head probs??

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8secHonda

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I bought this 90 acura integra w a B18A1 that had been ran hot and Had water in the oil.. the car was not smoking or running to awful bad, i pulled the head and chkd it for any visible cracks and found none. so i replaced the head gasket and changed oil and i let it idle for at least thirty min or prolly longer.

the car ran hot... i figured the thermostat was stuck cause the hoses rad hoses was hard n seemd like water wasnt flowing. ( it was flowing when i first started it ) i replaced thermostat. again ran the car for 45 min or better idling. car was running great. heater was working great. ( this is important)

I thought hell yeah its fixed.. (yeah right) all the sudden the car starts running way over half way and the heater starts blowing cold and white smoke starts coming out the tail pipe.. wtf?? it was runnin so good and then went to this... it started idling bad rough and stalled... the rad hoses are hard once again.. shouldnt be hard like that w new thermo in it..

Is my head cracked or is there another problem im overlooking? sorry its so long but i wanted to include all the details.. thanks guys..
 
did you check for a leaking water pump? coolant leaks? did the fans come on when the thermostat opened? hell, i'd check the coolant hoses too and change the thermostat and its gasket too. did you bleed the coolant system? i have a 90 integra GS myself but all my stuff is running great. 356000 on the car and about 3000 on the new re-built engine. but i check that stuff regularly. being that its a new car to you i would go over al that stuff. i'd put a new rad cap too just to know its good
 
yup replaced the thermostat and gaskets and the o ring that goes in it.. water pump isnt leaking checked all that and the hoses are good .. water pump seems to be flowing water i can see it flowing inside the rad. u say bleeed the radiator?? new one on me lol this is my first acura i only had honda civics before..
 
Bleed the radiator= Run the car with no radiator cap on. This allows any bubbles in the system to find their way out. After it's done (10-20 min. tops) top off the radiator, cap it, done.

That may not be the problem though. If the car ran hot it could have warped the head. I'd have a machine shop check it out.
 
most hondas have had bleeder valves on their coolant systems since 1980 models that i can remember seeing them on. look at your upper radiator hose were it attaches to the side of the head. on that connector peice that the upper hose goes on there is a little nut with a tiny tube on it. that is your bleeder valve. turn it counter clockwise a half turn...coolant should come out. you will see it spurt higher at times. thats air bubbles coming out of the system. sometimes even a buch of tiny bubles will come out like soap sudds but they wont grow like soap does. try that till you get just a steady flow of coolant. make sure your resivore is at a good level and that the radiator cap works properly. does that help?
 
oh ok man thanks.. illl try the bleeding . i may have a cracked head . no water in oil yet though.. the white smoke out the tail pipe bothers me ,,,,
 
most hondas have had bleeder valves on their coolant systems since 1980 models that i can remember seeing them on. look at your upper radiator hose were it attaches to the side of the head. on that connector peice that the upper hose goes on there is a little nut with a tiny tube on it. that is your bleeder valve. turn it counter clockwise a half turn...coolant should come out. you will see it spurt higher at times. thats air bubbles coming out of the system. sometimes even a buch of tiny bubles will come out like soap sudds but they wont grow like soap does. try that till you get just a steady flow of coolant. make sure your resivore is at a good level and that the radiator cap works properly. does that help?

could that cause my rad hoses to be hard like the thermostat is stuck??
 
are you losing coolant? like you have to add coolant to your radiator? youll get water in the oil when you blow the head gasket too. not just when you crack the head. did you machine the head when you did the head gasket? you could have a warped head. this would cause your head to not sit right on the block and allow coolant to get into your cylinders. did you check your head bolts to see if theyre stretched? some cars require you to replace your head bolts every time you have the head off but people rarely do. i always replace mine and my customers with new ones no matter what the manuals say
 
and yes this could be a reason for your hard radiator hoses but i wouldnt say thats a definite cause because its a new car for you and who knows how bad it is neglected by the other owner. but i would replace those too or at least go to autozone, get a new hose and squeeze it to see how the hose feels new. then you would know what a good hose feels like if you dont already know. if you do then i guess you dont have to go to autozone to see a new hose
 
it lost some coolant amybe half a gallon or less, didnt machine the head or check the head bolts.

ok guys yall gonna think im crazy, i went out to the car and started it this morning.. now its not idleing funny or anything.. it running good.. and has little to no smoke coming out the pipes.... i nvr seen nething like this b4... i did have to add water this morning.. the oil is still fine no water in it yet.. i didnt let it run for more than a few minutes im bout to try the bleeding trick to see if this solves my probs... god i hope so i hate to have to pull that head off again...
 
i wonder if my heater core could be stopped up or if some of those small hoses on the intake that has coolant running through them be leaking into the intake??? i been turning wrenches for yrs and this has boggled me on how it can run great then go to running hot and idling very rough.. but this morning it runs good w no missing or rough idleing.....
 
if the headgasket was blown, the head could be warped a tad... you should always have a machine shop at least check the head before putting it back on
 
if the headgasket was blown, the head could be warped a tad... you should always have a machine shop at least check the head before putting it back on


if that is what is wrong it will b a well learned experience.. i wont ever forget.. lol
 
And you should have replaced the head bolts. They could be fine, but they could be not. Consider it insurance.
 
the tail pipe smoke could have been old coolant from your bad head gasket....you know like there was still coolant in the exhaust system that finally burned off. i would do a compression check to test for a cracked head. you will have a compression loss in one or more cylinders. and to check for a blownhead gasket the compressoion check will also help see this. now you can also get a head gasket leak tester from autozone. its a tube you put green fluid in and hold in place of your radiator cap with the engine running. if there are any combustion gasses present in thecoolant system they will cause a chemical reaction in the green fluid causing it to change color
 
thanks man, im gonna check the compression n see if its cracked.. thats btr than having to pull head jus to c if its cracked... the car did stop smoking after a bit of running the first time. it started runnin hot n looked to b smoking heavily. im bout to go run it a lil bit more n c if it runs hot again after i bleed the coolant system....
 
being down a half gallon makes one wonder...where is the coolant going? now do you always have to add cooant? more or less depending on how long you had the vehicle running. an hour, ten minutes, etc. how about when you start it? does it start rough? if so this could be signs of a bad head gasket. you see, when you turn your car off after it has built up coolant pressure, the pressure pushes coolant into your cylinders through the bad head gasket. similar to how your radiator cap works...well the way it is supposed to work. so when you go to start the car after it has sat a while or all night, there is water in the cylinders. this water makes the car harder to start that first time. but definately do those tests i mentioned earlier
 
in the morning the car starts easily. it ran bout 1hr before it ran hot.. it has lots of power down the road n doesnt miss.. i think the water pump mayb bad.. i talked to the guy i bought it from and he said it jus ran hot on him... he took thermo out and it still ran hot.. it runs to smooth to have any head problems i think.. but not sure i seen some wierd shit lol... the water pump not workin mayb why it blows very hot air out the heater and shortly after blows cold... the rad hoses are hard like there is some obstruction somewhere but i found none.. when i added water it looked like water was flowing .. the water pump isnt leakin or makin any noise i can hear... this car is giving me a headache... i just got laid off from work and on a tight budget .. i cant afford to drive my truck as its a gas hog....
 
do your fans come on? i know i asked this along with other questions but maybe too many questions overlooked this one
 
my fans came on a few times but didnt the last few times it got over half way on the temp gauge.. i cut the car off the time before n the fans came on then cut off when i turned the key on.. strange i thought..
 
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