Doing a head gasket change. When I pulled the head I noticed what looked like coolant near the far left (#4?) cylinder mixed with oil... I knew there was problem ahead of time. I did the test with the blue liquid in the tube pressed up against the radiator to test for combustion gases and the liquid turned color so I knew there was something up.

After cleaning things up a bit I noticed these chips in the block. Is this a bad thing? Is the block toast? Is that what's causing the leak? How does this happen?

I know it's not a good thing obviously but how risky, for lack of a better word, is it to just finish up with the head gasket change and drive the car?
If the car can be finished and drive for 20,000+ miles then I'm fine with that. I'm not wanting to drop a new engine in as I don't have the cash.

I posted this thread into a couple of subforums as I trust the advice from certain people in each and don't know offhand which forums they generally lurk.


The pictures below are of the far left side (closest to dizzy and the cylinder directly next to it). Pictures are taken from the front of the vehicle standing over the engine.

NOTE:This is my friend's car

 

The coolant jacket is just corroding away. There shouldn't be any problems putting it together like that. In the areas pictured the sleeves themselves look fine; this is also where the sealing takes place. As to why it's leaking: well have you taken a straight edge to the head and block? Also, when it corrodes like that the headgasket typically gets destroyed along with it. Seems like the coolant wasn't changed as often as it should have been and/or there are some engine grounding issues. I personally have replaced headgaskets with blocks looking much worse than that with out any problems.

 

Thank you, I honestly was hoping you would chime in as I trust your opinion over a LOT of people here.

I took a straight edge and feeler gauge to it and it was fine, surprisingly as I thought it wouldn't be. But I did it correctly I know that and it came out fine. The cylinder walls look brand new to me basically. I took a ton of pictures and can post them if need be.

The previous owner got the problem "fixed" by a shop which didn't do it well. They appeared to actually remove all the headbolts and changed the head gasket but I know they didn't solve the true problem as it obviously happened again. The "mechanics" just removed the thermostat (found out AFTER I bought the car and it started having problems again) to solve the problem.



I've narrowed it down to the male(IIRC) sending unit on top of the thermostat housing. I need to figure out what it's called and get a replacement part for it. (engine is D16y7, yes I know it's the wrong forum). The fan doesn't turn on without me doing one of the tests. I've tested it directly powered to the battery - passed, I've grounded out the female end and the fan turns on - passed, but when just idling and engine temperature increasing the fan won't kick on by itself.

The radiator has a buildup of 'sludge' in it as well now thanks to this problem. Any suggestions to cleaning it out?

 

youll be ok. as long as there isnt any chips like this on the actual SLEEVE

 

There's not, the sleeves look brand new.

 

There's a good chance the headbolts were reused. I strongly advise you to use new ones, or even better, upgrade to some ARP headstuds.

 

That's true. They were reused. 2 of them had NO WASHERS ON THEM. ****ing ******* shops. This is why I do my own repairs.

I bought an oem headgasket, ten headbolts, intake & exhaust gaskets too all from majestic honda. I have all of it already. All the other seals are good thankfully.

 

Honda Part No. 37760-P00-003 SWITCH ASSY., THERMO (A-93) (NIPPON THERMOSTAT)

 

$40?! Goddamn it

 

Lol! ^

Good deal. Yea, some people take chances reusing the bolts. I never do.

 

Sorry for chiming in late but in case you haven't figured it out; that "switch" is the Radiator Fan Switch. I assume they converted the wiring over from the rear of the block (where it would be factory) to where it is on the later engine (thermostat housing).

To clean the radiator you can buy some flushing liquid or just use water. It's hard to clean it efficiently but if you run enough water through in both directions until it is clear you probably did the best you could. The only real alternative is to replace it. It really sounds like the coolant system wasn't taken care of properly.

PS - You are welcome; I try to help when I can/ feel like it.

 

For the d16y7 the radiator fan switch wasn't on the thermostat housin stock?

 

Yes, it was - if you read what I typed very slowly, you will find I said where it would be in the factory location (referring to vehicle/engine); then when you installed the later engine (as in later on in the production years) it was moved to the thermostat housing.

 

Alright sorry, I was reading it while running errands.


oh ok... the motor is actually the stock motor in my friend's 1998 civic dx hatch. I just posted it here to get a range of opinions.