dreading a headgasket..F22b1.... normal oil and coolant, but losing some coolant.. the car runs fine...no over heating. if it gets up to normal operating temp and i turn it off, then about 5-10 min later, it stumbles then clears up and runs fine. in the mornings it is fine and after sitting longer periods like an hour then it is fine. i still need to check the small IACV and FITV hoses and might add some dye but it is not blowing steam, running bad, or have oil/coolant mixture. i saw someone had a fitv leak with steam so I am wondering.. any info would be appreciated.... BTW it is a 95 accord vtec with 450K miles.....not sure it is worth repairing but do not want a new car payment for at least a few months. My main question is if HG is bad, wouldnt it run poorly or have any of the other symptoms?

 

Its a Honda, if you have any technical know-how at all a head gasket job isn't really the end of the world. Not to mention if your belts are still in good condition you can replace the headgasket without having to replace the belts. 450k is very good but a usual mileage with these motors. I would invest in repairing it (which it is most likely starting to give out) yourself.

I have both of my FITV (FITV deleted) and IACV hoses removed in my system (waiting to replace them when I install my new intake manifold) because they were starting to crack. My B1 only has 217k on it, so you could definitely replace those if you suspect coolant is draining from them.

 

So can a fitv or iacv leak into the intake as one other person suggested? He had same symptoms that cleared after replacing them

 

Your FITV or IACV could have a small crack in them leaking coolant into the intake. I have seen it before, but only once.


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Do a pressure test on the cooling system. While the system is pasteurized, remove the intake and looking the manifold by opening the butterfly on the throttle body. Using a flashlight check the manifolds for any flowing and or stagnant water.

You can rent pressure testing systems (auto zone, O'reilly,) and when you return it you get your money back.


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It's physically impossible for the iacv to leak coolant into the intake as it's completely sealed off. I thought I had an issue with coolant from my fitv leaking into my intake but I never did confirm it.

 

It's not physically impossible. The "bowl" on the end (next to the throttle body) where the coolant line attaches, i have seen, only once, behind that crack, allowing coolant to seep through. When i took it apart on my friends 93 cb7 that was where his coolant leak was from.

I'm sure it was some act of God, but i have seen it. Again only once. Due to hell freezing over.


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yeah. or what you cold do is let it sit over night after running it for a while and building pressure in the cooling system, then remove the spark plugs and grab a flashlight. if you see the light shine in coolant then you have a bad headgasket. my dad's car has had two bad headgasket. never lost coolant. never missfired. never smoked but pressure would escape from the head into the cooling system. head gaskets are pretty hard to diagnose there are a lot of test to REALLY confirm its the headgasket

 

**** no. Head gaskets are easy to diagnose. Step one, car runs like ****. Step two, **** all diagnosing buy a head gasket. Step three, tear the head of and check the gasket. If old gasket isn't bad, then too bad put the new one on.

If that doesn't fix the problem, throw the car away. Head gasket replacements always fix everything.


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92 civic ex 4dr not all head gasket failures give out bad runs, or mixing coolant, or white smoke, not loosing coolant either. **** diagnosing? hahaha i guess you are one of those who like to throw away money and time. i seeing that you have xbox explains it a lot hahaha. so **** diagnosing tear the head apart and if it isn't the headgasket just throw the car away? yeah sounds like you know a lot about diagnosing. guess you never worked at a shop either where you saw these types of things hahaha. amateur

 

Yeah... Reaper... It's called sarcasm. The last thing i usually ever want to do is a head gasket. They're not hard, but definantly time consuming.


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I still don't know what you're referring to. The compartment where the iacv hoses attach to at the iacv is completely closed off...unless you're saying that the compartment cracked and leaked into the intake manifold ?

 

Yes that is exactly what i am referring to


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OP- Do a block test/check. For ~$35 you can get the kit and the test fluid. It tests for exhaust gases in the coolant. Some have said that autozone rents the kit, in that case you only need to buy the test fluid ~$7.

autozone.com/autozone/accessories/Tools-Garage-and-Equipment/Block-Tester/_/N-25dh