Hey guys, I'm new to the honda civic's, but my last one blew a head gasket and I think the 1998 Civic lx I'm looking at may be showing signs of a bad head gasket. I went to look at a 1998 civic lx with 81,000 on it on Saturday, and I noticed the coolant levels were low in the radiator and in the overflow. I also noticed a small amount of white residue on the fan shroud, just a little though. I didn't see it overheat during the test drive, nor did it overheat at an idle running for about *(10 min). I also noticed no coolant in the oil or deposits in the overflow tank. Do you think I'm being paranoid, or do you guys think the coolant had to have gone somewhere? What about a bad radiator cap? Think that could have caused it to have lost coolant. I have to make a decision on buying it asap, so any advice would be appreciated. I just don't want another head gasket headache.

 

if your that worried about it, do a compression test, seeing a white residue out side the motor on the fan shroud is nothing to even worry about, i thin you are being a little paranoid, fill it up and take it for another test drive, i do suggest since you say it has 81k miles on it, ask if the timing belt and water pump have been changed, its that time for it,
if so then your good, if not well it needs to be done real soon.

 

White residue on the fan shroud could suggest a leak near the top of the radiator (though it could be just from being spilled of course). I would take your lower hose (it's actually the top hose but called "lower" in reference to the system's flow) off and see if the opening the hose clamps onto the radiator on is cracked and/or leaking. Also inspect all other cooling system related hoses for leaks. Another common place for leaks is the hose port directly underneath the distributor.