Adam Geist

I use Honda's proprietary coolant that comes pre-mixed. Although it's green, it is also silicate and phosphate-free.

Adam

marton

about
"Marton what's with the HTML code in youe replies? "

Heinrich

it is supposed to high light the text that is the focus of my reply but I am probably clicking on the wrong buttons.

I will go and pay penance...

Marton

928ntslow

Adam, thanks for that info..very informative!

Unfortunately, all that tasty looking stuff you saw on the head of the screw driver, was feasted upon last night at a dinner party. Guests spread it nicely over some Triscuits...we told them it was the expensive stuff.

I am going to back flush the rest of the system and then hit it with a detergent flush after it is all put back together....which should be tomorrow.

At this point, all I am really praying for is that this was the final thing that stood between me and an overheating issue on this car. If so, it looks like I have come to the light at the end of the tunnel and the car will be road worthy and legal in a week.

BC

Don't forget to flush the heater core separately. Just pressurize on side and let it run out the other.

928ntslow

I flushed the hell out of the engine, the heater core and the radiator and then
I completed my WP change out....of course with new TB and a tensioner rebuild.

Drained the oil which looked like a Starbucks mocha machiato. It was the first time I changed it since I had the car and figured water had gotten in there during the pressure wash.

Got everything buttoned back up, filled with oil and water.

The good news, (actually great news) is she fired right up after a couple of tries. If you saw any of my CIS threads, you would have known it has been a long process to get it to start and chase the fuel component issues down...no more.

So it was running, revving quick and strong and things were looking good. Unfortunately, it got hot. Went through the burping process and double checked everything and fired it up again. After a few revs, it started to get kinda hard to rev. A few sputters too. Engine got hot and I shut it down.

I had a funny feeling so I checked the oil. MILK SHAKE.

****! So it's one of two things, head gasket(s) or cracked block. No other possibilities that I know of unless someone else wants to educate me. BTW. Stan called it!

So on one hand, wow, all that work, great! It paid off. However, the real issue here has reared its ugly head. The first thing I am faced with is, cracked block or head gaskets. My feeling is head gaskets as nothing it leaking and it ran superb until enough water got in the oil to foul the plugs.

Given the two options, cracked block and the car is up for sale. Head gaskets, well, not as bad, but I have to know what I am faced with first. It's not a job that is beyond me, but I have a feeling not one I am anxious to do.

Let's say it IS the head gasket(s) how do I do the following?
1) determine which one...or just do them both
2) what needs to come off to do the heads...the whole top of the engine?
3) do I have to remove the engine?
4) scale of 1-10, what level of PITA is it?
5) how long should something like this fix take?

Any recommendations, past experience, WYIT's, or what ever is welcomed.

I need a Hug!

Charley B

Damn, Keith. I'm sorry to hear it. From what you've been finding in that cooling system there is very little chance that one side is good and one side is bad (assuming head gasket). I would think conventional wisdom will be yank the engine and pull both heads. More than likely there will be some head surface damage also. Your not looking at a real difficult job just a real BIG job.
Plan on being down for awhile. More than likely you will need to take the heads somewhere to have them patched and surfaced. There will probably be some fairly deep pitting to deal with.
I'm guessing your odds are about 95 to1 that it is a head gasket as opposed to a cracked block.

Good luck.

Lizard928

doubt it is a cracked block. but is it possibly the rad?

Mrmerlin

hey Kieth like i said before you might uncover the real culprit by flushing out the engine...... Anyway now atleast you know what your up against, good luck,i would pull both of the heads and hsve them checked for cracks

928ntslow

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm...I didn't think about that Colin!

Although, that doesn't explain the overheating issue....and I swapped out the radiator in thinking it was perviously.

Lizard928

Well the rad can mix the fluids for sure.

disconnect the oil lines from the rad. and then pressurise the rad system, see if any oil comes out. Or swap it with a known good rad, rinse and try again

Lizard928

Sorry I havent been following this thread, and dont feel like going all through it,
that said you had CIS issues, these issues could have been causing a few cylinders to create more heat than they should have been, causing it to overheat. now that is fixed, you may not overheat.

especially now that you have completely flushed all the crud (prior to the mixing) out of the compartments. that will effect it as well.
and when you say it is overheating is the rad getting hot or is it just the block?

928ntslow

Still having issues of the hot hose to the rad and cold hose to the engine. Rad flows as I flushed it with a hose and it flowed nicely the other day.

It seems strange that after all of this, the same issue continues. Also that the radiator would do the identical thing as the previous. I even pulled out the thermo and put it in boiling water and it opened fine. I did get some heat at one point through the heater vents, but ti blew cool most of the time while I watched the temp gauge rise. If hot water doesn't flow to the t-stat, than it can never open and help cool the engine. Now that I think of it, why would a head gasket cause this?..or could it?

I think what I need to do first is pull this rad and have it checked out. Seems strange, but coincidences do happen.

I REALLY don't get why this is happening. What could be stopping the flow of the water to the water bridge??? A bypass that isn't by-passing?

marton

+1

You could try pulling the spark plugs to see what they look like. If you have a leak into a combustion chamber then you would have one very clean plug.

Don't remember, do you have one of the later models (83+) where it is possible to put the thermostat in the wrong way around?

Marton

Bill Ball

H'man:

The low or no phosphate requirement has been misunderstood. Phosphate is an excellent aluminum corrosion inhibitor, as well as being very good at protecting water pumps from cavitation erosion. It's kept low in some coolants to prevent precipitation of calcium phosphate should you use hard water (high in calcium), as coolants are formulated to work with tap water. This all started in Europe and became a European coolant specification. So, even green coolants in Europe are phosphate-free. If you use distilled water, this is a non-issue.

Anyway, the dye color signifies the class of corrosion inhibitor. Green is inorganic (IAT), orange is organic (OAT) and yellow is a hybrid organic (HOAT) and is also known as G-05. There are other colors that are manufacturer-specific. Porsche does not recommend organic type (orange) in cars manufactured before 1996. They originally used green but they recommend yellow (G-05) now. See this table.
http://www.valvoline.com/seemore.asp?coaid=1B5D1AEA1AFC

Take a look at this article - it's long, but it's an eye opener.
http://www.motor.com/MAGAZINE/Articles/082004_04.html

I use yellow or green name brand stuff and soft tap water, but distilled water would be OK too.

Anyway, I'm way off Keith's main problem.

Bill Ball

If the heater never got hot, then the water is not flowing. The heater gets water from the block and whether the T-stat is working or not it should get hot water.