head gasket

Hey guys i just found some fluid on the ground under my car its color is like a orangey color, i think its antifreeze and oil together could that mean the head gasket is getting ready to go? there is no blue smoke my coolant levels are fine it doesnt overheat. we just replaced the temp. sensor on her,its a 1994 honda civic 128,000 miles on it.

Reply to
rynniki
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Pull out the tranny dipstick and let it drip on your driveway, compare color. OR, taste the stuff on the driveway. if it's very sweet, it's coolant. Half a drop won't poison you. The service manual says it's OK for the weeping hole on the water pump to weep a drop or two. Look under and find exactly where it dripped off. Is it by the lower pulley where the drive belts are? When was your pump and timing belt last changed? (mileage AND date).

'Curly'

Reply to
'Curly Q. Links'

its a 5 speed so i dont have a dipstick,the timing belt was changed around

90,000 miles by the original owner.i just had my tranny fluid checked in july and it was fine they showed me it..the drip was in the front on driver side.so do you think its the head gasket????
Reply to
rynniki

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Time is just as important as mileage (that's why we to know both) Your water pump is above the crankshaft pulley, and it will drip at the bottom of the plastic cover. If your water pump weeps a few drops, no problem. You need to determine exactly how much it's dripping, and whether it's overdue for a change. When WP fails, it siezes, taking out your timing belt and the whole top end of your engine, sometimes. Read this:

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'Curly'

Reply to
'Curly Q. Links'

so you dont think its the head gasket... my hubby is taking it to the mechanic tonight i think it might be the water pump or the radiator needs to be flushed,cause i checked my coolant this morning and it was full and nice and green and also i checked my oil and that was fine nice and clean oil.. thanks so much i get paranoid because of no money we are getting ready to move and its not in the budget .thanks so much niki

Reply to
rynniki

niki, I had a bad head gasket on an old chevy many years ago. The first sign was oil that became totally black shortly after the oil was changed. If you change the oil and it remains "nice and clean" for at least one month--it usually means that your head gasket does NOT need to be changed. I should note that it usually costs over $600.00 for a mechanic to replace a head gasket. Jason

Reply to
Jason

so what do you think was on the ground it oil and antifreeze is clean and to their levels. i am thinking my oil pan nut is leaking or something like that. i will see when the car sits overnight. what are signs of head gaskets going bad????

Reply to
rynniki

Often, overheating is the main sign. The head gaskets can fail in a number of ways (allowing various mixes of oil, coolant and combustion gasses). A good confidence check for the most common and troublesome way (combustion chamber to coolant passage) is to take the radiator cap off when the engine is cold, pinch closed the rubber tube that goes to the coolant reservoir and start the engine. Before the engine starts to warm up, put the palm of your hand over the radiator cap opening and check for pressure against your palm. If the head gasket has failed in that usual way, you will feel gentle but continuous pressure that builds within a second or two and stops when the engine is shut off. More severe cases will produce a pulsation instead of a steady pressure... at that point the car either won't start or is gulping down antifreeze like crazy, so the test just pinpoints why the car is that way.

The type of failure Jason experienced would be the next most common - mixing combustion gasses into the oil. Both of those failures come from the combustion gasses eating into the head gasket area; that's why the oil/coolant mixing is so much less common.

I think you are worried more than you need to be about the head gasket. The sorts of failures that mix oil and coolant don't normally allow it to leak out at the same time. As you say, anxiety over the move is probably more likely the cause than significant mechanical trouble.

Mike

Reply to
Michael Pardee

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