2 replies to this topic

[Magneto]

A friend has a Vtec Pup with the D16Y8 motor - I have been keeping it on the road for about 10 years now but it has developed an interesting problem. I have not torn it down yet as it requires removing the engine and until I get some of MY projects finished I don't have the shop space.

 

What it does: it loses about a quart of water - it used to take well over several hundred miles, now it does it in less than 50.

 

What I've checked: leaks - new water pump, all hoses all clamps are tight - no external leaks visible. Plugs, pulled - all 4

look the same, no evidence of water intrusion. Compression - even across the cylinders. Oil - clean, no evidence of a milkshake.

 

Radiator - new cap, radiator and entire cooling system clean, no sludge. It leaves nothing on the floor overnight, or when it runs.

 

My suspicion is a blown head gasket, crack in the head or block. But where is the water going? Is it being burned? If so why no evidence on the plugs, or when you crank it with the plugs out? Is compression blowing it our the overflow? Again, no evidence that water is coming out anywhere.

 

Anyone have experience with this and can shed some light before I tear it down?

[riktanius]

Have you pressure tested the cooling system? That might show you something that only spreads when the car gets nice and hot. 

[Magneto]

Reviving an old thread - because here we are two years later and he finally pulled the head!

 

Turns out to be a blown head gasket ( as I told him oh so many years ago), but I still don't see where the water is going.....no evidence of an external leak, no indication that it was going into the cylinders - all the tops of the pistons look the same and so on.

 

My last guess is that the leak was allowing it to blow the water out of the overflow as a pressure test showed nothing.

 

So, since it's a 200K miles motor, we're going to rebuild the whole shebang and see what it does.