my wagons actin funky!!!
oilspot
Wagonist
Had to slam on the brakes really hard earlier. A few minutes after my wagon started missing while sitting at a stoplight, then cleared itself up. Just a short while after that when i started the car it blew a good amount of white smoke out of the exhaust. Not burning oil though (I know that smell well from a vehicle I used to own). I checked the oil and there doesn't seem to be any signs of water in the oil (thinking mabey a head gasket)
So I take off to drive the car home (about 4miles). It starts missing at a light again, then as I pull away and am running the last bit of the way home I notice that the temp meter is way high! Then suddenly the temp meter drops down to around normal.
Anyway... Just got done with this whole fiasco a few minutes ago. I've got the car sitting in the shade cooling down (don't see any sense working on a car when it's hot as hell if you don't have to).
Any ideas on what may be causing all this. I've got a few ideas but wonder if this sounds familiar with anybody that has more experiences with hondas.
So I take off to drive the car home (about 4miles). It starts missing at a light again, then as I pull away and am running the last bit of the way home I notice that the temp meter is way high! Then suddenly the temp meter drops down to around normal.
Anyway... Just got done with this whole fiasco a few minutes ago. I've got the car sitting in the shade cooling down (don't see any sense working on a car when it's hot as hell if you don't have to).
Any ideas on what may be causing all this. I've got a few ideas but wonder if this sounds familiar with anybody that has more experiences with hondas.
Comments
After it cooled down I checked and the radiator was pretty low. Thinking that it may be a head gasket I just added water.
i had pulled the heat shield on the exhaust manifold to get a better look at things. Started the car, and the white smoke had lost most of it's scent. When i rev the motor small puffs of white steam puff from where the head meets the block.
So yeah, it's head gasket time.
I figure no big deal untill I look up a local price on a head gasket set. $148... holy shit!!!
Is it gold plated?
So where can I get a good deal on a head gasket set???
I guess I can get the gaskets seperate. The head gasket I can pick up for around $32 bucks. I figure reusing the intake gasket is just a little too risky. Intake leaks are no joke, and I can get the new intake gasket for $15. But I'm thinking that I should probably be able to get away with re-using the exhaust gasket, and valve cover gasket (at least temporary).
Has anybody tried going this direction? going back in and doing a valve cover gasket is a pretty small job. Exhaust gasket job doesn't seem too bad either.
Another thing I'm looking into is using the z6 or y8 head gasket. either would bump the compression some. Another bonus is that they're both carried in stock at some local parts places. The a6 head gasket is a half week out unless I wanna pay express shipping (which brings me back to my current brokeness).
lol what im trying to get at, is you dont need to get anything other then the headgasket =P
anyways, good luck man!
Also considering removing the power steering while I'm doing the job. PS is kinda nice. I'm not thinking about pulling it to remove weight, or really to make the car perform better. I just kinda think the simpler the better. And getting that whole unit out of the way really clears some space up!
I can't tell yet, but it looks like I have to remove the PS bracket to remove the head anyway.
I would love to just go neck deep into the job and get it pulled apart. Problem is that my 12yr old daughter is off school for spring break, and as always my 5 yr old son is hanging with me. So I gotta work on it as I can today.
As for the removal of the PS, your not going to see or feel much of a diff. ALSO the PS fluid lubricates the steering rack, if you remove the system after a few turns you will pump all the fluid out of the rack and be running on little to none. there was a post a few years back on some honda board about making a small resivoir for the rack and what not. if your really worried about the power. take off the belt and drive around for a week. You may not think its all that bad now but at slow speeds and stops its a bitch. They all have PS for a reason.....
Have to borrow a badass impact to get the crank nut off so I'm waiting on that. One of the exhaust studs broke off while taking off the manifold. No resistance, no warning, it just snapped. Then the wire going to the o2 sensor came out of the connector. It's actually on the car side of the connector. There was some ghetto wrapped electrical tape. Figure It came apart at some point, and somebody just jammed it back in there.
Looks like I'll probably end up having to buy a helicoil set for the one exhaust stud. I may get lucky, and be able to drill out the broken stud. Gonna try using a drill bit the same size as the minor diameter of the M8 stud. Hopefully then I can use a tap to clear the remaining stud material. If not I'll have to buy (with the cash I don't have) the helicoil set.
taking a break, having some coffee.
at times like this I remind myself, that somewhere in this world, at this very moment... that somebody is literally on fire.
And all of a sudden I fell as if my situation isn't really all that bad.
I've got a cup of coffee in me now. Feeling up to messing with it some more.
update... a little while later.
***I hate these stupid plastic connectors!!!! Each one takes so damn long to to work apart. It's like each one is just waiting to break. And of course there a whole shit load of them that I've got to get loose before I can pull the head off.***