first off ive had to get a new bottle of antifreeze every two weeks at least and im constantly puttin more into it and have been for months on end, but no antifreeze puddles underneath the car or leaks at all. ive actually always had to keep an eye on the coolant levels but its seems like its getting worse now. the cars actually running pretty well for the most part but once in the last week or so its sorta bogged down all of a sudden and id never felt it do that before. im not even really sure how to explain what happened but it was strange none the less. there isnt any oil in the coolant or coolant in the oil, it doesnt overheat, and no loss of power since i replaced the ignition coil.
first start of the day car turns over no prob. drive around for 15 minutes or so and park the car when i come back it doesnt wanna start and part of the time after not wanting to start it eventually starts as if nothings wrong and the other part of the time when it doesnt fire right up it just sorta starts at low idle and slowly makes its way up to where its suppose to idle at but smokes greyish smoke at varying levels. sometimes its a wall of smoke behind the car sometimes its just a little bit but still noticeable from the mirrors/driver seat. ive been told the car generally does smoke but i only seem to notice it when its cold out or its a wall of smoke so who really knows.
im honestly getting sick of working on this car, theres always something else wrong and its not something thats always totally apparent. i seriously believe the engine is possessed by Christines relatives and it hates me. if i had the cash flow id pull the engine and chuck it off a cliff and stick something else it but im stuck with it so i gotta keep fixing stupid crap.
if anyone has any ideas, im sick of messing with it and id just as well drive it till the engine destroys itself and just walk where i need to go.
i dont 100% think thats the issue, but it has crossed my mind.
i forgot to mention, it doesnt really smoke beside the rough start unless its cold/rainy out. the smoke is sorta grey/maybe with a tint of whiteish. kinda smells sweet but moreso just smells like antifreeze and oil but as i mentioned it doesnt seem like theres oil in the coolant or coolant in the oil.
Well it probably isn’t 100% blown, hence the slow leak. If it was 100% blown you would know haha, huge white smoke cloud. I’m pretty sure if there are no leaks, the only other option for coolent loss is headgasket related
It is not to bad to do the job yourself. You will need a repair manual a few basic hand tool and a 1/2" torque wrench. Follow the repair manual to remove the head. I suggest that you bring the head to a machine shop to have it resurfaced. It will cost a little bit more and youcan expect the car to be down atleast 3-5 days. You can find head gasket set online for around $100-$150 and it will have everything you need in it. If you have the tools already the job should not cost more than $200 with having it machined.This is a good time to go ahead and replace your timing belt, water pump and timing pulley to insure the engine will last you another 100k miles. To do it all yourself the right way with machining and the timing set it would put you in the $300-$400 range. to pay a shop to do the job you would be looking at close to $1,000 for the job. If you don’t have it machined you can SOMEtimes get by with just replacing the gasket itself, if your not going crazy with the car. I have done it this way and it is about 50/50 it will work fine.
But before you start tearing your engine apart, I suggest that you have a shop pressure test your cooling system. there may be a small crack in the plastic tank on the radiator. This is very common and I have seen them not leak unless under pressure. The smoke does sound like the head gasket tho!
As far as getting sick of working on the car, it is 20 years old! Untill you have replace every part that can wear, you will be working on it.
B20s are getting cheap. I saw one online somewhere for $600 + about $150 freight with a 30 day warrinty! They drop right in! just change everything from the old motor over to the new!
it just boggles my mind that if it is in fact the head gasket that i dont have any sort of performance issues. ive had the car for bout 2 years now and about 6 months or so before i got it there was head work done on it (not sure if rebuilt or refurbished) but i was assured the head gasket was replaced as well. yeah yeah i know its a 20 year old car but after bout 2 years of replacing things and the time spent trackin down problems equals more time than ive actually driven the car (and getting slightly more expensive as i go).
i did come across the b20b/b20z swaps others here had posted about last night and it does peek my interest.
it just came to mind that the engine is missing a single bolt on the bottom of the intake manifold and a short while ago and i leaned on it and it shifted noticeably. is there possibly coolant that goes through the manifold that might not be leaking externally but making its way into the head ports?
Highly unlikely, but stranger thing have happened. I have seen guys replace head gaskets without surfacing the head, then sell the car. This might be what happened to you. Like I stated above, if you plan on keeping this engine, have it surface. The B20b/z drop right in. My DB1 has a B20b in it! It is a great option. If you go this route, all you need is the engine only. I suggest to go ahead and replace wearable items, ie, timing belt, water pump, plugs, wires, ect. it might cost more now, but it will save you in the long run! I have done a few swaps and as long as you have a good tool kit, it is easy. I will be happy to help any way I can!
i think i recall coming across a thread where someone didnt replace the intake manifold to block gasket and there was some coolant leaking in through there, hard to say if it was the stock engine or not though cause folks dont always identify or i just didnt think to check.
any idea if all the bolts to the manifold are the same all the way around or not?
lol duh, yeah i suppose they couldve not surfaced the head. ive never had a car with head gasket issues i just always assumed it would be more than just coolant loss.
[QUOTE=Overlord;2230613]it just boggles my mind that if it is in fact the head gasket that i dont have any sort of performance issues. ive had the car for bout 2 years now and about 6 months or so before i got it there was head work done on it (not sure if rebuilt or refurbished) but i was assured the head gasket was replaced as well. yeah yeah i know its a 20 year old car but after bout 2 years of replacing things and the time spent trackin down problems equals more time than ive actually driven the car (and getting slightly more expensive as i go).
i did come across the b20b/b20z swaps others here had posted about last night and it does peek my interest.
it just came to mind that the engine is missing a single bolt on the bottom of the intake manifold and a short while ago and i leaned on it and it shifted noticeably. is there possibly coolant that goes through the manifold that might not be leaking externally but making its way into the head ports?[/QUOTE]
There is a coolant passage between the head and the intake manifold in cyl number 4. I am positive that without that stud torqued down, that would be a good place to loose coolant.
thats really what im thinking, cause the loss of coolant and the intermittent smoke isnt really enough for me to 100% think head gasket. i know the head gasket is still a possibility but id like to check less expensive options before going straight to the worst.
lol id actually meant to get the bolt replaced i just lost some motivation.
Most likely you have a leak somewhere. I had a loss of coolant too and couldnt find any puddles or signs of leakage on my driveway. But eventually I decided to look more closely and sure enough I found the leak. Try driving the car for maybe 15-30 mins to let the pressure in the cooling system build up so the coolant starts flowing faster, and then pop the hood and look for leaks.
B20B is a super cheap and easy swap. All my performance parts swapped over. If you want to go this route, definitely buy it from HMO (Honda Motors Online). The motor quality is amazing