Low Acceleration, No Power after 3 Cylinder Head Gasket changes

juztin888

New Member
Hi, Newbie here, and I'm happy to join Club Civic. I'm glad to be a part of this to learn more and finding interesting things that is helping my can run smoothly. But lately, I am having some problems with the acceleration of my Honda Civic VTi '96. So I decided to have a "Top-Overhaul" because a couple of weeks ago, the car let on overheating, then water is mixing with the engine oil already. Cylinder Head Gasket was changed 3x! Here are some details:

Mileage is more than 169K.

1st Head gasket change:
New head gasket, changed 2 surplus cylinders from Banawe because there were scratch marks on the old head cylinder and the cylinder rings does not move freely. Had the Cylinder head block brought to the machine shop (Roque,QC) which cost about P7,960. change oil, changed oil filter, changed to a surplus radiator, etc...mostly just the cylinder head was mainly fixed. After 2 days of fixing, it was done. Had a test run, and it ran smoothly! But noticed that the idle was a bit high, had a hard time adjusting it to the right level. But decided to run it anyways. That night, went out but noticed that the temp gauged was signaling the heat going up until almost red, then that night almost 8x ako nag refill ng water. Next day sent it back to the shop.
2nd Head Gasket change:
Without the radiator cap was not placed, it was like a water fountain when started. The mechanic said that we might have to do another change of the cylinder head gasket to check if there was any leak and see why, it was not the thermostat, thermostat switch, water pump nor the radiator. We change the Knock Switch sensor (which senses the "check engine light) and was very expensive! P5,000 for original, P2,500 for replacement, P1,800 to P2k surplus in Banawe. Change also a damaged part which was found below the Intake. When the car was done, i tried test driving it and there was a change on the drive, it was hard and low acceleration and power. And ide was still going up and down especially when the aircon was turned on, so we also suspected that the compressor might be a problem, but had it checked and they said it ws okay. Still tried it for a day, and then there it was, overheat again! Had a 2nd opinion from another shop, they said it might be that the Engine block might be craked, but i doubt it. so another change
3rd Head Cylinder Gasket:
On the third change, I was there to assist, had everything checked before putting the engine cylinder cover, new spark plugs. Had a test drive, still low acceleration and power, and idle still crazingly going up and down, but no overheat. Had the idle checked with my old shop in Sct. Chuatoco, and there it was, the culprit was the Idle solenoid or they call it "idle-up". it was too expensive to but a brand new of a surplus one because all-in-all the fixing was over my budget, so they we decided to put another Idle-up extension. And finally the idle was controlled. But...still low acceleration and power!

I really think its the air intake or the mixture of air and gas, or might be the timing??? hay...Please Help!!! :(

Juztin888
 

obracer12

New Member
Registered VIP
5+ Year Member
is there a crack in the cylinder wall? is the head warped?

the idle is probably due to either an air bubble or the IACV being dirty/ air in the coolant and the throttle sticking.

typically when you replace the head gasket you check the head and block decks for warping to elevate the issue of doing it again.
 


LucasAHawkins

New Member
I agree on getting the head checked. The block being cracked would take quite a lot of heat.. your head should have been machined after the first head gasket change. I imagine you will find that it is either A. warped, B. cracked, or C. both.
 


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