Fellow Accord owners and mechanical slaves,

I'm looking at my 1996 Accord with 171,000 miles scratching my head and wondering if its time to swap the engine, which I have never before done on any car I have owned. The latest issue is coolant in all four cylinders. Enough to make it almost impossible to start without clearing them out first, afterwards it starts immediately but after warming, steam is present in the exhaust. I discovered strong evidence of coolant in the oil pan as well. All cylinders easily reach a good compression level of 165 lbs +/- 2 lbs. I rebuilt the head and reinstalled it with a new gasket and bolts about 1.5 years ago. The intake manifold gasket was also replaced at that time. I'm a little confused on whats going on with the good compression but obviously something is seriously wrong. Anyone have any ideas? I'm leaning towards replacing the engine, which I will have to do myself to save money. Also I wanted to ask if anyone has experience with these low mileage (45K) japan import engines?

Thanks in advance for any useful insight!.

 

water in all four cylinders doesnt seem like a head or head gasket problem ive never seen it happen before but it seems like the water is coming in through the intake and there is one line that goes from the valve cover to the air intake pipe that is welded to a small metal water line as well coming off the thermostat housing, maybe there is a hole in the middle of a weld letting water through the intake or maybe a crack inside the intake manifold spraying water in... seems a little farfetched but i dont see water getting into all 4 cylinders because a cracked head will usually be in one cylinder and at most two without giving serious implication beforehand and it wouldnt be the block because all 4 sleeves would have to be cracked since these motors are completely open around all cylinders so i would have to say its coming from the intake since your not losing compression at all

 

Yea I would tend to agree. When I had the intake completely off the engine and in pieces, I could find no evidence of coolant anywhere. I see the small metal pipe that is welded to a vacuum pipe connected to the intake. I think I can safely rule out that plus the two air control valves the coolant from this pipe feeds because I bypassed them all with a piece of hose. I thought for sure that was the source of my issue but the bypass did not solve it otherwise I'd be happy right now and not driving my fuel guzzling truck to work each day. If it is a intake leak, then that leaves the manifold itself. I guess I could replace that (a lot less than the whole engine) and see what happens but I hate troubleshooting that way but I don't have any other choice.

 

6/23/2012 UPDATE: Preformed a coolant system pressure test and found coolant seeping out from front left corner of head where it sits on the block. Now I'm convinced there is something wrong with the head despite what looks like good compression. So off to the machine shop once I get it off the block.

 

Has the engine been overheated that you know of?

Could the head gasket have been installed upside down? It can be put in incorrectly and look like it is OK. If it is upside down it could cause similar issues over time.

171k miles is not a lot of miles for an F22 engine.

 

Headswaps are such a headache. I would just drop in a new motor. Just get a low mileage engine, but then again I'm not sure if u can find an f22b1 engine as the f22b from japan are actually the non vtec. I'm sure someone else knows.

 

Well I guess I can't rule that out since I don't this for a living. It's a Fel-pro, I have been told they are some of the better after market gaskets,? Opinion on that? glad to hear 171k is not a lot of miles for an F22, cause I want this car to last a few more years. Rest of car is in good shape except classic old accord paint job problems. At this point I'm committed to at least have the head checked out. I have not ruled out a new used engine.

 

I don't have any personal experience with Fel-Pro on Honda's. I only ever use the OEM MLS head gaskets from Stone/Koyo. In saying that, I have never had any issues running Fel-Pro on any of the Chev engines that I built.