Acura - Integra :: 1996 - Overheats And Coolant Slowly Disappears - Head Gasket?
Apr 11, 2011
I'm looking at a cousins 1996 integra that has some issues. It's a hand me down vehicle that has little maintenance. Probably regular oil changes and that's it. It has been overheated once in the past and uses coolant now. Coolant slowly disappears and she adds coolant to rad when it starts to get too hot. So likely, more overheat episodes. What are the chances just changing the head gasket will resolve the coolant loss?
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My 1994 Acura Integra with 243k original miles on it apparently blew a head gasket a couple of weeks ago, overheated, and ended up at the mechanic's shop with the head removed. He had it pressure tested, and they found a crack in the head's coolant jacket. So, it's toast. Wanting to keep the car (it's in great shape otherwise), I was presented with two choices.
Replace the head Replace the engine.
My question: What do I need to make sure the mechanic does or checks out on the new-to-me engine, to be sure I can get another 100,00+ miles out if it? It comes with NO warranty, and there are no records of how it was maintained or driven by its original owner(s). It's basically been "preserved" (how?) and sitting on a pallet in New Jersey for the past 16-ish years.
He says he's had good luck with them in the past, but has not done very many. He also claims that it will be an exact match, for smog / registration purposes, or he "will send it back" (his words). But I'm still nervous. Have I made the right choice?
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I recently had my oil &filter changed on my 01 integra at the dealer and was told that my oil pan gasket has started to leak. Car has 180k on it, and has no engine leaks.Seems like steep price for the repair $340.00 for the oil pan gasket. Is this repair really worth doing on a 12yr old car or is this just a normal thing that happens w/ age. Also Oil is not leaking on the ground and has no leaks around the engine. Iam only adding 1qt. of oil every 3k.
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I have a 1996 Acura Integra with manual transmission. It has only 113K miles on it. I put on only 6K to 7.5K miles a year. I have owned the car since it was new & have always changed the oil & oil filter myself. Until about 3 years ago I changed the oil & filter 4 times a year--roughly about every 2K miles. Three years ago I reduced the number of oil changes to 3 times per year. Recently it was suggested to me that even that was too many and that I should change the oil & filter every 6 months. To be honest I am not comfortable with that but I also realize that my discomfort may simply come from habit. I have changed the oil & filter every 2K on every car that I have owned since I was a teenager. I should tell you that I am 80 years old and live on my savings & a pension. To replace this car would cost me between $25K to $30K so it is to my advantage to keep the car on the road for as long as I can. In short will I be doing any harm to the engine by changing the oil every 6 months?
A second question that I have about oil is that it is becoming increasingly more & more difficult to buy a high quality brand of conventional motor oil. When I shop I have been finding that the better engine oils, Castrol GTX, for example, do not offer much of a selection when it comes to conventional motor oil. In fact conventional motor oil is their cheapest oil. Most of the varieties of oil that they offer are blends of conventional motor oil & synthetic oil. I have heard conflicting statements about switching from conventional oil to synthetic oil. Some say it is dangerous to do and that it should not be done while others say that it does no harm. But what about switching to a blend of conventional oil & synthetic oil? Will that cause any damage to the engine?
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I recently replaced the whole head and head gasket on my 2003 jetta 1.8t and it is still overheating so I have to replace either the thermostat, cooling fans, timing chain, or water pump. I have $700 and they said they can fix it for that. So should I spend my $700 and hopefully the problems go away or should I just try to sell the car as is and try to squeeze as much money out of it as i can?
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I drove my car after the check engine light came on, stupidly without looking at the temperature gauge. When the car died, I had blown the head gasket, melted the spark plugs and did some other pretty serious damage to the engine. So now I am contemplating replacing the engine instead of buying a new car since I drive very infrequently (I take transit to work and do a lot of business travel by air). The car is 10 years old and only has 72,000 miles on it. The body is in good shape as well.
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2000 Acura Integra 98k miles. Around 90k timing belt, water pump and all sealants were done - and valve adjustment.
