I was wondering if my head gasket broke. I open up the radiator cap and there's bubbly water in there, it's black like if it's dirty. Does this mean my head gasket broke?

I also have to fill it with Anti freeze every 2 days now. Smoke also comes out of the muffler.

I have a 94 honda civic dx.

 

Yeah thats like almost all the symptoms of it... Does it sound like its bubling in the coolant reservoir and when the car smells like coolant?? here are some symptoms that ppl usually get:

1) Check your oil. If the oil on the dipstick looks like chocolate milk, then there's water in it, and this is the surest sign of a blown head gasket or a cracked engine block.

2) Check your radiator coolant. If it looks brownish and foamy, that usually means there's oil in your cooling system, which is another sign that a severe breakdown has occurred.

3) Visually inspect the engine for leakages of an oil/water mix

 

I checked the dipstick and the oil is normal.

Erm, not sure about the radiator coolant. I know which is the radiator, I checked it and the water is the anti freeze water with a bit of dirt looking things.

If it's the little tank beside the radiator, ya the anti freeze is dirty in there, prolly oil.

Btw, it looks like the car dumps the oil too cuz the engine is full of it. I'll try to take pictures and show.

 

Pictures of the car engine and radiator:



radiator cap:









dipstick:

 

yea, that looks bad. Definately signs of a blown head gasket.

 

Is THere wHiTe smoke ouT of THEe exHausT? sounds like bad THermosTaT b/C of THe bubbling, and you need a radiaTor flusH.

 

yeah its light blue / white smoke

 

THaT = Head gaskeT THen.

 

Ya thats all signs of a blown head gasket did the car ever over heat and how many miles on the motor

 

he seriously types like that in every post.
really.

 

That car didn't even overheat, I looked at the meter and it didn't even go up. It stayed normal. The car didn't overheat AT ALL.

I always keep my eye on the heat meter so that i make sure it the car dont overheat and it didnt. Weird, the meter is even new. The old one didn't work well, and that was a long time ago when the car overheated that time.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by ssj4trunks09 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">That car didn't even overheat, I looked at the meter and it didn't even go up. It stayed normal. The car didn't overheat AT ALL.

I always keep my eye on the heat meter so that i make sure it the car dont overheat and it didnt. Weird, the meter is even new. The old one didn't work well, and that was a long time ago when the car overheated that time.</TD></TR></TABLE>
Well putting stress on the head gasket would cause it to go but most the time its when it gets hot one thing i would do is flush the system with a hose and see if oil comes out when your cleaning it all out

 

This happened to my first civic. It turned out to be a blown head gasket. I didn't know anything about cars then, sold it for dirt cheap, the guy fixed it and I see it all over town now. I wish I knew more at the time and had a few friends over to help fix it. I kick myself every time I see someone else driving my car. Haha.

 

Assuming it is the head gasket, how much would repairs cost?

 

Its not extremely but that also depends if your head is warped or not and all the work if your not doing it

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by ssj4trunks09 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Assuming it is the head gasket, how much would repairs cost?</TD></TR></TABLE>

The HG itself will run you about $50 or so (OEM) and then you have to factor another $7-10 for coolant depending on what type you get (pre mix or self). The labor is what rapes you. I would say $150-200 in labor should be about right. You could also spend $75 for a Helms, $16 on a 12pack of Heiniken (for a friend), and another $50 or so on the tools to do the job and go for it. If you have enough time to spare you could easily do it so long as you are mechanically inclined.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by 95ProjectEJ1 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">The HG itself will run you about $50 or so (OEM) and then you have to factor another $7-10 for coolant depending on what type you get (pre mix or self). The labor is what rapes you. I would say $150-200 in labor should be about right. You could also spend $75 for a Helms, $16 on a 12pack of Heiniken (for a friend), and another $50 or so on the tools to do the job and go for it. If you have enough time to spare you could easily do it so long as you are mechanically inclined. </TD></TR></TABLE>

dont want to regret anything like this guy:
<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Scottyk6 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">This happened to my first civic. It turned out to be a blown head gasket. I didn't know anything about cars then, sold it for dirt cheap, the guy fixed it and I see it all over town now. I wish I knew more at the time and had a few friends over to help fix it. I kick myself every time I see someone else driving my car. Haha.</TD></TR></TABLE>
If you can have your car sitting inoperative depending on how long it takes you, you should try and do it your self. I had your symptoms too. I yanked off the head to change the head gasket and i found out all the water jackets were rusted to the max! It's ok though... I pulled the motor. With the head off, the motor came out easier haha.

edit:: oh yeah.. you can check if your head is warped by getting a straight edge and feeler gauge.

2x edit:: i just notice on the bottom of the page there is a link to Scion-Tech... LOL! tiooote

 

yeah it sounds like its a symptom of a blown headgasket. If you let a mechanic do it. It will cost approx $1k. I'll say screw it and do it yourself.

 

Could it be possible that there's something wrong with the modular diaphragm? The car didn't overheat and has never overheated in the first place and the thermostat is new and working.

How can I check if it's the modular diaphragm? Because before I had this problem I still had light blue smoke/white smoke coming out anyways.

So how do I check it and if it's bad how can I repair it?

 

if you're not convinced simply drain the radiator, flush it out, refill, and see what happens.

the easiest way to do this is go to your local car wash, drain it there, flush it there, refill it there, that way you dont have to worry about catching the fluid.

and just run water through the radiator till its somewhat clean, then refill.

should be fairly obvious.