So yeah... I just noticed the other day my coolant was REALLY low. Like halfway between the minimum line and the bottom of the reservoir tank. Now there's only an inch left in the tank (engines cold).

Is a bad head gasket the only thing that could be wrong? And for any honda experts on here that have had a lot of experience, I'll buy you lunch or pay for beer or throw you $20 or something if you can change it for me ASAP after I buy one (if that's the only problem).

Got a 99 d16y8 with 185,xxx miles.

 

have you checked for a coolant leak? the head gasket isn't the only place coolant can go, its probably the least likely since you haven't said anything else is wrong.

 

You need to do more checking.

Is this engine boosted?

The level should be at the bottom line when cold. When was the last time you checked it cold?

Pull the valve cover and make sure all the head bolts are torqued to 53ftlbs. I've seen some where the center bolts are not at full torque. Be carefull putting the valve cover back on, the 5 bolts snap very easy.

If the HG is going you'll see the bottle over flow.

 

yea with that mileage a radiator, hoses, or even more could be at fault.

Good luck

 

It's not boosted. Stock. I'm just wondering if it's burning it up. There are no holes in any hoses or leaks anywhere.

My engine has been sitting in the garage for the past 7 hours. It's cold lol. And there is 1 inch of coolant left. I've never touched anything under the valve cover so I don't see how things would snap or come undone. I've only changed the valve cover gasket and I didn't touch a single thing under it.

 

did the temp in your area drop considerably? did you try topping it off and pressure checking it for leaks?

 

Temperature hasn't dropped considerably but it's getting cold. 30's in the mornings (as usual at this time of the year). Nothing TOO dramatic.

Haven't done a pressure test though. How would I go about doing that?

I'm a pretty big noob when it comes to engine testing and working on an engine . No experience with it. Trying to learn as much as I can though.

 

Add coolent up to the cold line. drive the car for a few day's and check it in the AM after it has cooled overnight.

I say to re torque the head bolts, because I have done HG's and when I break torque on the two center head bolts they moved rather easy. I wonder if your's have loosen overtime. Both times the head bolt felt loose was on the OEM builds, not boosted. One was at 148,000 mile and one was more then your's.

If your going to do this job you'll want to get a manual to read up and what your doing.

Good info here too, https://honda-tech.com/zerothread/1998336

 

^^ Thanks for the info .

I just went out to buy some 50/50...

Came back, went to fill up the reservoir tank, and it went up about an inch and a half but still below the minimum line. So I put a little bit in for just in case.

And IIRC, it looked a tad bit thicker under the radiator cap before I left to get 50/50. I tried shaking the radiator and it didn't seem to move much. But I could be wrong. Engine's warmed up now so I don't wanna open up the rad cap. I'll check again tomorrow morning before I go to class.