Blown Head Gasket?

[rtek72]

after some extensive research, and talking with others and ur post, and that erie feeling the mechanic i took it to...

took to local shop and had them do compression check and they used the chemical test to check, nothing very noticeable on compression check then mechanic did chem test....

but what was weird, his chemical was already green/yellow before test,

mechanic said cuz was lack of oxygen
and used the hand pump to pull oxygen into chem
and it slowly became blue again
although not as dark blue as seen online,
and performed the chem test on radiator to check for exhaust
and chem slowly became green/yellow again....

cuz i dont have coolant in my oil or oil in my coolant,
and not any noticable steam or the smell of antifreeze coming from exhaust

and the nagging feeling that mechanic was just trying to take me for some cash,

i took the car to work today after letting her sit for a few days to see how she acted...
run pizzas for a living....
before i went to work, i topped off radiator with antifreeze, checked oil level, made a mental note of it all

drove the 30 miles to work, checked levels after i let her sit for a few...
all good
no noticeable steam no sweet odor in exhaust

then 45 minutes later when i finally got a delivery,
went out started the car...
rough idle, then smooths out and runs normal...

seemed like a strong odor of fuel tho, like she was flooding maybe

this issue has been going on for a couple weeks
at first thought was bad gas
everyone was complaining about it in thier cars
got the big bottle of lucas back then and put it in
but still have this issue

last weekend i pulled all the sparkplugs to see how they looked
changed them at the beginning of the year]
ngk iridium ix plugs

the one on the number 3 cylinder was the only one that was odd

it had a slight greenish residue on it

thats what made me think i could have a leaking headgasket
still not for sure

could it be an injector issue
i do have a set of venom injectors laying around out of my old integra gsr motor b18ca1 i wonder if those will fit?

but anyways just getting my thoughts out there about this issue
if you could think of anything it would be greatly appreciatied
and i will do the same for u

had hondas since 93 and been hooked since
i do almost all the work on my cars
done suspension, engine swaps, transmission, clutches, wiring, body work, brakes, axles, man the list goes on

oh yea, lol, ran pizzas from 6pm till 1230am and really couldnt tell if there was a head gasket issue
just the hesitation, bog, rough idle for a few seconds every now and then when i started her up

when i got back home checked the levels again, nothing changed, all good

today sometime i am doing an oil change on her, and gona look at that and see if anything there...
get back with ya on that

till then if any ideas come to mind let me know





thanx everyone








heres the pics of plugs and caps....

oil cap
rad cap
my bad it was number 3 plug not 2 as stated before
number 1 plug
number 2 plug
number 4 plug


no oil in coolant...
no coolant in oil...
loss of coolant but no visible signs of leak...
seems to be steam out of exhaust but not excessive...
checked for bubbles in rad...
nothing very noticable
then placed cap back on and used hose from overflow and used soda bottle and some soap and placed hose into bottle and some bubbles...
took to local shop and had them do compression check and they used the chemical test to check, nothing very noticeable on compression check then mechanic did chem test....but what was weird his chemical was already green/yellow before test, mechanic said cuz was lack of oxygen and used the hand pump to pull oxygen into chem and it slowly became blue again although not as dark blue as seen online, and performed the chem test on radiator to check for exhaust and chem slowly became green/yellow again....
just wondering if it is the head gasket causing coolant loss or the intake...
by the way checked plugs and number two had a green/white crust residue...

not overheating or warm, seems to run normal temp, although after running awhile and then turned off to cool a bit, it starts up and idles sluggish till i give it gas...
the mechanic stuck a guage on the rad and chem on the rad

the shop i took it to is telling aroung $800 to get it fixed, if i had a place of my own to do it would gladly do so, but dont, live in a stinkn apartment and they wont even let you change your oil on their property...
just when i saw his chem alreadly green/yellow before the test i questioned his validity

also on that same plug was some green residue mixed with white....
at times seems to a sweet smell like anti freeze but no puddles....
was hoping it was something simple
but the hestitation issue when starting it again bugs me...
i run pizzas for a major company and the car is turned on and off alot


had plans to lower her and wheels but yesterday found out i have the beginnings of a head gasket leak into number two cylinder and now have to get that fixed first...
started it up today and let it run for awhile and today seems like she is blowing more steam than yesterday...

