I recently had the cylinder head on my 90 Integra freshened professionally(had a burnt valve) and installed semi-professionally (by me). Although this was the first Honda for me, I have a "factory" manual and everything was rather straight-forward.
I have since driven it about 225 miles AND ADDED 3 QUARTS OF OIL IN THE PROCESS!!!!!!
It doesn't smoke (much, anyway - certainly not 3 quarts in 225 miles kinda' smoke). Compression is at 185-190 across all 4 cylinders. I don't see any significant leaks - flywheel is dry. I don't see any significant oil in the coolant - some residual from top-end overhaul maybe, but not three quarts. I've seen situations where significant oil was getting in the coolant and it's rather unmistakable.
Where in the heck is it going?
Actually it's my teen-age daughter's car - kind of a Christmas present, so I'm in BIG trouble here - much more than if it was my car!
Thanks in advance for your help.

 

man you got me stumped no smoke good compression hmmm have you cheched you oil pan gaskett it has to be a leak somwhere cause my car burns a lot of oil but i also smoke like a frieght train so i would check all the gasketts and seals and see wat happens,,,

 

The best way is to do a leak down test. I had some what the same thing. I found out that the bolt to my oil pan is leaking, not the gasket but the bolt. check and see if there is any oil on the gound in the morning, Did you check your cam seals.

 

did you change your valve seals?

 

Cylinder Leakdown Test

Check condition of PCV valve.
Check the intake plumbing for oil residue.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by psi420 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Cylinder Leakdown Test

Check condition of PCV valve.
Check the intake plumbing for oil residue.</TD></TR></TABLE>

 

oil pan drain plug

 

Rut Ro - it looks like there's more than residual oil in the coolant. How do I know it's the head gasket? Could it be something else?

 

Oh man, sounds like you have MAJOR problems.
Better sell your car ASAP

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by psi420 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Oh man, sounds like you have MAJOR problems.
Better sell your car ASAP</TD></TR></TABLE>

Wrong answer - in too deep now.

Tell me about the "oil control jet" / restrictor. I must confess - it was late, I didn't have a new o-ring - I used the old one (Honda / Acura dealer is a long way from me). I do not recall oil in the coolant upon disassembly so it I'm thinking it was a "mechanic induced" thing. I used a Felpro gasket.
I have searched this topic and found responses of 'replace head gasket' but I'm thinking that its gonna be a crap shoot as it will not be visible by the time I pull it all apart.
A leak down test isn't gonna tell me anything - there's no leak to speak of - 185 psi of compression.
I'm thinking the o-ring is coming back to haunt me.

 

HELP!

 

Go out and beat on it. Take it to redline at WOT a few times and tell me you dont see blue smoke behind you.

I "refreshened" the head on my DA too. And now it burns alot of oil where it didnt before. However I think thats because it sat for 6 months and the oil rings are gumed up. I switched to synthetic oil and it burns alot less oil.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by TRH &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

Wrong answer - in too deep now.

Tell me about the "oil control jet" / restrictor. I must confess - it was late, I didn't have a new o-ring - I used the old one (Honda / Acura dealer is a long way from me). I do not recall oil in the coolant upon disassembly so it I'm thinking it was a "mechanic induced" thing. I used a Felpro gasket.
I have searched this topic and found responses of 'replace head gasket' but I'm thinking that its gonna be a crap shoot as it will not be visible by the time I pull it all apart.
A leak down test isn't gonna tell me anything - there's no leak to speak of - 185 psi of compression.
I'm thinking the o-ring is coming back to haunt me.
</TD></TR></TABLE>

You must be talking about the oil control orifice. You probably should of changed the o-ring considering the age of the car. However, If you drained the coolant out of the block and did a pretty clean job, you should be OK.

You would know if the orifice is the cause of the contamination because oil would only enter the coolant and no coolant would be in the oil. If the HG is bad you would most likely have contamination in both, oil and coolant.

 

Thanks.
It does look like the leak is one-way - oil to coolant only. I'm going to confirm that. A new head gasket and o-ring is on order.
As posted earlier, there was no oil in the coolant upon disassembly, so it was something I did........ or didn't.
I just hope that when the head comes-off it will be obvious.

 

Developing story-
There is positive pressure in the valve cover - air blows-out when you remove the oil cap.
There is no pressure at the pcv valve "port" - in the intake manifold - when the pcv valve is removed.
Oil breather tank / lines plugged?????
That doesn't exactly explain the oil in the coolant, or , uh, maybe.

Oh , and, I re-did the compression test today - # 1 at 180, 2-4 at 185 - BUT, I got this weird popping noise - 1 time on each cylinder during the test. Sounds like it's popping back through the intake or crankcase - can't tell for sure. 1 single pop. Doesn't do it with all the plugs in. I'm gonna recheck the cam timing but I'm betting my paycheck that its dead on!

 

anybody out there?

 

that pop is the piston coming to TDC. That happened on my car too. how many times do you crank the engine for ur compression test?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by DC4 teg &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">that pop is the piston coming to TDC. That happened on my car too. how many times do you crank the engine for ur compression test?</TD></TR></TABLE>

I don't know how many revolutions - not many - crank it few a few seconds with all plugs out.

So you're saying that the "pop" is normal?

A search on "pcv" had one post that the positive pressure in the valve cover is "quite normal". Can anyone confirm that?
I find it rather abnormal to have all the venting through the head and none through the pcv system.

