Ej6

Replaced rad, hoses, cap, thermo, reservoir

Missing fluid, need to fill daily. No leaks, no white smoke, now finding black and blue rubber at the mouth of my radiator. Not sure what or where it's coming from.

Lastly, I get a constant grinding/rattling noise when I gas the car (no noise when cold). Just replaced the cat, btw.
Also, the tac sometimes goes to 6500 in 3rd into 4th... Definitely slips hard

Definitely turning into a project car.

So my questions to tldr:
1.this all sound like a headgasket?
2. What the hell is this constant rattling noise when I hit the gas
3. what's the best auto swap I can drop into this car thats around 200hp?

 

1. Likely. Start engine cold with the radiator cap off and rev it. If you see constant bubbling in the radiator that is likely a head gasket leak, confirm with a block tester. In severe cases, coolant will gush out of the radiator, in that case there's no doubt.

2. Really metallic ratting from under the center of the car is often one of the heat shields.

 

3. https://honda-tech.com/general-discu...at-do-3273369/

 

OP,is the carpet wet,on the passengers side? could be at LEAST a leaky heater core.

 

hey again- sorry for no reply.

so... i went to AAP and rented a radiator compression tester...

well.. thing had a leak, but could still pump air in, and i found a leak where the last owner didnt re-fasten a heater-core hose. it was dripping onto the engine...

well.... turns out, that didnt solve my problem remotely.
drove to DC (45 minute drive), and was in stop and go traffic..... engine temp started rising, and my Torque Pro app said i was at 235....

checked my damn reservoir/rad (which was filled the day before) and i literally had to put about 1.5 quarts of ******* coolant in...... AFTER the hose clamp was set to the correct place....

had to put my heat on high, blowing at 100% in the damn 80 degree weather.

again, i've done so much for this car, and it constantly wants to screw with me

-new rad
-new cap
-new reservoir
-new hoses
-new thermo
-new temp sensor
-new fan switch

oil looks like regular oil
no white smoke

HOWEVER----
when i start the car without the cap on... KABOOM! <coolant ******* everywhere>
my car rattles and grinds when the car heats up, and press on the accelerator.
(maybe thats the torn inner tie rod bellow/wobbly rod)??
^someone wanna inform me on this / what happens with a **** tier ITR?

 

Did you repeat the pressure test after fixing the leak?

Did you bleed the cooling system?

 

For the constant rattle when you accelerate, is it more like a ticking? I am just thinking the ticking could be valves IE Valve adjustment. Also, coolant has to go somewhere. so it either must be leaking onto the ground or interior, getting through the headgasket and into the cylinders, or into the oil. 1.5 quarts is quite a bit to just lose. You should also rent/buy a cylinder compression tester to see if you have any compression losses, just dont forget to remove every spark plug, and disconnect fuel when you check compression. I had a 98 civic with a leaky HG and i had the opposite problem. Exhaust gasses were being pushed into my coolant and pushing coolant into my resevoir.

 

Thanks for your reply!

From what i noticed, there is no coolant on the ground, or on the carpet.
-From what you said however, it made me realize that when i come home from a long drive, my coolant reservoir sounds like someone ripping a damn bong!

not only does it go over the max line, it constantly bubbles for 5 minutes after the car is turned off.... i assume this is a HG issue, but gasses escaping, versus coolant getting sucked in?

i plan on replacing the engine in the next few months, so would you suggest tossing a can of Bars HG leak fix in there and scrap the engine later?

 

Don't use a stop-leak product. It's likely to clog up your radiator and heater core.

Many times a simple slapping in a new gasket will fix these, if it has not been driven overheated.

 

Made a video explaining things more in detail

set the video speed to 1.25- it helps any dialogue video

 

bump