Honda engine diagnosis

[robbie]

I'm pretty sure I know what's wrong with my 1993 Honda Civic, but I thought I'd submit the case for review by anybody here who has an opinion.

Last week my wife took a trip to town, but the car overheated about 40 miles away from home. I took the trailer and brought the car home. (I brought my wife, too.)

It had a cracked radiator, so I replaced the radiator, filled it up, and we've driven it another 40 miles or so since then.

My wife told me the car cranked for a longer than usual before starting, then ran rough for a minute and blew some white smoke. This morning it started rough but no smoke. I found oil in the radiator cap and a bit of steam coming out of the dipstick.

Can you think of anything I need to be concerned about besides the head gasket? I suppose the head could be warped, but what else would you check if this was your car? The engine still runs great, by the way.

 

[devino246]

do you have a compression tester?

 

[robbie]

No. I've always wanted to get one, but it's never been on the top of the list. I've only had a few cases where it would be needed.

 

[HellSpawn]

Flushing fluids (oil/coolant) would be near the top of the to-do list when you get it all back together.

 

[Garified]

If it was my car, I would have the cylinder head sent to a machine shop (or replaced if cracked), replace the head gasket, and flush ALL the fluids. Not just drain, but flush and clean everything out.

Then I would seafoam the hell out of it, and change the oil every 500 miles for 1500 miles.

I do NOT play around when it comes to an engine that's been overheated before. lol

 

[anderkart]

Hey Rob, I'd spend some time reading through some of the info in this search link: http://www.google.com/search?source...US369US369&q=1993+Honda+Civic+combustion+leak
(only click on the sites with the more promising sounding titles and descriptions)

You'll probably find lots of others that went through your exact same situation (w/same model engine) and learn of all the possible pitfalls to look out for.

I've gone through some blown head gasket nightmares before and I can tell you from experience it sucks to overlook some small detail I coulda learned about by spending a few hours searching the net.

 

[sexyvicta]

the other option is to buy another engine. A decent 93 civic engine with warrenty wont set you back much

once you pay for parts + recondition of head etc it'll work out to similar money

 

[Russ2251]

Check the trans.

 

[bighead]

Is the any water in your oil? Is your oil milky looking?

Take it in or have a friend do a leak down testing. From the test they can tell whats wrong.

 

[newrider3]

Check the trans.

+1

I'm not exactly sure with Hondas, but many newer vehicles have the trans cooler built into the radiator. This can leak, causing oil in the radiator, and coolant in the trans. This will burn up your friction material in no time (assuming auto trans).
Just because the rad is new, doesn't mean it's good. Imported chain-store parts tend to have a high rate of failures even right out of the box.

 

[Russ2251]

My mail concern was the cooling of transmission.
On a few occasions I have seen trannys fail due to cooling system malfunctions such as blown head gaskets.
Replace the thermostat as well.

 

[Gillgamesh64]

Good chance you have blown the head gasket, But if it overheated bad enuff you may have damaged your head, Take the head of and inspect the gasket if it looks like it blew good replace it if it is not that bad test the head, Testing and machining the head will not cost all that much and might even boost performance!!

 

[Gillgamesh64]

Ohh oil in the rad!!! i missed that part! Your head gasket is well and trully blown!!

 

[Gillgamesh64]

And now pull out your dipstick and see if your engine oil is creamy looking? You will have to have that thing crack tested for sure.... If you are on the cheap go to an auto dismantlers find the same engine a take the head off, Also how long was it driven hot?

 

[robbie]

The oil isn't creamy. Just a little steam out the dipstick. I'm pretty sure the problem isn't severe. I did some reading and it looks like this engine has head gasket problems from time to time. Also, it's a 5 speed stick, so no transmission cooling lines.

It's been overheated once last summer when the radiator cap went bad. This time it heated up to the point where the engine died. Later my wife said "I thought it felt a little funny going up that last hill", which is what a woman always says AFTER a car dies.

Anyway, all evidence points to the head gasket but not much else. I've seen cars where you turn the key, the engine doesn't start, and big bubbles splash up out of the radiator. This one isn't bad at all. I'll see what the head looks like when I get it off the engine.

I had a Dodge Caravan with the 3.0 v6 that had a coolant leak into a cylinder. The fluid slowly disappeared, and I had to top it off every 3000 miles or so, which is pretty often when you do 50,000 miles a year. I put almost 100,000 miles on that engine in that condition.

 

[CriticalMass]

Head gasket, depending on how hot it got and for how long will dictate if the head is warped. A machine shop can tall you if its warped and can be machined.

If not, a brand new head for that motor will only set you back 1 or 2 bills. You can get crate motors for 500 bucks.

 

[robbie]

Where do you get a crate motor for $500?

 

[devino246]

Where do you get a crate motor for $500?

Perhaps he left out a digit

 

[pablowest]

I'm pretty sure I know what's wrong with my 1993 Honda Civic, but I thought I'd submit the case for review by anybody here who has an opinion.

Last week my wife took a trip to town, but the car overheated about 40 miles away from home. I took the trailer and brought the car home. (I brought my wife, too.)

It had a cracked radiator, so I replaced the radiator, filled it up, and we've driven it another 40 miles or so since then.

My wife told me the car cranked for a longer than usual before starting, then ran rough for a minute and blew some white smoke. This morning it started rough but no smoke. I found oil in the radiator cap and a bit of steam coming out of the dipstick.

Can you think of anything I need to be concerned about besides the head gasket? I suppose the head could be warped, but what else would you check if this was your car? The engine still runs great, by the way.

I suggest to look for it's engine mount. It might have a problem on that though it runs great.