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.

 

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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'

 

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????

 

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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: http://www.tegger.com/hondafaq/faq.html#interference

'Curly'

 

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

 

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

 

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????

 

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