Civic troubles

[ChangBang]

Hey,

I got a 2002 honda civic lx with 147k miles that has been having problems lately. At first the check engine light said cylinder 3 was misfiring and was vibrating pretty bad at start up for about 10 seconds then goes away. Changed plugs and filled with better gas, and the light and vibrating went away. When changing plugs, the cylinder 3 plug did look more brown than the others though.... Car drives normal now w/o a check engine light.

But now it is losing coolant at a somewhat rapid rate, every 2 days seems like I have to fill up the radiator or else the temperature gauge will start fluctuating between normal and hot. Things I've noticed:
-not seeing any coolant on the ground after the cars been sitting, so I don't think I have a leak?
-Fans work
-Oil looks normal
-At start there is some white smoke coming out of the exhaust
-coolant reservoir looks to be at a normal level
-When hot, both radiator hoses are hot

Main thing is I'm also looking to get another vehicle and really don't want to invest that much money into the car. But if it is worth fixing and then selling, I could be down for that too. Been looking online and it looks to be a head gasket issue?

Opinions?
-Chris

[asp_125]

Bad thermostat? Coolant heats up, dumps into overflow tank or evaps away? If the radiator cap is old this could be it.

[#1Townie]

If you're not leaking under the car might be a head gasket.

[TFOGGuys]

If you're not leaking under the car might be a head gasket.

Yup. White, sweet smelling smoke at startup would be the dead giveaway.

[ChangBang]

Overflow tank is at the normal level after the car has cooled.

Haven't thought to smell the smoke. It looks similar to when its a cold morning and you can see your breath. But I don't think these mornings have been cold enough for that to apply...

Assuming it is a head gasket, how can you tell if its blown and needs to be replaced, or if you can use those head gasket sealing kits they sell at the auto store?

[TFOGGuys]

Overflow tank is at the normal level after the car has cooled.

Haven't thought to smell the smoke. It looks similar to when its a cold morning and you can see your breath. But I don't think these mornings have been cold enough for that to apply...

Assuming it is a head gasket, how can you tell if its blown and needs to be replaced, or if you can use those head gasket sealing kits they sell at the auto store?

The kits are crap, pure and simple. Have a competent mechanic run a compression and leakdown test to determine if it's leaking and how badly. If it's been hot at all, it may have a cracked head, rather than a blown gasket.

[Lomax]

Interesting. I had an old van that did the exact same thing. I could drive about 10 miles and it would overheat. Stop and fill the radiator and it was good for the rest of the day.

I drove it this way for about a year then decided to drop a V8 in it. Another story.

But what I found astounded me. A wrist pin had slipped and wore a groove all the way through the cylinder wall into the water jacket. when it was cold I would get the white smoke. After it warmed up it actually sealed and no more fluid loss.

This is probably not relevant but interesting to say the least.

Marc

[ChangBang]

Awesome, will contact some mechanics in denver tomorrow. Will update with info after tests are performed. Whats the going rate for these 2 tests?

Will have to commute on the bike in the meantime I suppose.

[AOK303]

sound like a head gasket, if compression is off your over flow will have some in it but could still be low on coolant
if its the main seal at the back of the motor it drops on the headers that is where it goes from 2 to 1 on a stock header pipe but also has a nice cup that will catch drips and evaporate if it was hot.
you wont leak enough for drips unless running on a blown head gasket till it goes critical ussally on the D series motor it has in it. also check the left side of the motor its where the return for the coolant is, also one pipe under the intake manifold just lightly rub a clean paper towel if you see residue it will show you are leaking there or may have a small crack in a pipe at the connection junction, which come winter will just cause it to blow out most dont know you are to replace all coolant pips in a honda around 100k most only do it when one breaks or starts to leak. and its a honda smell your muffler pipe if it smells sweet its blown gasket. Funny about hondas the heads normally dont crack a chunk just breaks off, happens alot with vtec motors. ive worked on and built a few... hundred motors for honda/acura cars

[97ThunderCat]

How does the oil look? Does it appear milky like it has coolant mixed?

Like previously stated a compression/leakdown test will rule that out if it's it or not. Probably about $30-50 I'm not sure the last leakdown test I had done I just bought the dude two packs of cigs and he did it in his garage.

[ChangBang]

Alright went to the mechanic and now I'm clueless on what the problem is.

Compression: cyl1 - 145, cyl2 - 135, cyl3-135, cyl4 - 140

He said it looks good and because the compression is good and there are no internal or external leaks that he found, there was no real point in doing a leakdown test. He said to bring it in when the heat starts fluctuating and maybe they can find something then...

He said the thermostat, fans, hoses and radiator cap looked ok.

AOK303 - not very mechanically inclined, this what you wrote something that would be normally checked?

Ideas?

[One-ops]

Should of done the leak down first IMO

[3point5]

white smoke means coolant in the combustion…if the compression test came back good than you should look into the leak down. But I would think with 147k and refilling your radiator every other day (depending on your driving) you've lost or are losing a seal or a gasket.

If you're not seeing anything under the car at your residence or your employer than your hoses, pump, radiator & connections are not the issue…I think you are losing coolant as you drive through a bad seal. I bet you are losing a drip of coolant at a time and it so minimal that you dont notice it in the exhaust otherwise. with the exception at startup where the coolant has had ample time to collected but not be pushed out of the exhaust.

if you like the car than have the block rebuilt, shouldnt be too too expensive, its a simple block and it'll get you another 150k miles of travel...and if you need an excuse to sell the car and buy something different than now is your time...

[AOK303]

I really do think its a Head gasket or coolant seal, if its small you will only push out coolant while running and on the gas
you cant trust compression test for leaks, unless your turbo'd to be honest
Ive seen rear main seals be blown with little or no leaking just white smoke and low fluids

Check oil to see if it has mixture look not just one color, are you using 50/50 coolant, when was the water pump done last? sometimes if its going out or working off and on could be causing the temp issue you saw. Check front of radiator sometimes small hole up at top will cause it to flow out in front of the radiator and burn up so lil or no smoke when moving and very little dripping

what area do you live in maybe someone could do a once over from the forum, and where did you take it for the compression test

[97ThunderCat]

Alright went to the mechanic and now I'm clueless on what the problem is.

Compression: cyl1 - 145, cyl2 - 135, cyl3-135, cyl4 - 140

He said it looks good and because the compression is good and there are no internal or external leaks that he found, there was no real point in doing a leakdown test. He said to bring it in when the heat starts fluctuating and maybe they can find something then...

He said the thermostat, fans, hoses and radiator cap looked ok.

AOK303 - not very mechanically inclined, this what you wrote something that would be normally checked?

Ideas?

Wtf? That would be all the more reason to do a leakdown test..