My car NEVER overheated, dosent burn a drop of oil, but it does go through antifreeze. The motor is a JDM 97 b18b into a civic hatch. I put less than 15k on it since i had it, probably like 10-11k.

Now im checking my radiator and its always full. My overflow though is ALWAYS empty after about a week-2 weeks...some times it takes longer. I have no drops on my driveway so i know its not leaking either.

Today I was tucking some wires and see on the front of my block a big wet spot...like my motor pissed its pants or something. Its right around the dipstick area and looks like it comes from the HG area all the way down to the oil pan, and about 6'' wide. Its all dry and i cant tell if it is oil or antifreeze. But i know it was not there when the motor was installed. I cant see the HG line because the manifold is in the way but tomorrow i plan to pull the mani to check it out. When i did a comp check it seemed OK...i believe 180's and 190's totally cold motor.

I know there is leak dye for AC systems...is there the same crap for antifreeze so i can run it through for a while then check with a black light. Im going turbo in a few weeks and i dont think boosting on a bad HG is a good idea.

 

if youre mechanically inclined...and have the time...just pull the head (since youre going boost wouldnt be a bad idea to pull it and get the valve seats recut and just have a thorough cleaning of the head) and then replace the HG

 

Edit: I didnt read the entire thing, my bad,

 

pull out your dip stick, does it look creamy like white and oil mixed together?

 

there is a 19mm bolt by the dipstick, which is used to drain all the coolant from the block make sure that bolt is tight..

 

In a few min i will go outside and pull the manifold off and look closer.

I changed the oil and there was no residue in the oil...nor a milky look in the valve cover/under the cap.

Car does not smell sweet either.

I know how to do headgaskets and have done a few before, but if i dont need to i prefer to use that money towards saving for forged internals.

 

 

headgasket doesnt cost much.

 

your right it dosent, but im guessing I shouldnt reuse the headbolts, and should get some ARP in that case?

Also since im going to be not boosting too high, and when i do boost high ill be rebuilding the block...thus replacing the HG...a normal HG from say autozone should be fine correct? Looks like its just a MLS if im not mistaken.

 

yea. depend how long you gonna wait on the boost and all that work. if you really need your car now and want to fix the problem, go to local store and get headgasket and get it fix.

 

oh its going boosted in about a week or two, as soon as my clutch gets here i planned to install it then slap the turbo parts on. Im running low boost (under 250whp) until i find a spare block to build.

what would happen if i did reuse the headbolts? If they stretched would it just pop the headgasket again? since ill be eventually building another block (no longer than a year with this motor) ill probably wait for the head studs to save some cash.

 

i see ppl reused their headstud, but if you want or on the safe side, try arp headstud

 

might as well just get arp's if you're gonna boost. it'll be good for the long run.

 

i can reuse the arp in the next block if i get them? And im guessing the gsr and the ls studs are different?

 

yes arp can be reused