ok so in my 1990 ef civic hatch i got a dohc zc and i race dirt tracks with it......i got the temp up to 250 degrese wht is the normal operating temp and should i change the head gasket if so wht kind of car do i buy a head gasket for????

 

250 seems a little hot, I think normal operating temp is 220. If you need a headgasket, get one for a 89 Integra.

 

so just a 1989 integra 1.6 liter?.............also wht is the best way to decide/find out if the head gasket is gone on it?...like i let it idle in my drive way for 25 mins and it never moved off the 130 mark.....(thats the lowest the temp gauge goes)

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by civic46 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">so just a 1989 integra 1.6 liter?.............also wht is the best way to decide/find out if the head gasket is gone on it?...like i let it idle in my drive way for 25 mins and it never moved off the 130 mark.....(thats the lowest the temp gauge goes)</TD></TR></TABLE>

Yes, the Integras only came with a 1.6 for those years, just make sure it's for a 88-89 model.

You can check for a blown HG by looking for oil in the coolant, coolant in the oil or by doing a compression test. Another dead giveaway would be sweet smelling smoke from your exhaust.

Maybe your fan isn't coming on?

 

the fan is deff comin on i have it wired direct to a kill switch to the car so the car would ahve to die for it not to come on.....thanks for the info tho man

 

also, when doing the compression test, pay close attention to the difference in readings from cylinder to cylinder...if two adjacent (touching) cylinders have a 20% difference in them(i.e., #1 cyl has 160 psi, and #2 has 135-140) then you probably have a blown headgasket....if you cant figure out where your compression is going, do a leak down test, this will tell you where your losing your compression...at 250 degrees, dirt tracking a zc, you could have more than a headgasket on your problem......

 

wht is a leak down test and how is it done?

 

basically, its done virtually the same as a compression test....however this time you use a leak down tester to force compressed air into the engine...and based on where this air exits (exhaust-stuck valve? radiator or resivior- head gasket? cracked cylinder? intake/throttle body- stuck valves?) there are many places that your compression can leak to, depending on how serious the damage is...i would safely assume that you merely blew the headgasket...make sure when you replace it that you have the head and prefferably the block resurfaced, so that the chance of that heat warping your head wont bite you in the butt later...i learned this the hard way........btw, if your going to go out and get a leak down tester, make sure you get the type with two gauges on the top of it w/ the same type of spark plug adapter that your compression tester will have....good luck!!

 

thanks alot my man!!!