP ones must be retorqued after some usage but I believe are re-usable.

 

i reused the oem studs, i have before its fine...

yeah the gasket is felpro is WASNT steel so maybe that could be the issue since the oem one is steel or metal at least correct?

im going to get an oem gasket, flush the block and try to fix it this weekend, ill let you know how it goes.... i will pull the head tomorrow and take some pics to get some opinions, i plan to flush it pre- head pull...


please stay posted thanks for all the help!

 

you are not supposed to put jello in your radiator

 

dayumnnn good luck with that, i had the same problem before with my old toyota corolla... I knew it was mixed up with oil when you mentioned felpro and reused OE bolts

 

HOLY **** thats like PASTE. well goodluck man with ur car journey. just remeber, once it's done it'll be worth it

 

I've reused factory headstuds before. I didn't think these were stretch bolts? I added a few lbft to the torque specs and everything was okay...

Gotta say though I have never seen that ****. Good luck cleaning it all out.