What would you do? Blown head gasket


civicx3

civicx3

Drop a gear & disappear!
Joined
Jul 22, 2009
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im pretty sure my head gaskets blown. Leaking oil from between the block/head and white smoke out the exhaust so its got to be the HG?. Cars off the road which gives me time but i cant drive it to the garage for any tests etc..

ive got a budget of around £300-400 and wondering if id be better off buying a different head, cams etc while doing this work? i want to get as much as i can out of my b16a while keeping it n/a.

Id get a bigger engine, go turbo etc but its in my sir-s and i want to keep it nearly all original.

Having only done a head gasket on my 306 like 5 years ago im not 100% confident on doing the job but been searching the net, watching videos etc and between me any my mate reckon we could do it, if anyones got a link to a good detailed headgasket change id like to see it as im needing as much info as possible so we dont mess it up. Also like to get some advice on what parts i should buy when doing this job, ive read ARP headbolts are about the best?

I want a genuine honda gasket set, went to my honda dealer and got told they can get the parts but would be bought individually and would cost a bomb so he told me to shop around.. not what you usually here from that place!! So where do people buy these kind of parts online?

basically any help would be great! lol

thanks

picture shows the leak and the dodgy manifold. Went to take it off and sheerd the stud, that bolt has always been there so guessing ive got two studs to extract before it sees the road :angry2:

DSC04269.jpg
 
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Have you checked to see there is oil in your coolant/ water in your oil? IF it is the headgasket, whilst the head was off, I would replace the valve stem seals, maybe skim the head a fraction, depends what your budget is? whilst your at it you could uprate the cams, valvesprings, new valveguides, new valves? there is alot of options!
 
The B16a in my CRx looks exactlly the same, with oil running down the front of the block. It doesn't however cause any problems, now smoke whats so ever or oil in the coolant.

I've bought a B18c6 head which i plan on fitting once the weather impoves. I have however got a repalcement B16a cylinder head for sale which has been pressure tested and skimmed if its any good to you.
 
When tho oil is leaking there, doesn't mean you have to do a head gasket.

This happen to my buddies it was rare but the head gasket just sported to give away on one area that started to leak oil as your photo is showing. His oil wasn't going into his coolant nor was the water going into oil. He drove it for a while but I would eventually get around to changing it. What I'm saying don't cheap out save up a bit and make sure to do it right. I always buy oem parts from honda because they are a lot more reliable that all these "aftermarket ones"
 
thanks for the help, i cant see any oil in the water or water in the oil but its only just started putting out white smoke so maybe time will tell..

@tama666.. the engines only overheated many months back when the thermostat welded shut and even then i stopped before it was too late and got a tow back home. id love to take it to a shop to do but the only people id trust round here are honda and i have no idea what the cost of a HG would be, any ideas people lol? ill be changing the pump and belt while its apart, be dumb not to

@simon_32.. im thinking of getting a different head but out of interest how much you after for the b16a mate?

@joe.. alot of options yeah thats why i need some help with whats best to start with first, especially with a budget of 3-400 quid for now.

where do people buy there bits online? any links be great!

thanks
 
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Break that engine down and sell the working parts and buy another?
 
Edit: ive found a local guy which can do all my head work for me :) its up to me to supply the parts so he can put it together. Joe you said about new valves, springs etc.. ive been shopping around and anything but spoon is within my price range but is it abit extreme to buy these for a daily driver?

From what ive read a set of ctr cams and a tune will see a decent gain along with sorting out a better air intake, correct me if im wrong?

guna keep searching what parts are best to use but if anyone can recomend what to change while im doing this pleeeease post up as its still abit blurry for me. looking at spending 300 ish on parts. thanks!
 
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if it was me,i would definately decide if i'm gonna use the same head first or buy another head.your gonna go through all the trouble of getting everything you want to replace,but suppose the head is warped or cracked.either get another head or take the one you have to a machine shop.once you know if the head is good or not,you can take it from there.replacing the head is fairly easy.there are plenty of sites that have pictorials,along with the torque specs.there are plenty of guys here that can definately point you in the right direction.G/L with whatever you decide.
 
yeah thats true. ill take it to the shop and see whats going on. cheers for the heads up, will post up what happens..! :nice:
 
just done a compression test and all 4 cylinders are reading 200psi which tells me its fine? but after letting the engine warm up the oil leak looks terrible, covering that 'A' mark on my engine.

anyone got any ideas??

thanks
 
reading up on the net sounds like it could be cam seals but i aint sure.

After taking my air intake off to get a better look i can see its pretty coverd with oil on the left side (under the dizzy) will get some pictures tomorow. Its still blowing alot of white smoke out the back but the car isnt on the road so could it be because its not getting used much?
 
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