After further review, this thing will smokepretty bad, occasionally, but not with any regularity.
I quit driving it for now.
I hesitate to pull the head back off without having a clue as to the cause.

 

I wouldn't pull the head off if I didn't know the problem first. I think you have to narrow it down and stop getting side tracked.

First, you have to confirm that there is no coolant in the oil. Look at the bottom of the oil cap for milky stuff. Also, check the dipstick for this stuff too.

Next, make sure the HG isn't bad. Do a leakdown test, it may be worth it. If you can't do that, run the car with the rad cap off and see if there is alot of pressure in the system. If there is, you will see bubbles.

If you're sure the HG is good, but your still loosing oil through the coolant, there could be a few causes of the problem.

1) o-ring on orifice is bad and oil is traveling to coolant passages. Seems very possible cosidering the circumstances.

2) cracked cylinder head. You would most likely know if this was the cause by the previous condition of the engine before taking the head off.

3) Warped cylinder head. Most likely now the cause if there is no sign of coolant entering the cylinders or cylinder pressure entering the coolant passages.

4) wapred deck. same as above

5) bad mating surfaces. do you have any large scratches in the head or deck? Was the HG good?

that's all I can think of. I hope that helps a bit.

 

I wouldn't pull the head off if I didn't know the problem first. I think you have to narrow it down and stop getting side tracked. -
----- yeah, I agree, but the crankcase ventilation is puzzling. I'm thinking that it is a separate, yet serious, problem. I'm gonna check-out the tank, etc . Also has mild, "tip-in" hesitation when you pick-up the throttle after coasting - it doesn't die, it just has a flat spot - getting code 43- I changed the fuel filter and I haven't seen the check engine light since but the hesitation is still there. Old filter was OK, I think. I need to find or make a fitting to attach a pressure gauge to the port on the filter.
But, I'm digressing, again

First, you have to confirm that there is no coolant in the oil. Look at the bottom of the oil cap for milky stuff. Also, check the dipstick for this stuff too.

---------No coolant in oil, no milky stuff in valve cover,etc

Next, make sure the HG isn't bad. Do a leakdown test, it may be worth it. If you can't do that, run the car with the rad cap off and see if there is alot of pressure in the system. If there is, you will see bubbles.

-------- I'm gonna do the leak-down, but there are no bubbles

If you're sure the HG is good, but your still loosing oil through the coolant, there could be a few causes of the problem.

1) o-ring on orifice is bad and oil is traveling to coolant passages. Seems very possible cosidering the circumstances.
---------------most likely. I'm gonna have to pull the head to see this, right?

2) cracked cylinder head. You would most likely know if this was the cause by the previous condition of the engine before taking the head off.
--------- It had a burnt exhaust valve. There was no oil in coolant upon disassembly. It did use oil but I attributed that to the burnt valve - although I'm not exactly certain why a burnt valve would cause oil consumption oither than it's was always open rather than "closed" half of the time

3) Warped cylinder head. Most likely now the cause if there is no sign of coolant entering the cylinders or cylinder pressure entering the coolant passages.
-------------no indication of either
4) wapred deck. same as above
--------------same as above :0)
5) bad mating surfaces. do you have any large scratches in the head or deck? Was the HG good?
--------------there was no indication of any other problem other than a burnt valve. HG looked good, cylinders looked good, deck looked good. Everything was cleaned thoroughly upon assembly. I used superfine scotchbrite disc to clean the surfaces


that's all I can think of. I hope that helps a bit.
---------thanks much for your comments!
_______

 

no offense - did you replace the dowels in the block ? I ask as you are using new gaskets an reconditioned parts should be okay unless step omitted. dump some coolant out of any accessible part and see if it looks like chocolate milk.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by rtype11 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">no offense - did you replace the dowels in the block ? </TD></TR></TABLE>

heck, it's too late to be offended. This is actually the first major car project gone bad for me in 20 years!

I'm assuming that you mean 'did I re-install the old dowels' - as opposed to replacing with new dowels.
If so, yes, I put the old dowels back in.

Feel free to throw any thought pertaining to this problem,however offensive, at me. I'm fishing for ANY clues.

But that's the kicker - I'm too thorough and fussy. That's why I'm thinking that the o-ring is coming-back to haunt me. I usually wait and get the new o-ring or whatever. Didn't this time.
Too thorough and fussy to make a living at it.

 

it's the o-ring. Everything else checked-out fine and the oil in the coolant was just residual. There was way too much oil in the top end. There was oil all around the restrictor when I pulled the head back off. Can pull the restrictor out with your fingers rather than pulling with a bolt.
My bad!

 

Are you asking if you can just pull the orifice out with your firngets rather than using a bolt? If so, no, you have to use a bolt .

I did a head job recently too. I wasn't sure if it was necessary to use a new o-ring, but I decided I would go ahead and change it anyway. I'm glad I did. lol

I hope everything works out for you from now on. GL

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Mac8008 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Are you asking if you can just pull the orifice out with your firngets rather than using a bolt? If so, no, you have to use a bolt .

I did a head job recently too. I wasn't sure if it was necessary to use a new o-ring, but I decided I would go ahead and change it anyway. I'm glad I did. lol

I hope everything works out for you from now on. GL</TD></TR></TABLE>

Yeah........ I had to use a bolt the first time - didn't this time.
Now, do you know where I can get an alternator? At least it's easy to get to now with the head off

Thanks for your help.