So my cooling system never stops haunting me...

I have not had any over heating problems or anything even close. But about once a week i need to put a cup or two or coolant mix into the radiator because it will not stay filled to the neck. Everything has been replaced and I have had leak down and compressions tests and everything was fine (it has overheated once since the test but that was still a while ago).

Anyway I tried to test it today by driving and then listening for leaks but all I could notice was the there is a very slow "blop blop" of bubbles going into the coolant reservoir and each bubble is about one second apart. The radiator cap is brand new, could it be the neck of the radiator or should I just try a new cap again? Could this be the head gasket leaking now? The oil looks fine and only cool-ish air and occasional water drip from the muffler.

My only guess is that the head/head gasket is now having a very small leak?

 

It's your head gasket..

 

figured as much, i was just lying to myself that it would be something easier.

my question then is:

Should i get one of the kits with all the involved seals, or can i get away with just replacing head gasket and valve cover gasket along with new head bolts?

I know i will already be in there at this point but i plan on mini-me-ing (lol) a z6 within a year and i would rather replace everything then rather than replacing everything twice, plus im broke.

looking at a couple DIY and my manual it appears that this job is not too insanely hard besides keeping everything very clean, dont mess up timing and i guess a valve adjustment doesnt hurt but i am not sure i need to do that... and I am trying to get a low level mechanic job right now so i could throw this on my list of things i can do... unless there is something i am not understanding and should really let my normal mechanic do it...

any extra input on this just might save me from a worse headache -_-

 

So it is the head gasket, but I am not sure how bad because the coolant is normal color and the car doesnt get hot and no smoke is coming from the tailpipe, the dipstick seems normal color to me (crappy pic following). But the bubbles come up in the radiator. Driving without the thermostat for now though and is has not been over flowing into the reservoir like it was.

People say they have done the head gasket and it fixed the problem. More people say that after 150k (im at 195k) miles your are much better off getting a new engine because there is probably more wrong with the engine than just the gasket.

ANYWAY, my question is:

Should I spend money and replace the gaskets and get it milled? Or avoid potential other problems and get another D16Y7 ($800, i am confident i could swap it myself)?

The pro being that I could work on the current engine slowly while it is out of the car and swap it back in once it has been built to my liking, the con being that the new engine could have problems too and the cost is not much different...

Input would be appreciated.


edit: oil

 

Compression test numbers?

 

Don't go rebuild an engine. Too expensive. Heck, $800 for a D16y7 is about $500 too much.

 

800 for the whole engine too much? bottom, head and things directly attached. i was looking at hmotors and jdm-online and they had similar prices i think?

im considering three options as of right now:

just replace the head gasket/ect but i am concerned about the people saying that will be a temporary fix for an old engine.

get a z6 head and get it milled and throw it on there with IM/TB and ODBI conversion. which i wanted to do anyway.

or sell the car to someone (they go for a bit here) and get an engine/chasis and throw it together myself. Even at 800 engine and 500 chassis i would have more than enough money to replace fuel system/brakes/ect.

I know the third option is kind of extreme but with summer coming up and no job it would be affordable and i have time on my hands and enjoy working on a car. maybe im just justifying that option though. I am gonna get my alignment done again this week to see if there is frame damage and my mechanic is gonna look at head again and i will get a compression test redone. if things dont look good (mainly alignment) i think I am gonna sell the car and get another civic. if not ill consider getting the z6. I dont wanna pay for gaskets and to mill the y7 head that i want to replace anyway... i do plan on turboing what ever car i have eventually.

 

alignment was fine. engine makes a weird noise, almost like a two small pieces of plastic bouncing around in a can. Sound is very faint but definitely does not sound good...

anyway going to upgrade my project thread now.

 

Same issue. Have you found what was the problem?