I have a 1990 honda civic hb with a b16a in it, i am wondering if this sounds like a blown head gasket. first of all i have a leak of oil coming from the bottom of the head. on the left side and also as i am driving slowly it seems to pop and hesitate but if i crack into it it still seems strong and doesnt pop or hesitate. i thought it was a head gasket or an o2 sensor? i also have a check engien light on. thanks

 

can you check for codes?

 

i dont think so. could it be anything worste than those two things?

 

is the pop like a backfire or is it under the hood? the oil leaking at the head is probably the gasket. if it was warped, you'd probably be overheating. no way to tell what the check engine light is for without codes.

 

You check next to the dizzy, make sure you arent leaking out of your cam seals or something of that sort? A head gasket would definately be causing more problems, something along the lines of overheating, milky color in your radiator, stuff like that.

The popping or hesitation sounds like an intake manifold leak, or throttle body.

 

it's like that car feels weak. it's under tha hood it feels like the o2 sensor is bad. it bogs down more or less. it doesn't overheat tho

 

Why do you keep thinking its the o2? Do you have reason to suspect it? Have you done any work recently on the car that could help us diagnose your problem further?

As for being weak, that could also be a result of a sensor, or manifold leak. If you arent overheating, then you probably dont have a head gasket problem. Can you take some pics of where the oil is leaking from?

Give us all the info you have, it helps to figure out whats wrong. Plus you need to pull codes on it so we can find out what that **** is.

 

if the head is warped how hard is that to fix? thanks

 

Well, if the head is warped you will need to pull it and get it resurfaced....so, its all in your interpretation of hard i imagine

 

I am having the same problem. I have an oil leak on the passenger side of the b16 head, or at least it looks to be coming from there. A honda tech said the Head gasket looked to be backwards. He said it needed to be spun 180 degrees. On the gasket the number are stamped on the flange on the passenger side. I was told the numbers should be on the drivers side. Also, the reason the car bogs at partial throttle is due to one O2 sensor on the header. From what I have researched the 1 gen b16 suppose to have a sensor on the 1st and 2nd cylinder, not at the collector. Something to do with lean/rich of fuel. If someone could check on that gasket I would appreciate it.

Josh