Hey guys, I'm about to purchase a head gasket and before I do I would like to consult with the site...
I have low compression in 2 adjacent cylinders and coolant is getting dried up quickly with no signs of a leak.
1999 Honda civic ex, d16y8, stock, auto trans.

Thanks

(The code 9 and high idle issues begin at post #32)

 

Buy/borrow/rent a block tester from your local parts store. It'll tell you if you have exhaust gas in your coolant, which will be fairly definitive. If you do have exhaust in your coolant, use an OEM head gasket, and be sure to have a machine shop check your head for flatness.

 

Oh shoot! Yeah forgot to mention I've done that already. It turned yellow or whatever it supposed to turn if it has a bad HG. Probably didn't need to make this a thread, just I have forgotten I've already done that. Thanks for the reminder!!!
12251-P2J-004 Is correct for a d16y8, right?
Thanks man

 

Aha, I understand. 12251-P2J-004 is the correct part number, yes. Also be ready to replace your exhaust manifold, intake manifold, and valve cover gaskets, since you'll be removing those parts as well. Removing the intake manifold isn't strictly necessary, but will make life MUCH easier.

 

Yeah, I'll most likely be removing both manifolds just to make life easier as you said. I just replaced the valve cover gasket around 3 months ago. Would it be look down upon to reuse with care?

 

And does $33 dollars sounds good for an OEM new HG ? I just dont wan't to overpay much, yaknow

 

That's reasonable. Majestic wants ~$29, but they'll rape you on shipping.

 

I always remove both manifolds, and then push the intake manifold back to make enough clearance to pull the head. This way, you don't have to disconnect any wiring or hoses. Also, your exhaust manifold gasket is 100% reusable. Valve cover gasket would be at your discretion, I don't do it if it doesn't leak/isn't hard. I have used both OEM and felpro gaskets, felpro used to be trash but have really improved their design in the last year or two. Currently running felpro on my d/d, 2 years no problems

 

Okay guys, so I was tearing down the engine bay for a head gasket repair one of my cars. It's a 1999 honda civic ex with a stock d16y8. Everything went fairly smooth except for breaking the god damn intake manifold nuts off. But I eventually got everything out the way and removed the head.
NOW HERE COMES THE ISSUE.
I was finishing up the night by cleaning up of course. I did half of the job and was planning to do the rest tomorrow because it was getting late and daylight was burning out. So I cleared the floor, organized tools and everything so tomorrow will be smooth. I had the car half inside of the garage, so I had to pull it out to the driveway before I called it a night. I knew you can but the car into on position to select a gear, so I did just that and forgot to remove the fuel pump fuse. So I went a removed the fuse then proceeded to turn the car back to on. IT WAS ALREADY IN POSITION. I CRANKED THE ENGINE.
I only cranked it once really quick and turned it off. I jumped out and took a look at the engine. My timing belt was no longer in the position i left it. It got sucked down. I turned over the engine by hand and reset it to TDC. The timing belt marks I made to match are now never going to match up, I guess the belt jumped. There's no damage to the belt. Is it okay to just re-align TDC and continue where I left off? I am no way in the mood to do a timing belt job too. Please if anyone can cast some light my way I'd greatly appreciate that.
Thanks HT. Sorry for the novel.

 

Any enlightening words?

 

Align cam and crank to tdc, reinstall everything, then compression test. OR remove head, take to shop, have valves checked. it is kind of a crapshoot, ive seen cars with broken belts have no valve issues, and ive seen them horribly bent. with just turning over, it is probably ok, but you wont know for sure until you do one of the above options.

 

wait, your post is unclear. was the belt on the cam at all?

 

No. The belt wasnt on the cam at all. The whole head was off. Only the block was in the car. I was doing head gasket

 

Then all you have to do is realign the timing mark on the crank pulley to TDC and carry on, as long as the timing belt isn't damaged.

 

So, as long as the white line is in the middle of the sight thing and the belt is undamaged I can continue as I was. Like I said before, the belt has been shifted as well. I'm at TDC and my marks that I made on the belt and cam will not line back up.

 

Forget about the marks you made on the belt. Set the crank and head to TDC, reinstall the head and adjust the belts tension.

 

This. The timing system is an unbalanced system anyway, so any markings you make on the belt will likely NEVER line up again after the first time you start the car. Only use cam and crank TDC markers.

 

Exactly, marking the belt doesn't mean jack. Use the timing marks Honda provided and install the belt once the camgear and crank are on their timing marks.

 

Alright thanks guys! I have everything aligned at TDC(i will take pictures to run it past you guys). Today im going to only be able to clean everything up, had some things to do so couldn't get much done. Thanks for all the help!

 

Hey guys. So today I cleaned up the surfaces the best I could, I used the razor blade technique and carefully tried to remove any buildup left on the mating surfaces. I re-aligned the cam to TDC and the crank to TDC as well. I have some worries about the head though. Some valves are opened slightly. On the rocker assembly the valves that are open their arms are lowered slightly. Maybe that's normal? I'm hoping so. Everything else looks good to me. Let me know what you think! Thanks

I clearly couldn't get one of the pistons as clean as the other ones.

Re-aligned TDC

TDC is also correct here on the cam

Picture of the cleaned head. I couldn't get it any cleaner, I didnt use anything abrasive.

The valves that are slightly opened.

The other pair that are as well.

Picture of the rocker arms lowered

The old headgasket. Clearly shows why I was burning through coolant.


Thanks!

 

With the head fully assembled there will always be valves open unless you back the lash adjusters all the way off. It's normal.

 

Great! I need to pick up a knock sensor tomorrow because I snapped mine in half like you can see. So I hope all goes well. Should I use that RTV spray stuff people talk about?

 

NO.

 

Okay, I will just make sure the mating is exact. Thanks for all the help. I'll post when I have everything together or run into anymore problems. I appreciate it

 

You should inspect the head very close for cracks between the valve seats. Or maybe even take it to a machine shop to have it inspected and checked for any warpage. Last thing you want to do is put it back on and have the same cooling loss through a crack that you did not see.
I have had a cooling loss problem for awhile and thought it was the gasket only to find out the head was cracked between the valve seats. If I would have not seen this, way too much $ and time would have been wasted.