I have a 97 Honda CRV that I just replaced the head gasket in along with a ton of other new parts. Put everything back together o.k. and it was running pretty decent. Adjusted the valves, replaced plugs, wires, distributor cap and distributor rotor, adjusted timing and now it's running horrible and smoking bad. I noticed the heater hoses were building a lot of pressure so I loosened the radiator cap and noticed a distinct gas vapor smell. I pulled the plugs out and saw that there was antifreeze in the cylinders. Well now I have the heads back off again and the only thing I see is the new head gasket has a thin almost carbon paper film on it that is flaked off in the middle. The car was running good before, I just had some time to tear it down because it has over 400,000 miles on it and it was leaking oil all over the place. Does anyone have any ideas what could have caused this new gasket to fail? I posted the photos on youtube here is the link:
Honda 1997 CR-V Head Gasket Photos.wmv - YouTube
Honda 1997 CR-V Head Gasket Photos.wmv - YouTube