00' Civic EX 2dr 5spd ~150k miles

So about a year and a half ago I was on the highway coming home from work when a light on the dash caught my eye. It was my engine light, and it was not good. Long story short; the bottom flange on my radiator broke off, and left all my coolant on the highway. I didn't notice till it was too late though. A new radiator and hose did the trick and it was back on the road. Soon after that I noticed it consuming a little oil. No smoke, and the coolant was clean. So I left it alone and just added some as needed. It has been a while since I opened the radiator and when I did this afternoon I found it still topped off (good)...with brown antifreeze (bad). I'm pretty sure I know where this is going but I'm really really hoping it's not a head gasket. The mix was good when I topped it off last. As far as I can tell there is no coolant in the oil. I'm going to have it flushed at a shop since I no longer have the space to do it myself (just moved to an apartment).

So my questions are as follows:
1. Has anyone had this problem before and it not been the head gasket, if so, what was it and how did you fix it?

2. If it is the head gasket, would a compression test tell me for sure? I've noticed just the slightest loss in performance and I'm guessing that might be a sign of bigger issues.

3. If it is the head gasket, how long does the job take, say could it be done in a weekend? Any special tools? Can it be done in the parking lot of an apartment building? I'm used to working on V-8's so this is a little different for me.

Any insight here is greatly appreciated.

P.

 

That whole orangey/brown coolant thing happens A LOT on some GMs, Fords, and Toyotas. Ive come to find it being the water pump, and other pieces of the cooling system rusting/coroding, and the coolant picking it up and circulating throughout the system. A really thorough flushing or two later, and they've been all good. (These things made especially bad by the O.A.T.(orange and yellow stuff) type coolant that they use.... GM said that they switched to it, because it doesnt degrade the gaskets as much or wtf-ever....instead, it eats away at all the metal components lol)

Comsumming oil but no leak, or smoke...and its not in the coolant? Its probably smoking lightly under acceleration/deceleration and its hard to see. @150k mi id be utterly surprised if it DIDNT burn some.

1. havent had this prob on Hondas personally, but on other cars, and it wasnt the headgasket.. I mgiht've missed it, but is it over heating regularly, or at all?

2. A compression test "could" help tell.... but may not help you at all.

3. as for how long it would take.... a few hours, maybe an afternoon.... Me and a friend had his d17 head completely off in about 20mins, and off to the machine shop it went. Done in an Apt Building PArking lot? suuure can, so long as your owners arent D-bags, and completely banned working on vehicles on the property

 

If you are using a good 50:50 coolant with anti-corrosion additives, then I think you have a problem, especially considering the increased oil consumption and lower performance. You might consider doing compression and leak down tests. If problems are found in these tests, you might consider replacing the engine. Once severely overheated, it's difficult to know whether an engine can ever be fully repaired.

 

LEAK down test...thats what I wanted to add in there....... God, im so tired I can hardly think....

 

the best way to figure out if the head gasket is bad is or what your problem is is to do a cylinder leakdown test this will let you you know if compression is escaping and where

 

UPDATE:
Had coolant system flushed today. Along with all the other things they try to sell you at the end, I asked what the tech thought could have cause this. He said it was most likely just age, he think it was oil. Time will tell, 6 hours after it still nice and green. Thanks for the input, will update if anything changes!

P.

 

Ignore the bad spelling and grammar; I was talking on the phone while posting.

 

He wasn't concerned about the presence of oil in the cooling the system?

 

Hahahahah! He DIDN'T think it was oil. Like I said, too many things going on at once. I think it may need one more flush, I checked it a while ago and there was a little bit of sediment (I guess), floating in it. It's still a nice clear green otherwise though.

P.