I drive a 92 cx hatch, with a d16z6, p28 ecu, manual

Recently, my cel has been coming on and off and i've been unable to read a code since it never stays on long enough. so last night my car started idle surging. It only starts that surging about 5 mins after start up, or until it gets warmed up. This wasnt a major concern, i figured it might be something like the O2 sensor, but then my temperature gauge started going nuts and when i finally got to school, the gauge was pegged to the full temperature, and when i popped the hood, the engine was steaming a bit, and smelled like something was burning. (other than the fuel obviously). the exhaust smelled terrible. I'm still at school so i couldnt look into it at all, had to get to class. Could this possibly be a blown head gasket? If so, i'll have to replace it tonight because this is my dd, i need this car to get to school everyday. Any other ideas would be very helpful.

 

You may have just run out of coolant. Once it is completely cold, take the radiator cap off and refill the radiator before starting the engine again. Whatever caused it to overheat, driving while overheated is really bad for your engine though. If you now have white "smoke" coming out the tailpipe that smells like antifreeze, at the very least the head gasket is bad.

CEL codes will be stored in the ECU even if the situation clears itself and the light goes out. You should still be able to read them.

 

oh really? for some reason i thought the earlier years didnt store codes, well thats good. but yeah i'm stuck at school and i cant drive it home bc i'm not risking it if the headgasket is blown, havent had time to fully check it out.

i dont wanna warp the head and screw myself out of a lot of money by driving it.

 

the idle surge could be the FITV

 

yeah i replaced the FITV already, only recently did this start happening again. it stopped when i took the engine out of my sedan and put it in my hatch and just started doing it again. then this. i'm going to get a better look at everything once i'm out of class, i'll let ya know how that goes haha

 

Well, you have to figure out if the temp gauge reading is correct...

This sensor (sending unit) is located under the distributor. It has 1 wire coming from it. To remove the 1 wire, pull from the base.


If your temperature IS correct and your car IS overheating check the coolant, is it there!? lol

Also, check the thermostat as it may have failed.

My old thermostat failed closed (engine will overheat). My new thermostat fails open (the engine will take forever to get up to temperature).

 

notice any white smoke?

 

ok so i was out of coolant. how that happened so fast, i dont know, i'm thinking its the tube between the block and my heater core. so i'm taking it to get pressure tested to check for leaks, then i'll know for sure where its escaping.

yeah the lack of white smoke was the only sign that it wasnt the head gasket that went. plus the fact that there was no emulsification evidence present in the oil. good thing my friend had a container of fluid with him.

 

The heater hose is a likely culprit. Look under the distributor, where the heater hose meets the engine. It is an often overlooked area of the hose... mine had gotten real soft there and started leaking coolant.

I recommend simultaneously replacing the tiny hose between the firewall and the heater valve, as it is only a few bucks and you'll be replacing its counterpart anyway.

 

yeah the shorter was the one i'm concerned about... though i might replace all of the tubes, i can get them for like 50 bucks as a package