I can not for the life of me get the ******* intake manifold gasket to seal properly near the #4 runner and the cylinder head coolant passage that the dipshit engineers decided to put right next to it. This is my 3rd time attempting this. I tried a felpro gasket, torqued the manifold from the inside out, to proper 17 ft lbs spec, didnt seal. I tried a new felpro gasket, put a little high temp red silicone rtv around it hoping that would seal it, still didnt work. Then I went to the stealership and bought an oem honda gasket which is a different style and much higher quality, same thing, torqued all the manifold nuts from the inside out, to proper 17 ft lbs spec, still wont seal, burns coolant, lots of white smoke from the exhaust. Can someone please tell me how the **** you get this thing to seal? Is there something I am missing? I cleaned the mating surfaces to a near mirror finish before I installed this thing too. Does the cylinder head need to warm up and melt the little rubber ring around the coolant passage hole on the gasket? Someone please tell me what I am doing wrong.

 

Did you bother to check your head/intake mating surfaces with a straightedge to see if there was any warp? If you have any warpage/damage to either surface, it doesnt matter what kind/brand of gasket you install, it'll leak.
In addition to that, if there IS warpage, i'd bet dollars to donuts that your engine seriously overheated at some point(s), and you should check the head thoroughly for such damage/warpage as is associated with overheating. (dont forget to inspect the IM mating surface as well.) If there IS warp, milling time! Good luck.

EDIT: also check to make sure there isnt a fracture between the runner and the coolant port.

2nd EDIT: Oh yeah, and the first thing you should always do...get/borrow/download the Factory Service Manual....then find the sections dealing with your problem area, and read.

 

I think at this point you have a blown head gasket.

How do you know the coolant is coming from the intake manifold?

You didn't accidentally put a coolant line to a vacuum source?

Get a coolant system pressure tester

 

The intake manifold gasket sealed fine. They never burn coolant that way. You've got a blown headgasket or a cracked head/block. Or you've somehow managed to route a coolant line into the intake.

 

I know its the intake manifold coolant passage thats leaking into the #4 runner because the only reason I pulled my intake manifold off was to look at some of the wiring underneath it, it wasnt burning any coolant before this, I didnt think it was gonna be a huge hassle getting it back together though, this is ridiculous. Did a compression test, 140-145 psi on every cylinder, so no blown head gasket. Checked the both the head and intake manifold for straightness, both were good, and I inspected the coolant passage in the cylinder head there are no cracks or anything its clean. This is not the first time Ive had trouble getting these intake manifolds to seal that have coolant running through them. Ill pull the intake off AGAIN today and see what I can find, recheck surfaces for straightness etc. I bought a coolant system pressure tester recently but of course the junk adapter wasnt cast properly so it wouldnt fit my radiator neck. Ill rent one from O reillys see if I can get that one to work. Also checked the routing of the coolant lines, those are all routed to their proper locations.

 

Does anyone know where I can download the FSM for free? Ive checked this site, cant find it, Ive googled it as well, couldnt find any concrete results. Ive seen pages out of it but Id like to have the entire thing because theres another problem my car has as well that Im trying to get sorted out.

 

[LINK REMOVED]

 

I've done a fair amount of these, never had one leak, and I wasn't all that careful about it either. Just scraped the old gasket material off, new gasket on and tightened the nuts. I don't think I ever torqued one to spec.

 

Sorry but you will have to refine your google searches. It's against the Terms Of Service to provide you links to download copyrighted material.

civic factory service manual

or 92-95 civic fsm ab0ve should give you some decent results.

Or better yet, support the publisher and buy a hardcopy at helm.inc they are not expensive.

 

You can PM the link to the OP.

 

Apologies for posting it.

I found it super easy with a google search...i think he can manage at this point

 

Thanks for posting that link, I got the FSM from there. I took the intake manifold back off, checked for cracks or anything suspicious in the heads, everything looked good, did a compression test, 143-145 psi on every cylinder, so I put some indian shellac head gasket sealer around the coolant port of the intake manifold with a new gasket and put everything back together. Its cold here so Im giving it plenty of time to cure, then Ill refill the car with coolant and see how if it holds up. Ill keep you guys updated.

 

Your one lucky SOB. I talked to my uncle as well hes been working on cars for 28 years and he told me hes had trouble getting these to seal properly. Him and another mechanic that has over 40 year of experience told me to use that indian head gasket shellac sealant, so hopefully it will work.

 

Hmm.. I just used hi temp RTV and mone sealed fine on multiple installs..

But glad it worked out for ya

 

I have done quite a few and never had one that leaked. But I learned on the first one that you need to completely remove the stabalizing bracket from under the intake before you tighen down the intake. After its set , then install the bracket as it will be adjusted differently. Just cannot see how it leaks without something cracked or damaged. There are several tubes and hoses carrying coolant right there, check carefully.

 

Good info^

I assume you are referring to the lower brackets shown in these diagrams:

 

Oh. My. *******. God...... why did I not think of that? That makes complete sense. I have an 86 honda crx and iirc that runs coolant through the intake manifold and Ive never had a problem with that one sealing because I removed the bracket altogether on that one. Makes perfect sense now... Well, at least I know for next time. 12 years of my life working on cars and I can believe I let that one slip my mind.

Anyways I used some aviation grade sealant around the coolant passage and it sealed up very well, not burning any coolant now, so problem solved. Thanks a lot for your help guys.

 

I have always put gasket sealer on that passage. But I've always removed the Support bracket on the im completely and discarded it as well. I have always felt that one and the two Trans supports are useless. (this is an opinionated response and not a suggestion)