Change headgasket??

[BronzeAccord]

Ok i know im gonna get a lot of flack from you guys because im a newbie, and you will say "the search button is your friend", but can anyone point me in the direction of a D.i.Y headgasket change thread. It would be greatly appreciated. Im not a rookie on working on a 90 accord lx, but by no means an expert.

Thanx, Bronze

[BronzeAccord]

....

i have searched but the search engine on here isnt exactly google.

[Granite CB7]

Do you have some sort of a service/repair manual? Even the basic Haynes gets the job done. That'd be a great start if you don't have one already. I haven't seen a DIY, but I have seen some good pictures So what's going on w/ your motor?

Dan

[cp[mike]]

i have searched but the search engine on here isnt exactly google.

lol, yeah. something else that may have led to not finding a guide is that nobody here has made one.

main idea is to remove the head... however u wanna go about doing that... you can remove the intake manifold from it and pull the head off bare, or leave the intake mani on... really its up to you... but you NEED a manual for the proper torquedown procedure etc. also it has a full step by step guide.

search around and buy a Chilton's manual... you may have to buy it online, since they are harder to find, its usually the Haynes manuals that are sold everywhere, which arent as good.

[BronzeAccord]

Thanxfellas, well yeah i know Chiltons/Haynes have the procedure, but from the DIY i have used here, they are a lot easier to use and you guys include pictures.

What my motor is doing, is when i start it acts like it wants to cut off on me, like it starts kinda rough, a few times it even spewed some white smoke out of the exhaust. It will run rough say about 30 secs, then it will smooth out. And then when im driving all is good, then when i stop the temp gauge shoots up. As soon as i pull off it goes back down.

JUdging from my limited experience, im guessing my water pump went bad, and i was driving it hot, it caused the headgasket to go bad. So i got curious and pulled my valve cover off, and lo and behold one of the spark plug ports is filled with oil.

Ive got to give it to Honda, my motor was beaten on but it still ran like a champ, i will never give up my CB7. So anyways what is your guys diagnosis on my motor??

[cp[mike]]

glad you appreciate the cb7tuner DIYs

what i suggest you do is a compression test. they sell gauges at parts stores. a leakdown would be better, but you need a compressor - leakdown = putting pressure in each cylinder, and you see how well it holds pressure. if u see bubbles in the coolant and pressure drops, its leaking thru the headgasket. cylinders 3 and 4 often blow on our cb7s, which is odd.

oil on/in the spark plug isnt related to the headgasket. there are 2 sets of seals, the valve cover seals which if any of those go bad, oil would get on the top of the spark plug and also the end of the wire. there are also tube seals down under the rocker arm assembly inside of the head, which could also allow oil to get into the spark plug holes.

your overheating problem could be a water pump not working at its full potential, but it may also be due to bad radiator fans. the equilibrium of the system requires air blown across the rad, while moving it gets that - while stopped, if the fans cant run, temp shoots up fast. and its hot out which doesnt help.

you need to check your fans first (have you ever heard them turn on while the car is idling?), fix the spark plug tube seals sometime, then if youre still concerned, bring it to a shop and have them do leakdown and compresion tests, it would really be worth your while. you can get numbers and their professional opinion of whats going on with your motor.

if it comes down to needing a new headgasket, its really not too bad, me and mayberry did mine overnight. id really suggest the having the experience of doign the HG and timing belts (and def the water pump). make sure you ask lots of questions and we will be sure to help, myself having done a couple and other people here having done some, youll def get answers.

[mrhonda]

Yep, I'm gonna agree with cpmike. First, before you do anything, you need to figure out why the engine is overheating in the first place. Like he said, make sure both fans are cycling normally, thoroughly check for coolant leaks (hoses, radiator, thermostat, etc). Get that waterpump replaced (along with the timing belts) After you know everything is good to go, take it to a reputable shop and have a cylinder leak-down test, and a block test performed, these will tell you if you have a headgasket leak. And just like cpmike already stated, the oil in the spark plug tubes is just the lower seals leaking. Lastly....do I even need to say it....use OEM parts.

[Clueless]

Lastly....do I even need to say it....use OEM parts.

Major ditto, I learned that autozone crap doesn't work very long....

[accrdpower]

i agree to a certain degree. def use oem parts. but if it is for the pcv valve or some hoses or small stuff autozone is great. anything major def use oem, maybe more expensive but worth it! and the chilton manual is great, short but good! good luck finding out what the problem is, i wish i could help.

[Clueless]

i agree to a certain degree. def use oem parts. but if it is for the pcv valve or some hoses or small stuff autozone is great. anything major def use oem, maybe more expensive but worth it! and the chilton manual is great, short but good! good luck finding out what the problem is, i wish i could help.

Can someone get a sample what's the chilton manual is like, say, a couple pages scaned and posted here so we may compair hyne's to chiltons. I personally don't want to buy another one if it's not much better than hayne's.

[mrhonda]

i agree to a certain degree. def use oem parts. but if it is for the pcv valve or some hoses or small stuff autozone is great. anything major def use oem

Oh, I'll agree with you there, for small insignificant items aftermarket is fine, I'm just reffering to imortant things like t-belts, waterpumps, CV boots, etc.

Matter of fact, I might just straighten this subject out in a new thread....

[BronzeAccord]

Hmmmm....

Ok well, i went and bought the timing belt set and water pump, so ill go ahead and install that tommorow. But let me ask you guys something. A couple times when i started it, i had white smoke out of the tailpipe, i dont think the headgasket is bad, but what do you think? It has done it 2 times, maybe three out of 20 times ive started it.

Also to come to think of it, my coolant wasnt full when i checked it. It wasnt at all empty, but it wasnt full. Also i already have my valve cover off, so im going to change the upper and lower valve seals, it doesnt seem that hard, judging from the DIY.

[Clueless]

Ok well, i went and bought the timing belt set and water pump, so ill go ahead and install that tommorow. But let me ask you guys something. A couple times when i started it, i had white smoke out of the tailpipe, i dont think the headgasket is bad, but what do you think? It has done it 2 times, maybe three out of 20 times ive started it.

Also to come to think of it, my coolant wasnt full when i checked it. It wasnt at all empty, but it wasnt full. Also i already have my valve cover off, so im going to change the upper and lower valve seals, it doesnt seem that hard, judging from the DIY.

Sounds like head gasket....

[BronzeAccord]

............

Also i know the fans work because as soon as i turn the car off from it running hot, the fan kicks right on. So from process of elimination i can assume its the water pump or a leak somewhere in my cooling system?? Correct me if im wrong.

Bronze

[KillerCam282]

Its dangerous so if you do his and get hurt, remember you were warned. Start up the car, and let it warm up. Then when its warm open the radiator cap and observe the flow, that is if there is any. If slow or no flow then pump is going bad.