I have a 94' honda civic ex 1.6L vtec.. every 4-5 days i would have to fill my reservoir (coolant) to the max line and add some to the radiator. Also every week or so add a quart of oil. I bought this car about 7 months ago for pretty cheap because it needed a head. On the left side of the engine bay i see wetness coming from the beneath the distributor area/ under vtec controller. So heres what ive done so far: replaced oil pan gasket, vtec controller gasket, distributor o ring, and replaced the heater core hose that runs from beneath the distributor from the side of the head because i noticed swelling just behind the clamp. Well now its been a week and a half i added maybe a quarter quart of oil, and refilled the reservoir up and radiator once again. Also heres a note: when it gets nice and warm and i go to a redlight it wants to idle so low it almost stalls or if i go inside a store and come back out and start it it stutters a few seconds then clears. Any other suggestions?

 

heres the above picture where its coming form.

 

Hmmm... not sure about the leak... but rough and low idle could be caused by IACV problem. Have you cleaned the IACV?

 

mmmm whats that? lol sorry not too mechanically inclined but can figure it out if told where to look but no to answer your question.

 

Go here and look at the IACV cleaning link for information on it.

 

thanks deltree will go and try that now to see if it takes care of my idle problem

 

My guess is the head or head gasket are your problem for both problems. Most engines don't idle very well with coolant in a cylinder.

 

As for the oil leak, it looks like it may be coming from the VTEC controller area. You mentioned already replacing the VTEC controller gasket, which I assume you replaced the larger (about 4" long) gasket on the backside.

Did you also change the camshaft solenoid gasket? It's the smaller, roundish (about 1" long) gasket located between the VTEC controller and the cam solenoid. If you remove the three bolts holding the cam solenoid to the VTEC control assembly, that's where you'll find the cam solenoid gasket. It's a pretty common cause of oil leaks in that area, besides the main VTEC gasket.

Another thought is the internal distributor shaft seal. You mentioned changing the (external) o-ring ... did you by chance check out the internal seal too? Those tend to leak after so many years. Especially in cases where the engine has overheated, most all rubber gaskets and seals will have a tendency to be weakened from the excessive heat, and start to develop leaks.

Finally, as other posters mentioned, the head gasket sounds like a possible culprit as for the coolant loss problem.

Good luck!

 

GlobalSynergy

No i didnt replace the cam shaft gasket you asked nor the inner distributor o ring.. But i hooked up my cousins pressure tester when hot and add pressure it slowly leaks, when you put about 9lbs on the tester and start the car and let run it will go up to about 16 psi... ALso another note, saturday morning the reserboir was bone dry!! I added fluid to the max line, and i drove to my families house which is about 50 miles or so which is where i got to hook the pressure tester up at, and the reservoirs was filled to the top and you can see where it was over flowing... so im assuming as well a head gasket once again.... but thanks all for the responds.

 

Engine cold for this test. Put the tester on but don't pump up (leave at 0 psi), start engine and rev it, if pressure abruptly increases there is a head gasket leak.

If you don't have a pressure tester you can do the same thing by squeezing the top radiator hose to judge the pressure inside. It should be soft with the engine cold. Leave the cap on, start engine and rev it, see if you can feel the pressure increase.