Doug and Rene Brand wrote:
> I have a 95 Honda Civic that I was having problems with overheating.
> It would push antifreeze out the coolant reservoir until it was out of
> coolant. I ended up replacing the thermostat, water pump, fan temp
> switch, and radiator cap but nothing fixed the problem. I then
> started to suspect a coolant leak in the head gasket. I connected an
> air hose to each cylinder using my compression tester hose. When I put
> air pressure to #4 cylinder @ TDC, the coolant level in the radiator
> would rise and spill out over the top of the radiator.

gasket!

>
> My question is, when I tear into the head gasket, how will I know if
> it is the head gasket or a cracked head? Will it show signs on the
> head gasket where it is leaking or will you be able to see a crack in
> the head?

hondas _rarely_ crack heads.


>
> Also, should I do any other maintanance while I have the head off? The
> car has 137,000 miles.
>
how new is the timing belt? and as tegger says, stem seals are good too.

if doing this work yourself, DO NOT use abrasives to clean the head or
the block. that includes scotchbrite. use only a blade to carefully
clean. it takes time! abrasives, no matter how you try to avoid it,
accumulate under the rings and quickly ruin compression and dramatically
increase oil consumption. avoid having the head skimmed too unless it's
warped. and i bet it's not.

allow plenty of time - this is an all day job if you're going to do it
carefully and well.