1995 Civic EX - car was leaking oil bad - so changed the headgasket at a shop @ 145k. They checked for head warpage ("machine shop check" as labeled on the receipt).

Now it's 170k (25k miles later), and the car blows a lot of white smoke during acceleration and sometimes the engine stalls. It gets very hard to start back as well - stalling afterwards if it can start. Also, the temp gauge goes to HOT. I think the starting problem is due to the Ignition control module within the distributor. I recently replaced that with something on ebay. Could it be the ICM or is it because there's just coolant in the engine to make it not start?

1. Is the headgasket blown again after 25k miles???? -- Mechanic is telling me that could be oil ring as well
2. Can you check the condition of the oil rings when taking the head off or would i need to take apart the pistons? I can't really do a compression test as the car is not running. I did a search on oil rings and nothing came up.

Was going to change headgasket ($40) as a weekend job, so please help, thanks.

 

did u get the head milled and the block milled as well because if the head warped by being removed improperly that will cause a leak or if it got scratched when it was pulled off
do thiss take some thin oil i use a type or rust preventer its almost like a oil smells like oranges lol its made to clean and prevent rust i fill the cylinders with that with the head off and time how long it takes for them to leak down if the oil rings are good the oil will stay pooled on the pistons i had my b16 when i got it for 60$ hold the oil for 4 weeks straight lol i was super suprized lol my buddys lsvtec hold it for only 1min in one cylinder lol so its the best way to tell lolworks like a charm id say use wd40 but that stuff isent the best to use to dry or a cleaner

 

also thermastat if it gets stuck closed the motor will over head that cam cause warpage after it was fixed as well id say check if it openes remove it and put it in a pot of hot water and see if it opens and stays open

 

You could go to a shop and have them do a compression and leakdown test, never hurts and can be very informative.

 

First off, headgaskets just don't leak oil externally regardless of how much it often looks like thats whats going on. Generally its the distributor O-ring or cam seal and it looks like its coming from around where the head meets the block.

That sounds an awful lot like a blown headgasket, its not starting because the combustion chambers are full of coolant.

Again sure sounds like it, and doesn't sound like rings at all to me from your description.

No, you need to remove the pistons from the block to check the rings.

 

When I got the car back, it actually stopped leaking. This was the only thing they changed.

How can I ensure that if i replace the gasket again, it won't deteriorate like this again?
- check for warpage using straightedge
- ensure correct torque on bolt when tightening

anything else?

 

your head is probably warped if you let it overheat

 

You can try using new headbolts (ARP headstuds are probably the way to go really, IIRC the price difference between them and honda headbolts is negligable) I'd also go with a D16Y8 metal headgasket. If its been overheated though you easily run the risk of blowing another headgasket. I find it usually makes more sense to pick up a low mileage JDM D15B Vtec or SOHC Vtec ZC and replace the whole engine just based on how many times i've seen D-series engines blow headgaskets repeatedly after the first one.

Yep.

 

Take the head to a machine shop and have it milled. I did mine 3 weeks ago without machine work, and it failed after one week. Ran great for a week and than I started having issues starting when engine was semi warm. After 6 days of starting problems the HG totally went and white smoke started pouring out. Checked oil and it was chocolate milk. I redid the gasket last week and so far so good. Another sign was white scum on oil fill cap and gradual loss of coolant. I was losing maybe a cupful every week or two.