Blown headgasket?
Civic1200 Discussion Board: : Blown headgasket?
One thing to watch out for is that the 1200 head tends to crack in the webbing between cylinders. Should that be the case rather than a simple headgasket, the head will need to be replaced or rewelded if it's not bad enough. In any case, it will be an expensive and frustrating proposition
should the problem is not the headgasket.
Head gasket problems were a common problem with the '76-'78 CVCC engines due to the reconfiguration of the intake / exhaust valve layout. With the siamised exhaust ports and the two exhaust valves together, there was not enough coolant passing thru the block/head area. For late '77-'78 and beyond, Honda machined a small cross coolant passage between this area for increased cooling. This worked great until any sludge build-up occured, then it was back to overheating. If you are redoing the headgasket, have the machine shop check this area to make sure it is clear. You can do this yourself by running a wire or small drill bit thru that area. Don't try to enlarge the passage, just clean it out.
All the early Honda engines were prone to blowing Headgaskets if overheated. The most common culprit was the radiator temp sensor going out.
While the head is off and the machine shop is checking it for a flat surface, have the block checked also (1200 or CVCC). If the block deck is warped more than .002 or .003 thousands, it still can cause problems, even with a flat head. See the service manual for the limits.
One other tip, clean out the bolt holes in the block with a tap (preferabily a bottoming tap), spray cleaner, and compressed air. I have had some problems occure where the head bolts appear to be torqued correctly but were not putting enough clamping force on the head due to build up in the threads.
Oh, and by the way, regarding the post about using carb cleaner to clean the rod journals, that stuff evaporates quickly. I have never had a problem using it. If your concerned about it, use the Brake cleaner instead. It is a harsher cleaner but it evaporates very quickly.
Butch
yes dave, just to clean em off.....works good and evaporates pretty fast, if you do that first then clean the pan out, by that time it is ok to put the pan back on.
Why would you spray carb cleaner on the crank and rods? Sounds like a "don't do" to me. If you were ever to do that you would have to take a drill with an old oil pump shaft and turn the oil pump over after its all together to oil prime the motor to remove any of that cleaner before cranking it over. Are you talking about if you have "milk" on them?
leave the cam and lifter rail on the head when you take it in, they clean the whole head too. Check the rubber boots on the front axles, make sure they are not tore, replacing the timing belt is a good idea, it is nor really hard, but can be time consuming and sometimes fustrating changing it while the engine is in the car. Since you are pulling the head, also pull the oil pan off and clean it out, I take carb cleaner and spray the crank and rod ends too, getting the water/oil out of there. It might take a little while for you to do it, but it is a nice feeling when you get it all back together and turn the key and that little engine roars to life.
Jerry, it depends on what condtion the car is in when you get it. If you're replacing the headgasket, I'd suggest doing a timing belt, water pump (unless it's pretty new), and replacing the v-belt if it's in bad condition. Depending on how well the car runs, you should go with a tuneup, replace the plugs, wires, cap, rotor, points, condenser and filters. Other things that go on these cars are the axles, starters, and the fan switch in the radiator. It all depends on how much money you want to spend on the car.
oh yeah... forgot to add. Can someone please include a list of all the parts i need or should replace on the car? cuz im pretty new to these cars and dont know yet what breaks down alot. Just include everything you think i should replace from carb to suspunsions. then i will make a shopping list and pick up the parts.
Thanks alot guys for the help and info.. i really appreciate. If i do take the head to be milled.. do i have to tear it apart? take out the cam, lifters, etc.?
Jerry, get a book for the car, you can still get them at the parts store. The head gasket is not a hard fix, time consuming the first couple of times, carb has to come off, 8 nuts on the intake/exhaust (cvcc's inner two nuts on bottom really hard to get to) I would take the head to a shop and make sure it is flush, normally about $30.00.
Aren't the CVCC's the ones that are prone to the headgaskets, and not the 1200's? I thought that the cast iron block and aluminum head (different expansion rates, caused relative motion between the block and head, wore on the gasket) on the CVCC was to blame for head gasket failure, just like on the Ford 3.8 V6. Since the 1200's had an aluminum block and head, they didn't have the relative motion problem, so the head gaskets lasted much longer. If you do have a '75 CVCC, you have to get a gasket set for that year. The '75 was a one year only motor, they changed the ports on the head for 76-79. Good luck!
Hey Shiterkart
It could be an easy fix.
A couple years ago I bought a 79 wagon for $200 with the symptoms you mentioned below.White smoke = coolant in combustion chamber = blown head gasket.I bought this stuff at crappy tire,I think its called "Seal All" It was about $10.00 bucks.It's like these copper colored flakes in a liquid.You must remove and rinse out all the antifrezee really well then refill with water and the Seal All.It then says to run the engine for 20 minutes.This is not long enough,I ran mine for 3hrs.Once it stopped smokin I drained out the mix and put in fresh antifreeze.I then drove the car for about a year (25K),it never smoked a bit.Then I sold it for $1200.As far as I know its still rollin today!
CVCC or 1200?
Well with my car it was the second blown head gasket but it has hi comp pistons. I did not machine the head because the head and block were done only about 6000 miles ago. The problem I had was that the threads stripped out of the block on me and I had to deal with that. There are guys on this site that might scan and send the info to you but you should get a shop manual. They are cheap and can be found on Ebay on a regular basis. The gasket is about $50 Canadian. You will also need intake and exhaust gaskets but they are pretty reasonable. You will have to have access to a torque wrench or buy one. Some shops around here will loan them but I dont know about your area. It is not an easy job to do for a novice but with a manual and some advice it can be done if you take your time and remember "if you dont know, ask" You will only know if the block needs decked or the head done when you get it off. Mine was still straight. Pre-ignition can cause it. That is what blew my last one was one can of low octane gas. What is the car that you are looking at and where are you located Jerry?
no shop manual.. do you know if i can look it up on the net? and.. do you think i will have to mill the head or deck the block? you say its common to replace head gaskets... is it due to pre-ignition? or just the design of the motors? how much do you think im looking to spend to fix the problem? any suggestions?
I just dealt with the problem this summer. Yes its common. Do you have a shop manual?
hello everyone... i am in the process of buying a 75' civic. i was told by owner that the car is smoking alot(white). do you think this is an easy fix, replace head gasket? or do you think its gonna be a can of worms? are headgasket failures common for these cars? and.. i would like to know the procedures involved in replacing the headgasket. i would really appreciate it if you can help me at all, thanks in advance. email me if you like at shifterkart1@yahoo.com