My 98 Civic DX coolant keeps leaking but I cant find any leaks on the ground. I can see dried coolant sprayed everywhere next to the coolant. I filled it up with coolant/water this morning and drove my car to do some errands and by the time i came home my coolant was empty. I was thinking maybe changing the head gasket but I'm kinda short on money right now. Any one know the problem?

 

i would try pressure testing your coolant system first, see if you can find a leak
there. watch your exhaust color and scent before you dive in to that project

 

Has your car ever overheated recently? If so that would warp ur head which means that coolant is leaking into the cylinders and getting burned through the exhaust system. I had the same problem...pulled the head, resurfaced it, changed the head gasket, and that solved the problem. Good luck!

 

did headgasket myself with helms only cost me 100 or dollars

 

It hasn't overheated yet but the temp stays a little less than half cold. I was thinking it was the head gasket too. blkegcoupe it only cost you 100$? I heard it cost alot for the head gasket and it takes alot of labor.. like taking apart the engine and everything. when u did ur headgasket how did u do it? I am mechanically inclined but if i can fix it myself instead of going to a shop then its all good. I'm not willing to shell out alot of money if i can do it myself.

 

how is the fluid level inside the radiator? when the car is cool open the radiator cap and check the coolant level...

 

do this, wait til it cools down, take the radiator cap off, and start the car. if coolant sprays all over, you got a blown head gasket. yea blkegcoupe is right, my blown headgasket cost me $85 assuming the head isn't warped. if you need any help, pm me. i've done 4 in the last year and a half, 2 on my celica, 2 on my civic. lol, i'm not the most mechanically inclined, but i think i've gtot the head gasket thing down. took me 1 day. first time it took me 2 days.

 

Yea changing the head gasket is not hard at all. Get yourself a Helms manual and you'll be fine. A Honda headgasket should cost you no more than $100 plus about $40-$50 for the machine shop to resurface your head which is optional, but I would recommend it. All in all it should take you no more than a day without machining and about 2-3 days with machine (depending on how fast the machine shop gives you back your head). But the main thing is having the Helms manual...the best $80 I've ever spent!

 

is a helms reall $80, holy crap, i bought a haynes and it was only 20, that thing is like my honda bible man. best $20 ever spent. dude i wish my machine shop cost $50, that **** was like $100 but it's the only one within like 60 miles so i gotta pay.

 

The Haynes is good, but the Helms is great. I've seen a few Helms posted online for free. I have a pdf for the '96-'00 Civic and '96-whatever Integra. Both books have saved my butt a few times.

 

can we get a link to that free online one homie? i've wanted to read a helms manual for a while.

 

I'm gonna try what austinkli says and start the car wit the rad cap off and see if it sprays. But my top radiator hose gets kinda hard and gets really hot to the point where i cant even touch it for long. I have to refill my coolant at least once a day.

 

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