89 Prelude

Hello,

The compression on all cylinders are good, but I'm burning antifreeze.
Does anybody know if their could be any other problem besides the head
gasket? Does anybody have a service manual in PDF format???

CA

 

www.autozone.com has free repair guides. They appear to be identical to
Chilton's. You put in your car's info and follow the links. It's not PDF
format, so it is quicker.

http://www.honda.co.uk/owner/workshopmanuals2.html also has a free online
manual for the 89 Prelude. The instructions ultimately are in pdf format.

 

------------------------

How can you tell you're burning antifreeze? Is there any oil in the
coolant yet? Any bubbles? Are we talking 400,000 Km?

'Curly'

 

The good ol' shadetree test: with a cold engine, remove the radiator cap and
pinch the overflow tubing closed. Start the engine and place the palm of
your hand over the radiator opening. If you feel steadily rising pressure or
(more ominous) pulsations against your palm the head has to come off to fix
it... warped or cracked head or bad head gasket. Fortunately, if the car
hasn't seriously overheated you would probably be looking at the gasket
failing. The cracked head is the least common.

Mike

 

Here's one problem that many techs overlook. Quite often Honda designed
coolant passages into the intake manifold to keep it warm. Sometimes these
develop a pin hole leak into the intake runner such that it draws antifreeze
into the combustion chamber. This symptom is difficult to diagnose as it
tends to mimic a failing head gasket or head, i.e., there's abundant white
acrid smoke in the exhaust but there's no coolant in the oil. Sometimes the
leak into the intake runner is worse depending on engine temperature. In
any case, you'll want to carefully check all of the intake runners to make
sure that you don't see any white streaks of dried antifreeze running
towards the cylinders. If you do find this indicator, then you'll need to
replace that part of the intake manifold.

Eric

 

Interesting! Can the intake manifold gasket do the same, or is the passage
apart from the gasket?

Mike

 

Eric, could you also address the new related thread "Coolant coming from oil
bolt" please? The OP is in a bind and I think you can advise him which way
to jump.

Thanks!

Mike

 

The Hondas I've worked on don't pass coolant through the intake manifold
gasket.

Eric

 

Good to know. Thanks!

Mike