[DJ metadelic]

Are you overheating or running really warm?

This was happening to one of my old Civics back in the day. No one including my father's friend who's been a mechanic nearly all his life could pinpoint it. It was quite frustrating. I hated that car for a while...

Had to take the head off, and physically check.

It turned out to be a small pinhair crack in the water jacket, just enough to burn out small amounts of antifreeze/coolant at a time, but not enough to be super noticeable.

So they did a chemical compression test, have you done it with a gauge?

[rtek72]

not overheating or warm, seems to run normal temp, although after running awhile and then turned off to cool a bit, it starts up and idles sluggish till i give it gas...
the mechanic stuck a guage on the rad and chem on the rad

[DJ metadelic]

Hmmm...shyte. Any more ideas guys?

This has been happening to Wanda lately. She's not going through coolant, but there's nice grayish white smoke coming out of the exhaust most of the time on cold starts and even when warm...but not going through oil either. Probably running a wee bit lean.

Help this guy out I'm all out of ideas.

[rtek72]

the shop i took it to is telling aroung $800 to get it fixed, if i had a place of my own to do it would gladly do so, but dont, live in a stinkn apartment and they wont even let you change your oil on their property...
just when i saw his chem alreadly green/yellow before the test i questioned his validity

[rtek72]

been online most of day trying to find out info
with most head gasket issues and symptoms i only a two...
but not major like they say
just wanting to make sure before having it done
at first i thought it could be on the intake side and a seal somewhere may be bad'
but only number two sparkplug has any residue on it

[deevergote]

If there's no mixing of oil and coolant, then the head gasket might not be the problem. While a new gasket won't be a bad thing... $800 to fix something that isn't broken isn't good!
Smell your exhaust while someone is revving the engine, both cold (don't rev too high cold) and warm. Burning coolant should smell sweet. It's a very noticeable smell. I can tell when a car on the highway is burning coolant just by driving by them.

How long does the coolant take to show a noticeable decrease in level?
Park it, let it idle for a while, and see if there's a puddle. Coolant runs into your heater core, so there may be a leak in the back that you can't see.


If there's no sweet smell, you're not burning it. If there's no mix of oil and coolant, the head gasket isn't blown. It's very unlikely that coolant will be getting into your intake system, though you can check that to be safe.

The white residue on the plug is the only thing that suggests possible burning. That could also just be the result of running lean in that cylinder (unrelated, but also something to address if that's the case). A picture of that plug would be very helpful.

[DJ metadelic]

x2 on the pics OP. Like I said, if you can get away without paying someone $800 to do it, the better

Especially if it turn out to NOT be a HG.

[rtek72]

also on that same plug was some green residue mixed with white....
at times seems to a sweet smell like anti freeze but no puddles....
was hoping it was something simple
but the hestitation issue when starting it again bugs me...
i run pizzas for a major company and the car is turned on and off alot

[rtek72]

dang sure hoping its not that...dj

[FS92]

If it was coming from the intake side, it'd be wide spread to all the cylinders. If anything, it could be the start to a failing head gasket. Also, typically when you have burnt coolant through your motor you get a white crusty looking electrode on your spark plug...

[deevergote]

If you smell sweet, and there was green on the plug... then yeah, perhaps the gasket is the issue.

I destroyed my first car doing pizza. I drive for a living now, and I leave the car running all day long! I don't turn it off unless I have to. I don't really know for sure which is better, though...

[rtek72]

yea i feel ya there...
must be just starting like fs said...
guess the bright side caught it before it destroyed everything

[rtek72]

yea i was also thinking the same fs92...

[deevergote]

If it's only burning in one cylinder, and not a whole lot, that might explain the minimal smoke.

So yeah, you definitely caught it before any major problems occured!
Many people aren't so aware of what their car is doing... it's a good thing you are!