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Thread ID: 70389	2006-07-01 13:28:00	Head gasket? :(	george12 (7)	PC World Chat

Post ID	Timestamp	Content	User
467814	2006-07-01 13:28:00	Hi, I know we're not all car-people, but I couldn't resist posting my horrible problem here, especially with the likes of Graham, godfather and Billy here (to name a few). My car (1993 Honda Civic LX Manual) has been running fine up until Thursday night. On Thursday afternoon I noticed a slight burning smell coming through the fan vent (the fan was on, but not the heater IIRC). Nothing seemed to be wrong so I ignored it. Later on, about 6.40pm, I was driving home from town. I got to the bottom of a hill about 2km from home with no trouble, but as I was going up the hill a whining noise began, along with a stronger reincarnation of the burning smell. It was no-stopping, so I continued up the hill, disappointed that perhaps a belt of mine was slipping. When I got to the top of the hill, the whining stopped, but the smell got worse. I then noticed steam coming from under the bonnet, and to my horror the temperature gauge was in the red. I don't know how long it had been there for, I didn't think to look. I continued on for about 20 seconds, as I couldn't really stop, and pulled into the nearest gas station, where I turned the car off and popped the bonnet. Steam was billowing out of the sides of the coolant cap, which appeared to be some kind of pressure-release design. I let it cool down for about 30 mins, and took off the cap - the radiator was empty. I filled it with water from the gas station and started it up. It ran fine, so I drove it home (20 seconds away) and parked it for the night. In the morning, the radiator seemed to be empty, as was the coolant tank, although it only took about 500mL of water for the radiator and 700mL for the coolant tank. I didn't know how bad it was, so I tentatively started it. It started incredibly, strangely easily, seemingly no cranking needed. I just touched the start position and it was instantly running. But it sounded REALLY strange, oscillating idle speed (not randomly, just very quick pulsing) and blowing a LOT of steam or white smoke out the back. If I gave it any gas it sounded quite bad, very very rich too. I couldn't see any water leaking anywhere, but suspected it might be leaking somewhere I really don't want it to, like inside the engine, or the heater core. It was certainly heating up fast, it got to 1/4 gauge within a minute and the block really did feel accordingly hot (and the heater blew hot air). Normally that takes at least 4 mins to happen. The radiator host coming from the engine was hot, but the one going to the engine was only slightly warm and contained very little pressure. There looked to be a tiny bit of oil in the water, but no water in the oil, although it certainly seems to be 'burning' water. Have I blown my head gasket, or worse? Or what? Thanks in advance.	george12 (7)
467815	2006-07-01 15:03:00	It does sound like a gasket. Hopefully just the head as that's not normally too difficult. If you can get to all sides of the head try the dishwash fluid mixed in water trick - 50 - 50 then brush it on the edge of the gasket, get a friend to start her up and rev it up a bit - not oo heavy. If the solution bubbles you've found your problem. Note though that this test isn't conclusive.	Greg (193)
467816	2006-07-01 16:17:00	Most Hondas have a bleeder fitting somewhere around the thermostat housing . It looks like a grease (Zerk) fitting and if you open it a turn or so when you fill the cooling system, you'll be sure to get it totally full . If you didn't use that fitting to purger the air from the block, then you never got the coolant full when you cooled down at the gas station, and you drove on a very low coolant level . That "oil" in the cooling system is really acrid and nasty-sharp smelling, right? That is what we used to call the "smell of death" to an engine . It means that you exceeded the temp where the coolant became useless as coolant and just became brown and yucky smelling . Kinda like a scorched odor . Looking for bubbles around the base of the heat and the block is useless . . . it has to be fixed before you hydro something and destroy the rest of the engine . Further diagnosis is unnecessary . . . . . you've gotta go for exploratory surgery . Don't "additive" the poor thing either . . . the damage is done but not usually fatal at this point . . . unless you try to drive it further or use some snake-potion in it . You MIGHT just need a head resurface and new gaskets . . . but do not drive it anywhere to get it done . Tow it! You are very unlikely to need a new or remanufactured head if you don't mistreat it further . "IF" is the operative word there . Honda heads are particulary tough and resiliant and not likely to crack unless you cracked it in your cold weather . Same for their blocks: they just don't crack like the old days . It's the freezing season there . . . right? (Hard to imagine anywhere in the world is cold when we are having record heat here in SoCal) .	SurferJoe46 (51)
467817	2006-07-02 00:16:00	From your description - best case scenario - dud thermostat (long shot but easy to test and cheap to fix). Worst case scenario - cracked head.	sam m (517)
467818	2006-07-02 00:38:00	The steam out the back suggests the worst option only, to me. Head gasket. If overheating has also occurred (and it sounds like it has), then head warping is likely, you may be wise to first get a cost for a jap import motor complete and do a transplant. Not all heads can be replaned, a warped head can run into huge $ if the rest of the motor is high kM. Honda's can get very expensive if they have done more than 120,000 - 150,000 kMs	godfather (25)
467819	2006-07-02 01:56:00	Might as well throw it away, you wont get your money back if its a clunker, and more issues will start appearing soonish.	Metla (12)
467820	2006-07-02 04:09:00	Might as well throw it away, you wont get your money back if its a clunker, and more issues will start appearing soonish. So true,we spent $2000 on a Honda and then sold it for $1500.	Cicero (40)
467821	2006-07-02 04:16:00	well . . . . I spent $1200 on a transmission for the wifes toyota . . . . . Then sold it for $400, after spending a futher $200 on repairs to get a warrent, and $230 to register it . I should have just put it in the demolition derby . And I was offered $1500 trade-in for my glorious Falcon, I put a set of shocks in her 6 months ago, and a new set of tires about a month ago, Combined they come to more then $1500 . . . . :groan: I freakin hate cars .	Metla (12)
467822	2006-07-02 06:15:00	well . . . . I spent $1200 on a transmission for the wifes toyota . . . . . Then sold it for $400, after spending a futher $200 on repairs to get a warrent, and $230 to register it . I should have just put it in the demolition derby . And I was offered $1500 trade-in for my glorious Falcon, I put a set of shocks in her 6 months ago, and a new set of tires about a month ago, Combined they come to more then $1500 . . . . :groan: I freakin hate cars . Yep . Worse than computers really . At least you don't have to lie on concrete covered in filth wrenching and heaving at stuck bolts and stuff on computers .	pctek (84)
467823	2006-07-02 09:55:00	My daughter's 1989 2 litre SOHC Prelude had similar symptoms recently, using heaps of water, overheating etc. I thought of blown head gasket, cracked head etc too, but in the end decided, as the car onlt cost $800 to buy, to replace the thermostat and radiator cap, and pour in a can of radiator-stop-leak-and-cracked-head-fixer from Repco. Left that in for a few days, then drained it and filled with water and rust inhibitor, and its been fine ever since. But with the Honda, as Surfer Joe said, you have to open the bleed valve on the thermostat housing with the engine idling while you are filling the radiator. No steam out the exhaust anymore, and it doesn't use any water either. Who knows how long it will keep going for, but hey it was only $20 for the can of fixit stuff. Better than $300 plus fitting for a motor from a dismantler, or over $1000 for taking the head off. Just depends how much you want to spend, I guess.	Andrew B (867)
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