Honda Car Forum

My son's 155,000 mile 93 SI has gradually been using more & more
antifreeze. It recently went through a quart in 600 miles. I have
thouroughly inspected for leaks and can find none. Water pump is fairly
new and no leak at the weep hole. No sign of antifreeze in oil, no foam in
valve cover. No sign of antifreeze in the transmission fluid. No smoke or
steam from exhaust. No antifreeze smell inside the car like a heater core
leak.

The only thing I see is a very slight greenish tinge on all 4 spark plug
ground electrodes. Is there a gasket some where or a known problem where
antifreeze could be getting drawn in through the intake tract? The car is
in great shape. I need to get this figured out before it gets worse.

"terrys" <z-06nut@kc.rr.com> wrote in
news:e0ec3e5e8f5dbdecfb868e43ca5f2423@localhost.ta lkaboutautos.com:

> My son's 155,000 mile 93 SI has gradually been using more & more
> antifreeze. It recently went through a quart in 600 miles. I have
> thouroughly inspected for leaks and can find none. Water pump is
> fairly new and no leak at the weep hole. No sign of antifreeze in oil,
> no foam in valve cover. No sign of antifreeze in the transmission
> fluid. No smoke or steam from exhaust. No antifreeze smell inside the
> car like a heater core leak.
>
> The only thing I see is a very slight greenish tinge on all 4 spark
> plug ground electrodes. Is there a gasket some where or a known
> problem where antifreeze could be getting drawn in through the intake
> tract? The car is in great shape. I need to get this figured out
> before it gets worse.
>
>


Does the reservoir level climb when the car gets hot, then not come back
down again when it cools off? If so, blown head gasket.

--
TeGGeR®

The Unofficial Honda/Acura FAQ
www.tegger.com/hondafaq/

terrys wrote:
> My son's 155,000 mile 93 SI has gradually been using more & more
> antifreeze. It recently went through a quart in 600 miles. I have
> thouroughly inspected for leaks and can find none. Water pump is fairly
> new and no leak at the weep hole. No sign of antifreeze in oil, no foam in
> valve cover. No sign of antifreeze in the transmission fluid. No smoke or
> steam from exhaust. No antifreeze smell inside the car like a heater core
> leak.
>
> The only thing I see is a very slight greenish tinge on all 4 spark plug
> ground electrodes. Is there a gasket some where or a known problem where
> antifreeze could be getting drawn in through the intake tract? The car is
> in great shape. I need to get this figured out before it gets worse.
>
concur with tegger. if you're sure there's no other leaks, it's head
gasket. in addition to tegger's advice, check for bubbling in the
expansion reservoir after the motor's at full working temp. watch it
for a while to be sure.

jim beam <nospam@example.net> wrote in
news:WdSdnfv53OV-wQrZnZ2dnUVZ_r6dnZ2d@speakeasy.net:

> terrys wrote:
>> My son's 155,000 mile 93 SI has gradually been using more & more
>> antifreeze. It recently went through a quart in 600 miles. I have
>> thouroughly inspected for leaks and can find none. Water pump is
>> fairly new and no leak at the weep hole. No sign of antifreeze in
>> oil, no foam in valve cover. No sign of antifreeze in the
>> transmission fluid. No smoke or steam from exhaust. No antifreeze
>> smell inside the car like a heater core leak.
>>
>> The only thing I see is a very slight greenish tinge on all 4 spark
>> plug ground electrodes. Is there a gasket some where or a known
>> problem where antifreeze could be getting drawn in through the intake
>> tract? The car is in great shape. I need to get this figured out
>> before it gets worse.
>>
> concur with tegger. if you're sure there's no other leaks, it's head
> gasket. in addition to tegger's advice, check for bubbling in the
> expansion reservoir after the motor's at full working temp. watch it
> for a while to be sure.



Check REALLY carefully. My own head gasket failure was in the very early
stages when I caught it. I had maybe one small bubble every ten seconds or
so appear in the reservoir. It will get MUCH worse the longer the problem
is left.

