I have a 1983 Honda Civic auto 1500cc w 40,000 original miles.

My mechanic replaced the head gasket 3 times already and it has failed every time. I get radiator fluid in no 3 piston and some in no4. I changed to a rebuilt head the last time and the first two times the head was checked by NAPA and planed.

I am doing it myself this time cause I have no money and I want it done right.

Is there some problem besides a cracked head, cracked block or blown gasket that causes this? Something that causes a blown gasket which causes the leak perhaps. Some device with a diaphram that breaks and the engines sucks rad fluid up the hose and into the engine.

So I have a gasket kit and I almost have parts off where I can get the head tested and planed. It has about 300 miles on the rebuilt head but I will get it checked and planed anyway.

My head bolts are original and have 40,000 miles on them. So I plan to reuse them. The dealer wants $33 each to replace.Can I add 4 pounds torque to make sure they hold better??

Any suggestion/comment/advice/insights. please respond.

 

Are you using new head bolts? if not get new ones, you should replace them since the car is so old

 

Hold on, 4th time?! Ever time you replace a head gasket it should be "skimmed" where the block is grinded down to give a fresh level surface to put the gasket on. But I'm 90% sure you can only do this twice before you run out of metal to grind.

If you havent been skimming it, then that's probably why it's failing!

 

Such is the curse of those old CVCC engines; they apparently love to blow head gaskets. I have a 1980 1300 hatch with a blown head gasket, but I haven't gotten around to fixing it yet. I hope I don't run into the problems you did.
Anyway, you should have the block scraped/cleaned and checked for warpage as well as the head.

 

As I was taking it apart I found another issue. The bolts on the intake/exhaust manifold were not on very tight and the two underneath were not tight at all. I loosened them using the end of a flat screwdriver just by touching them. I also found a nut missing on a motor mount. My mechanic does not know it but he just got fired.

To me the gasket did look like fluid was leaking. Could it be all my problems were caused by this? Fluid from rad missing and small amount of rad fluid in oil.

Is there an easy way to check for an uneven block?. I am on a strict budget and have no money. I will look at head gasket once I get it off.

Wow, how do I get those nuts back on underneath the manifold after I get it on?

I appreciate all your help. Thanks.

Joe.

 

Machine shop will have to check the block/ head to get it perfect.

 

You can try laying a very straight steel ruler across the block to see if it is badly warped but it probably is since the gasket keeps blowing. Pull the block part of the engine out and take it to a machine shop. You will probably have to remove the tranny first, or pull the block and transmission as a unit and seperate them later.

I still think it is easier to put the head on with the manifold already attached so you don't have to fight with those nuts. Though on a 1980's CVCC there is a lot of stuff attached to the manifold that isn't there on later fuel injected models.

 

Well I ran into a mechanic at McDs this afternoon and he told me a lot about Hondas. I also have a problem with pinging that I never mentioned. He said

1) the head could be warped up and I could tell by pressing on the camshaft and if it wobbled back and forth then it was domed up.
2) if I put a straight edge on the bottom then I could see if it was warped down.
3) The block might also be warped and there was some sort of lip on the bottom that acted as a fluid barrier that gets cut up sometimes. He said he corrected that with a metal file. Also use a straight edge there.
4) there are small rad fluid passage holes in the head which get easily stopped up. Told me to clean out the bottom of the radiator with liquid soap.
5) the same for the oil pump shaft which has a very small hole in it.
6) he said the cam could be damaged already.
7) Said add some oil to the little trough below the cam when I start it back up. Even use a little gear oil in it he said.
8) Told me the pinging could be caused by one of two vacuum advances in the distributor
9) TOLD ME THE PINGING WAS THE CAUSE OF MY BLOWN HEAD GASKETS.
10 told me the distributor could be shot.
11) said some of the springs could be bad.
12) said some of the vacuum hoses might be hooked up wrong..
13) the gears on the oil pump shaft could be worn due to the heat and lack of oil.

This was all I could remember and he talked very fast. He owned a local import repair shop for years and seemed very knowledgable.

Any comments or additions.

 

Sounds like he knows what he is talking about to me.

 

I didn't quite understand what he meant by fileing the block. It sounded like he straightened the block top edge with a metal fine the kind you use in your hands. He said he used tape to cover the holes when he did it. Said a little uneveness was okay. You think he really did this?

He did say my old head bolts would be okay and not to add extra torque. I believe he said the bolts would get tighter when the head got hot so then they would be too tight. He said to make the bolts really grip to put some grease on the threads before I put them in.

Make sure I got the long bolt in the right hole and to make sure no fluid got down into the holes cause that cound crack the block when tightened down.

He did sounds like he knew what he was talking about and also he sounded expensive.