History: I decided to change the headgasket in my d16z6 because I was overheating when the heat was not on and when I reved the engine with the radiator cap off a little water would splash out, also there was a little water on the ground from the exhaust if you reved it for a while. I had already tried new thermostat, radiator slimline fan, and repeated bleeding. The car still compression tested fine and ran okay otherwise.

Solution: I pulled the head and took it to my machinest and had it resurfaced, he said it was pretty flat and it was in good shape for it milage but I had it done anyways. The sleeves looked okay, no visible cracks or anything. I bought a oem honda d16z6 headgasket and used about 4 coats of permatex copper spray. Torqued head down using two step pattern (22ft/lb then 53ft/lb) and bolt pattern like my chiltons manual stated.

Result: After I started the car a lot of white smoke came out the exhaust but went away after idling a few minutes, did not worry about it to much cause I figured some smoke was normal and it did go away. I topped off the coolent again and crack open the bleeder on the head a few times. I drove it around for a bit and it was not overheating with the the heater off like before so I figured all fine. After driving around for a while more I pulled over and my overflow bottle was bubbling pretty violently I pulled the cap off and a lot of air was coming out of the hose. The temp was normal the whole time. I bled and topped it off again and went for a drive, same thing! I checked to make sure all the bolts were properly torqued and they still were. I changed my headgasket and went through all this in attempt to make sure my car was running perfect now its worse than when I started!!!!! Why would a new headgasket not seal??? Im pretty frustrated because I seem to have wasted my time and money.


Cliff Notes:
1. Believed had gasket had a slight sealing problem
2. Replaced headgasket
3. New headgasket did not seem to seal and now the problem is now worse than when I started

 

Is it possible to use too much copper seal? I used 4 or 5, decent coats as someone stated to use in an old post on copper seal. I started the engine maybe after an hour and a half of spraying it, someone also said it does not need to dry but I am wondering if maybe the pressure was able to push through the copper seal through. I dont think it matters but I did see a slight run on one of the corners but I did not think it would matter because it would spread evenly when torqued down. Anyone had copper seal let them down?

 

An unhappy explanation could be that the leak was/is elsewhere. Cracked block or head? That happened to me, white smoke, replaced the head gasket, problem still there... so how did I mess up the gasket installation. I didn't, head had a crack in it...

I know that's not what you wanted to hear. Have a leak down test done.

 

Sounds like compression-to-cooling-system leak. Do a leakdown.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by builthatch &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Sounds like compression-to-cooling-system leak. Do a leakdown.</TD></TR></TABLE>

I am pretty sure due to the amout of bubbles and thats the only problem that its compression to cooling leak. I did not see and cracks in the sleeves and I am not really buring any water just getting pressure in the cooling system so I do not see how any cracks in the head could cause that type of problem. Also the problem was worse after imediatly after I changed the headgasket it so that leads me to believe its sumthin with the new headgasket or the install. Im stumped though so I am open to any input, thanks for the replys!!!

 

Your first post doesn't say anything about all these bubbles in your coolant reservoir BEFORE you changed your headgasket. In fact, your first paragraph (history) sounds to me like a clogged radiator.

 

Before the headgasket change there were some bubbles and it would splash out when i reved it, just now its a bit worse. I put in a diff radiator last week as well as thermostat, radiator cap and of course coolant and even water wetter.


Edit: there was none of the little bubbles at idle like I see now, but it splashed out when I hit the throttle which I assumed was big air bubbles or pockets and it did seem to loose a little coolant, I see how that could be a clog could cause the splashing but its done this on two radiotors now, where else could it clog like that?


Modified by omahaturbocivic at 4:15 PM 4/23/2003


Modified by omahaturbocivic at 4:44 PM 4/23/2003

 

Yeah... with all that explanation, it doesn't sound like a clogged radiator. I was just going by what I read in your first post & I didn't catch the part where you already put in a new radiator. If something's cracked, taking the head off & back on, torquing it down, could have opened up the crack a little wider. That sounds like bad news.

 

Honda head gaskets are suppose to be installed dry... No kind of sealent is to be used.

About the only thing that can done, is tear it back down and clean off any of the sealant remaining. Also, check to make sure the deck is not warped...

BTDT

 

If you end up pulling the head, send it to a reputable machine shop and have it pressure tested (will find cracks) and resurfaced if the head is good. Use a straightedge on the block and check for warpage, I think max is around 0.003". When installing the head make sure to torque the bolts in the proper sequence in two or three stages (ie. 15 ft-lbs,then 30 ft-lbs., then to spec).

 

You need to check the cylinder tops, exdamine the areas where compression could leak into the coolant jacket. Make sure there are no marrs to these areas on the head or the block. Also, for your next gasket, us a Y8 tri-layer metal head gasket sprayed with HYLOMAR by permatex. The only gasket dressing that works.

 

There was steam out the exhaust today untill it warmed up and more little bubbles in the coolant at idle. I used the oem 3 layer metal z6 headgasket with permatex copper spray, is there any difference in the y8 gasket? Anyone know where I can get a straight edge for cheap and about what they go for? Looks like the head will be coming off again this weekend.

 

Anybody think the dowel pins could have caused this? They said they took about 2.5 thousanths off the head. I figured there would be some allowance for this in the pins already.

 

There is a lot of room to machine the head and not have the dowel pins bottom out. Best thing to do if your taking the head off is mic them to be sure; and mic the holes and see where you are.