--
TeGGeR®

The Unofficial Honda/Acura FAQ
www.tegger.com/hondafaq/

terrys wrote:
> My son's 155,000 mile 93 SI has gradually been using more & more
> antifreeze. It recently went through a quart in 600 miles. I have
> thouroughly inspected for leaks and can find none. Water pump is fairly
> new and no leak at the weep hole. No sign of antifreeze in oil, no foam in
> valve cover. No sign of antifreeze in the transmission fluid. No smoke or
> steam from exhaust. No antifreeze smell inside the car like a heater core
> leak.
>
> The only thing I see is a very slight greenish tinge on all 4 spark plug
> ground electrodes. Is there a gasket some where or a known problem where
> antifreeze could be getting drawn in through the intake tract? The car is
> in great shape. I need to get this figured out before it gets worse.

its gotta be leaking through the head gasket, and burning off. its just
not so bad that you notice it in the exhaust yet

SoCalMike wrote:
>
> terrys wrote:
> > My son's 155,000 mile 93 SI has gradually been using more & more
> > antifreeze. It recently went through a quart in 600 miles. I have
> > thouroughly inspected for leaks and can find none. Water pump is fairly
> > new and no leak at the weep hole. No sign of antifreeze in oil, no foam in
> > valve cover. No sign of antifreeze in the transmission fluid. No smoke or
> > steam from exhaust. No antifreeze smell inside the car like a heater core
> > leak.
> >
> > The only thing I see is a very slight greenish tinge on all 4 spark plug
> > ground electrodes. Is there a gasket some where or a known problem where
> > antifreeze could be getting drawn in through the intake tract? The car is
> > in great shape. I need to get this figured out before it gets worse.
>
> its gotta be leaking through the head gasket, and burning off. its just
> not so bad that you notice it in the exhaust yet


My Civic FE project had a head gasket breach which led to overheating.
I opted to try an el cheapo block seal treatment which is described here:


http://home.earthlink.net/~honda.lioness/id17.html


As an update, still no sign of problems. Drove over one hundred miles
today in mid 90's Texas heat without incident.

JT

"Grumpy AuContraire" <Grumpster@GrumpyvilleNOT.com> wrote
> My Civic FE project had a head gasket breach which led to
> overheating.
> I opted to try an el cheapo block seal treatment which is
> described here:
>
>
> http://home.earthlink.net/~honda.lioness/id17.html
>
>
> As an update, still no sign of problems. Drove over one
> hundred miles
> today in mid 90's Texas heat without incident.

JT, what "el cheapo block seal treatment" product did you
use?

I have a friend with a 99 Civic with intermittent
overheating and intermittent loss of coolant. The level
seems to go up at times like Tegger said. Can't see any
bubbles in the reservoir. No suspect residue is on the spark
plugs or oil filler cap. (Plugs in fact look beautiful.)
Can't smell anti-freeze in the exhaust. But I also can't see
how it could be anything else. Been several weeks of the
overheating/loss of coolant problem. Pep Boys and dealer
have both looked at it and found nothing but likely did not
do a coolant pressure test; cylinder compression test; or
test for hydrocarbons in the coolant.

Her car overheated about three years ago when relatives were
driving it; a rock was said to have hit the radiator; they
didn't know it and so didn't pull over (yeah, I know...
slobs) before the temperature gage hit red. I figure a
breach began about then but hadn't manifested itself until
this particularly hot year hit.

I hesitate to send her to a block sealant product, since
rumor has it they often gunk up cooling systems bad. Told
her at this point best bet is to let a radiator shop
troubleshoot it. But I'll study the packaging of the product
you used and google on it and see if it seems worth a try.

Elle wrote:
>
> "Grumpy AuContraire" <Grumpster@GrumpyvilleNOT.com> wrote
> > My Civic FE project had a head gasket breach which led to
> > overheating.
> > I opted to try an el cheapo block seal treatment which is
> > described here:
> >
> >
> > http://home.earthlink.net/~honda.lioness/id17.html
> >
> >
> > As an update, still no sign of problems. Drove over one
> > hundred miles
> > today in mid 90's Texas heat without incident.
>
> JT, what "el cheapo block seal treatment" product did you
> use?
>


CRC/KDS which is available at most autopart stores for under $10.

Follow directions except I doubled the running time and drying time.
And my car had bubbles in the coolant. I had problems after with
lowering coolant levels (air in the closed system) but that was due to a
crack in the elbow of the coolant recovery tank. JB Kwik Weld took care
of that and the system works perfectly now maintaining the coolant level
at exactly the "full" mark on the tank.



