some people like greddy_civic might refer to me as an idiot, and even I wouldnt drive an untuned turbocharged car

 

actualy the marks on the lower crank is on the crank itself, not the ballancer... its just a small line on the crankshaft timing gear that lines up betweek the 2 lines on the oil pump. its more less towards the top of the gear towards the right alittle.... line that up with the engine at TDC as well as the timing gear lined up straight along the 2 side marks and that will show ya if your off or not. it can be alittle tricky.... what helps is if ya instal it all and when you think its lined up right ya need to spin the motor over afew times to equalize the tension on the belt all the way around. then move the motor back and check the gear marks to ensure they are still in the right spot. and recheck belt tension adjusting it as needed...
some people say the spring puts the right tension on the pulley and i say it doesnt.LOL it was way to loose! at least mine was, so i used a piece of wood to push up on the tensioner and tightened it down nice and firm till the belt felt good and snug.


and ya the radiator fluid isnt a MUST drain but i would get any oil out of the system.

main true tale will be draining the oil and seeing the radiator fluid in it... if so ya definatly have to pull the head for sure for further inspection...

not to sure about sleeving but i have heard that those like block/cylinder spacers do hurt some cooling that kinda blocks coolant flow alittle.
like already said the main concern is what kinda damage you could have done with it runing overheated..... overheating can trash the whole motor.
if ya do drop the oil pan just pull off one main cap and inspect for any hard wear spots. it might be ok but either way id inspect everything ya can before puting all the work into puting it back together only to start it up, drive down the block and all kinds of problems pop back up!

 

Also, about the smoke... it's normal for it to smoke a little on a cold start. When you check it for smoke make sure you wait until the car has warmed up to normal operating temperature.

 

i dont think mine smoked during start up..... if it does you have something leaking oil into the cylinders.... my truck would blow a puff at start up but i know it was burning oil...

 

Check the appropriate service manual at the link in my signature. In the Valve Train section of the Engine chapter, you will find illustrations showing how to install the timing belt so that the cam and crank are synchronized at TDC.

If by chance you cannot verify coolant present in the engine oil, then it's pretty easy to drain coolant from spigot at the bottom of the radiator and look for the presence of oil.

 

ill order the new headgasket from honda today. since the weekend they were all closed.

since i have to try to work on it in one day cause of space ill pull everything off tomorrow.

anything else i should order?
i think ill just take out the thermostat. or do you guys think i should keep it in? im in socal.

 

Don't take the thermostat out...it can take much longer for your engine to reach it's normal temperature. An engines components are designed with the expansion due to heat in mind...your piston rings won't seal to their designed amount until your car is at full temperature. It's there for a reason...

Not to mention if it's cold out, you'll be wishing you had heat!

 

cool. ill take your advice and not take it out. ill just make sure its the new one i gave the shop to install the first time. is there a way to see if its new?
he did give me the so called old one as i requested. to make sure all the stuff was actually replaced and just to see what damages i got from the replacements i asked for all the old parts back to inspect.

the thermostat was one of the items. for what i can see with my UNtrained eye, the thermostat looks very new. but im not sure if its the new one i gave him or the one in the motor. being that these items are running in coolant they dont have many moving parts.

 

just found out that they make metal head gaskets. should i have bought a metal head gasket instead of the one i did buy, from honda.

 

ok, i drained the oil and took out the spark plugs today.
i have not pulled anything off yet.

inspection of the oil.
i cant tell how much or if there are any coolant in it.
its either too mixed in there or i dont know what i am looking at.

the oil is very dark.
i have yet to put on more then 100 miles on it since the oil was added.
but i still dont actually see the coolant it self float up or seperate from the oil.

spark plugs, they are very dark at the tip. lots of oil on it.
can not tell if there is oil in the coolant. since there was no coolant left and all i did at the time was add water to it. so there is no residue that i can see.

when i did try to start it up this morning just to see , there was white smoke from the tail pipes.

ill be taking off the head soon.