Hello everyone,

I overheated my 97 civic and it stalled. I replaced the water pump the next day. I did a cursory air purge, but may not have done so well. After the new water pump, I began seeing water vapor in the exhaust (it wasn't there before). I don't seem to have lost any power, and I am not overheating except when I idle long after a long drive.

The water vapor eventually stopped coming from the exhaust, then my engine light came on: codes p0301, p0302, p1300, p1399 (c1 misfire, c2 misfire, 2x random misfire). I carefully marked the timing belt and replaced it on the same tooth it had been on previously. Can this misfire be related to "possible water in the engine" as my [very incompetent] mechanic said? Or is it more likely that I screwed up with the timing belt replacement?

After that, I got a cylinder leakage tester and tried it on my engine. I couldn't get the compression loss for the cylinders, but my number 1 and 2 cylinder clearly had profuse bubbling from the radiator when I compressed the cylinder. That was enough of a sign for me, so I tore down the engine and took the cylinder head off.

To my surprise, the head gasket appears to be fully in tact. It doesn't look pretty, but it is not cracked or visibly warped. My cylinder head doesn't look warped or cracked either. I did notice however that my intake gasket was fully cracked and torn. Now I'm at a loss for diagnosing the problem... so my big questions are:

1) Could it be that the head or gasket is actually damaged and I'm just too much of a rookie to see it?

2) Or is the block cracked and I need a new engine?

3) Is there ANY other possible explanation for water bubbles in the radiator when I pressurize the number 1 or 2 cylinder? (can this be linked to the intake manifold gasket, perhaps?)

4) I know that water/coolant in the engine can cause the misfire (can't it?), but can the misfire in any way cause the bubbling resulting from pressurizing the 1 or 2 cylinder?

Thanks for taking the time to read my post, and thanks for any advice you can offer.

-Christoph

 

The overheating may have warped the head.

 

Driving an overheated engine until it stalls will almost always ruin it.

You could check the head and block for warpage with a straightedge. But without anything visibly wrong, the only way to really tell is to put it back together with a new gasket and see if it still leaks.

No the intake won't cause bubbling in the radiator. Some air might escape past the valves and get into the intake manifold, but it can't build up pressure there.