i was driving on the turnpike and my 95 civic ex started smoking from underneath the hood. i looked at the temp gage and it was all the way up(no alarms sounded or lights came on to warn me)...so i pull off the exit that is luckily like a 1/4 mile away, and as i'm coasting off the exit my engine shut off. pushed it to a gas station, let her cool down. i noticed radiator fluid splashes on the inside of the hood, but no leaks in the hoses...the fluid was basically all gone...i added fluid, and went to add oil...when i unscrewed the oil cap SMOKE came out...i knew i was in trouble...i poured some oil in, let the car sit for a good hour, and then started it...i could hear the starter, but couldn't hear the engine turning...i'm guessing it's seized from the heat...i'm not too knowledgable, so i was wondering what might need to be fixed on my car...i've took the "long shot" approach and tried new plugs, but no good. i'm guessing i'll need to buy a new cylinder head? i found one for 300 dollars(rebuilt)...i don't even know if i should buy it, because i don't know if that's what i need...any help is greatly appreciated! sorry for my vast lack of knowledge.

 

ooohhh nasty, looks like youve seriously let your baby overheat, the splashes would probbaly be the coolant(whats left of it) being released through the coolant resevoir cap as its set to a certain pressure to kinda blow off a little so you pipes dont. the smoke from the top of the engine, id say is due to you boiling the oil away due to it not cooling down with no coolant(Ive done this with my turbo) When was the last time you checked your coolant????

I remember my friend did the same, we got behind the car, pushed it really quickly and bump started it...Got the pistons Working but the beasty smoked loads after that.had to have the piston rings replaced and he got away with not cracking the head or anything else.

Apart from this i dont know anything else, im probably wrong but it sounds like what happened to me and my friend.

P.S. Have you noticed the car going slower before it happened? Because if your HG had gone then you would of ate through your water hence leading to your engine overheating and probably boiling the oil wich in turn would of helped the engine to sieze up.
im probably wrong tho...

 

yeah, it sounds like the motors seized. sorry to hear that.

 

What are you doing with the car because i am in maryland and i have so links to some good parts cheap

 

i got my friend to help me work on it(he's done engine swaps and all that), so i guess i'm going to be trying to fix it...were you intrested in the car, or just telling me you can get me the hook-up on parts?

 

thanks for the info milano...i was actually thinking of trying to push start it...it seems like the pistons just need that extra kick in the **** to get moving...but i'm afraid that it might need more than that also...i guess we'll find out in about a week or so when we start working on it...if you guys want...i'll document the process, with pics and everything...unless you guys don't care...

 

Do document it please. This could happen to anyone and knowing what to do saved a crapload of money.

 

ok, expect updates to this thread then within the next week or 2