so heres the deal. 97 ex, d16y8, i/h/e, stage 1 flywheel and clutch, tracked at the local time attack from time to time. about two months ago, when the car stated, it sounded like a subaru, kinda freaked me out and had me worried but the car ran perfect after a few seconds. it has done that ever sence. about a month ago, car popped up with a random misfire code. having replaced the plugs and wires not long ago, i just erased the code. a week or two ago, it popped up with a knock sensor code, twice. again just erased it, but a bit more worried now. yesterday i noticed i have to top off the coolant tank/radiator every month or so, and the car has a bit of white smoke now. then it hit me like a ton of bricks, is my head gasket slowly going out? anyone seen this before? any help would be nice.

 

sounds like a headgasket to me

 

leak down test

 

With a little coolant loss like that, could be headgasket. I would do a block test, you can buy one for like 50 bucks, even if you took it in, they will charge you at least that anyway.

 

is the car smoking at all? I belive white smoke is coolant but not really sure. and if it is than most likely the headgasket like said before. check your oil to see if its milky too.

 

This

 

Block test is for exhaust in radiator. Sounds like coolant is going into combustion chamber more so than exhaust into coolant. Still a good check.

Before spending the $50 read the spark plugs. Maybe one will be cleaner than the others indicating the bad cylinder(s).

 

probably going to pull the plugs and find my self a leak down tester on my next day off, but im 99% sure its a bhg, bummer.

 

check your oil like said before if its milky then your leaking antifreeze either by a headgasket, cracked head, cracked block. many diffrent ways.

 

I dont believe in testing headgaskets like that's. Because I had a d15b7 that headgasket went bad in, it cracked between the cooling jacket and the number 2 cylinder and the coolant never mixed with the oil. It would start up run rough for a minute and be fine afterwards. Ended up replacing it, not a drop of water in the oil.

 

probably headgasket. white smoke usually indicates a blown headgasket. if you have any blue smoke your piston rings and valve seals may be bad.

do a wet/dry compression and a leak-down test.

 

wats up people i just noticed a little white smoke today coming out the exhaust gona do my tests but im pretty sure from reading on here i have a blown head gasket (dam!).. but just wanted to no if theres anything else i should look for .. any advice or tips is more than welcomethanks

 

Get the head gasket replaced seems like good advice

 

don't waste any money on tools to diagnostics, save it to gather all the parts and renting tools from local part store and do a good tune up for it, get the head surface check also should be $50-$100, thermal stats, water pump, belts...

head gasket is shot for sure...

mine case is different, blew head gasket, force oil into my coolant system, cause high pressure in my coolant system and leaks out through the coolant reservation cap and causing overheating if drive over an hour. or other case will just burn coolant and make white smokes.

 

sounds just like my problem. i just changed the oil the other day and there was no milklyness to it at all. pulling the plugs tomarrow and going to try to look down the bore to see if i see coolant. the car has sat for a few days, riding the bike for the time being.

 

make sure when you do your headgasket that you do it right. if you don't you can screw it up and make it go bad again.
also, get unused/brand new head bolts. like $45 at the dealership. you don't wanna use them twice.
make sure you torque them right. look in your manual but it's something like 22lbs then 55lbs then 75lbs or whatever. i can't remember exactly.

 

Coolant flows thru the IAC on this motor. (Idle Air Control on the Throttle Body)
My 97 Honda Civic Ex had a similar problem - burning up a small amount of coolant - approx one cup per 100 miles and no indication of a head gasket problem.
Replacing the seal/gasket in the IAC solved the problem.