New to me plain Jane Civic

[woodly1069]

Ok, so I have acquired a relatively high mileage sedan, 144K, from my girlfriends son. He ran the car hot a few times and we think it has a slow head gasket leak or small crack in the head. He is not a car guy at all and does not turn his own wrenches but I do so...I have a "new" car to drive. Looks like the things must be leaking internally into one of the cylinders because I never smell any coolant. Seems like around town it is always OK but when I get out on the highway and run 20-30 miles I will have to add about an inch of coolant to the radiator the next day. Is this something that is normal with these cars? I found the original leak at the upper radiator hose when I first got it and that is now fixed. Would love to be able to drive this car a while and maybe fix her up but for now just trying to get it stable for traveling back and forth to work! Lovin' the Honda so far though!

 

[AlaskaB16]

If you can't find the leak on the pavement below the car, then probably is getting burnt up. Might as well do the upper gasket kit when you have a full day to get after it and make the car run like a top for another 100k miles ya know? I hot tanked my head and IM, then cleaned out all the bits and pieces attached and now the few Hondas I've done this to run like show room! Good luck man!

,,, Make sure that kid helps you out! Wish my dad had shown me how to turn a wrench when I was younger. Would have had a much bigger respect for cars at a lot younger age dang it.

 

[woodly1069]

Hey AlaskaB16, is there any performance to be had when doing this? I mean is there a "thin" head gasket that is recommended so that I can "squeeze" it harder? I guess I like using low octane but I know all the power is made in the head! Do you buy parts from Honda or should I look on the net some place? Is the head prone to cracking when this happens? Sounds like I am not the first this has happened to...pretty regular issues huh?
Oh yeah, I'm a noob here so what's the head and "IM"?

 

[AlaskaB16]

I wouldn't say it's a "regular" issue unless the car in question is ~150k miles ..ish.. I mean... Head gaskets fail you know. Parts break, we fix. That's how it goes. Some last a very long time, some don't. As for what gasket kit, I just buy my stuff at Orielly auto parts. Certain things i'll buy OEM Honda or performance aftermarket, but not on a stock motor when it comes to gaskets. Some may suggest other wise but i've never had a problem when installed correctly. Again, on a stock set up.

I would bet the head is fine, but on the slim chance it's cracked like you say, have it inspected or give it a good look over when you do the gaskets. I've never personally seen that happen but hey... I guess anything is possible.

IM = Intake Manifold. It's got a few gaskets which are included in the head kit. Take everything apart and clean it up real good and you'll be set for many many more worry free miles! Well... from the top up anyway

 

[woodly1069]

cool thanks!