> I have a friend with a 99 Civic with intermittent
> overheating and intermittent loss of coolant. The level
> seems to go up at times like Tegger said. Can't see any
> bubbles in the reservoir. No suspect residue is on the spark
> plugs or oil filler cap. (Plugs in fact look beautiful.)
> Can't smell anti-freeze in the exhaust. But I also can't see
> how it could be anything else. Been several weeks of the
> overheating/loss of coolant problem. Pep Boys and dealer
> have both looked at it and found nothing but likely did not
> do a coolant pressure test; cylinder compression test; or
> test for hydrocarbons in the coolant.
>

Overheating can also result from stuck thermostats or failing waterpump
though these are not typical on Hondas.



> Her car overheated about three years ago when relatives were
> driving it; a rock was said to have hit the radiator; they
> didn't know it and so didn't pull over (yeah, I know...
> slobs) before the temperature gage hit red. I figure a
> breach began about then but hadn't manifested itself until
> this particularly hot year hit.
>


Extreme overheating loosens all the crud in the system ultimately
collecting in the radiator. Sounds like this may be what happened.



> I hesitate to send her to a block sealant product, since
> rumor has it they often gunk up cooling systems bad. Told
> her at this point best bet is to let a radiator shop
> troubleshoot it. But I'll study the packaging of the product
> you used and google on it and see if it seems worth a try.

If no bubbles in the coolant, I would not suspect the need for block
seal. A clean system seems to be the need here...

JT

"Grumpy AuContraire" <Grumpster@GrumpyvilleNOT.com> wrote
> Elle wrote:
>> "Grumpy AuContraire" <Grumpster@GrumpyvilleNOT.com> wrote
>> JT, what "el cheapo block seal treatment" product did you
>> use?
>>
>
>
> CRC/KDS which is available at most autopart stores for
> under $10.
>
> Follow directions except I doubled the running time and
> drying time.
> And my car had bubbles in the coolant. I had problems
> after with
> lowering coolant levels (air in the closed system) but
> that was due to a
> crack in the elbow of the coolant recovery tank. JB Kwik
> Weld took care
> of that and the system works perfectly now maintaining the
> coolant level
> at exactly the "full" mark on the tank.

Okay.

> Overheating can also result from stuck thermostats or
> failing waterpump
> though these are not typical on Hondas.

Right, but with the loss of coolant, ISTM she's looking at a
cylinder head cooling system breach.

The water pump was changed just a few months ago, during a
timing belt job.

Air purges have also been done. She with the shops has been
topping off the system as needed. Yet it won't stop
overheating every so often.

> If no bubbles in the coolant, I would not suspect the need
> for block
> seal. A clean system seems to be the need here...

I will see when she last had a coolant change. Thanks for
the input.

My $0.02. Steam mixed with combustion gases can erode holes in cylinder
heads or any metal. I wouldn't leave this too long. Even if you are
putting in a quart every few hundred miles, the stuff that is leaking out is
up to no good.

Earle

"Elle" <honda.lioness@nospam.earthlink.net> wrote in message
news:7yWlg.8571$o4.2490@newsread2.news.pas.earthli nk.net...
>
> "Grumpy AuContraire" <Grumpster@GrumpyvilleNOT.com> wrote
> > Elle wrote:
> >> "Grumpy AuContraire" <Grumpster@GrumpyvilleNOT.com> wrote
> >> JT, what "el cheapo block seal treatment" product did you
> >> use?
> >>
> >
> >
> > CRC/KDS which is available at most autopart stores for
> > under $10.
> >
> > Follow directions except I doubled the running time and
> > drying time.
> > And my car had bubbles in the coolant. I had problems
> > after with
> > lowering coolant levels (air in the closed system) but
> > that was due to a
> > crack in the elbow of the coolant recovery tank. JB Kwik
> > Weld took care
> > of that and the system works perfectly now maintaining the
> > coolant level
> > at exactly the "full" mark on the tank.
>
> Okay.
>
> > Overheating can also result from stuck thermostats or
> > failing waterpump
> > though these are not typical on Hondas.
>
> Right, but with the loss of coolant, ISTM she's looking at a
> cylinder head cooling system breach.
>
> The water pump was changed just a few months ago, during a
> timing belt job.
>
> Air purges have also been done. She with the shops has been
> topping off the system as needed. Yet it won't stop
> overheating every so often.
>
> > If no bubbles in the coolant, I would not suspect the need
> > for block
> > seal. A clean system seems to be the need here...
>
> I will see when she last had a coolant change. Thanks for
> the input.
>
>



--
Posted via a free Usenet account from http://www.teranews.com