I just bought a 1991 RS yesterday in St. Louis for 1250. I had to drive a total of 350 miles to get it, but she was worth it. She's only got 154K miles, and the Timing belt was just replaced at 150K. I'm going to pull the VC soon just to ensure, though. Here's a pic of her:



Interior is in perfect condition. Came with a nice pioneer HU.

Outside is in good condition. A few <U>small</U> rust spots, but I'll be fixing that. Now on to the more important issue :

Whenever I inspected the engine after arriving in St. Louis to pick it up, I noticed this:




I didn't think much of it besides maybe the return hose busted a while back and they didn't clean it up. Well, after driving home ( and adding some coolant in the overflow tank), the overflow was completely empty. This morning I popped the Radiator cap and nada - dry. So I changed the oil, and whenever I was down there I noticed to small spots of coolant on the oil pan. I visually inspected the hoses and they appear to be in good condition. No cracks. Car runs/pulls perfectly. Idles like a kitten. So it's not a bad head gasket, 'cause there isn't any smoke whatsoever nor was the oil milky. No CEL's.

I'd also like to add that down below is caked nicely with something. The oil pan gasket looks good, through a feel and visual test.

 

Good find man Check the cam seal,it looks pretty bad,its right above where the upper radiator hose goes into the head.Also your distributor o-ring may be bad and dripping oil down the block,wipe under the distributor and see if theres fresh oil.Both parts should run less then $10 and it would be good preventative maintenance to go ahead and replace them anyway.As for it leaking oil around the head and block,do a compression check and see what you come up with,or clean the engine really good and then take it for a short drive and look for fresh oil leaking.

 

Thanks for the response. I'll check and consider purchasing both. Any other ideas?

 

My engine looked exactly the same when i purchased my 1990 DA w/ 150K on it. and just like the guy above said... it was the cam seal. just dont over torque those bolts. i striped mine and i swear i wasnt going past the torque specs

 

I just bought a 90 rs. same problem. replaced the cam seal now it's fine.

 

Since everyone else has addressed the oil leaks in your picture, I'm going to address your real question as to why you are losing coolant. If you are not burning or leaking it into your oil, chances are excellent that your radiator is leaking. Honda OEM radiators are notorious for leaking from the plastic endtanks. Replace it with an all aluminum aftermarket radiator, and you will solve the problem permanently.