Since then I thought that there is a minor loss of coolant - also heard some grinding sound at cold start.
Today in calif, weather is under freezing. I saw handful of coolant under the car where the water pump is. The reserve tank is almost empty - at 95k coolant was topped up.
I went to another mechanic and he wanted to bring the car next week - he will try pressure test - if it is minor leak, it might not work he said - will do other tests. Didn't say the price. Not sure what the fee is for diagnostic.
What are some practical tips? This is the first car now and plan on keeping it. Given it is been about 2yrs with the timing belt job, I am not sure if I have any recourse. Credit card companies only take care if it is within 2 yrs.
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4.6 engine had blown head gasket. right side. Pulled heads had checked for cracks and resurfaced. Reinstalled heads, but I still have a problem with oil pressure on right side. Chain doesnt seem to tighten and lifters rattle.There is good base oil pressure.
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Ive had both the piston rings and head gasket replaced on my 96 civic. This isn't for high end upgrades or anything just because i need to pass smog and both needed replaced. I am being told that once i get my car i should drive slow for 100 miles before i take it to smog. Ive read many different opinions on seating the rings but all are for people upgrading their car. I am sure I just got normal replacements.
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I have 2012 R with 33,000.00 miles on it. During regular service they detected that I have a coolant leak. They replaced a flange and determined that there was actually a head gasket leak. This is very unusual for such a low mileage. The car is still under extended warranty and they are in the process of replacing the head gasket. They told me today that they have to machine the head since there was some residue due to the coolant leak. This is all done at a VW dealer service.
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I found during an oil change that there is coolant in my oil, I had suspicions of this because of having to add coolant more than I should of had to. There is probably either a crack in my block, head gasket or intake manifold, my question is how can I tell which. I figure that if I preform a compression check it will tell me that I have a cracked block and or a cracked head gasket, what will tell me if I breeched my intake manifold.
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Quick question, my 2007 Santa Fe with 3.3 has developed a small coolant leak. Every so often, I see a few drops on the garage floor and every 6 months or so I need to fill the reservoir with new coolant. So I took it in last Friday at a Hyundai dealership and he said that I need a new head gasket.
So my question is, is that correct? I did a search and most say that if you need a new head gasket, coolant would have leaked into the engine and oil.
When I changed the oil back in June, I don't recall seeing any foam or-or any indication that something is wrong with the oil. Even yesterday, I open up the oil cap and pull the dipstick, every looks normal. I assumed that not all head gasket problems lead to coolant in the oil?
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2007 Pilot leaks coolant but, mechanic can not find the leak anywhere including the head gasket. He was a certified Honda mechanic.
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I have a 2011 RX 350, leaking coolant from head gasket. It has 113000km, engine warranty is 110000km ...
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I just bought my 2006 Toyota Prius about a year ago in 2009. It has been treating me LIKE GOLD !!! up to this point. About a month or two ago, the check engine light came on and stayed on along with a big red triangular warning light. I let it go for about a week hoping that it would just go away.
I brought the vehicle into my local Toyota dealership so they can diagnose it.They told me that they had 3 or 4 different "codes" coming from the machine when getting the signals from the check engine light. All the codes were related to the cooling system. They said that they felt that there was "debris" clogging the pathway for the coolant flow throughout the engine. They had recommended a "coolant flush" for the hybrid side as well as the mechanical side. So I took their advice and I had them perform the coolant flushes.
After leaving the dealership that 1st time, the check engine light came back on the next day. I called the same dealership and explained it to them. They asked me to bring it in again. SO I brought it to them a 2nd time. They diagnosed it again. They told me they came up with 2 of the SAME "codes" and 1 that was different, but ALL the codes were STILL related to the cooling system. They explained to me that something was preventing the clear flow of coolant throughout the engine. And since the thermostat was the only major obstacle, they recommended that I replace it. Well, I did. And after I left the dealership that 2nd time, I was praying that this was the last of my Prius issues! The check engine light came back on the next day.
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Our 05 Elantra (170k miles) is leaking coolant externally from the head gasket. At first I thought it was coming from the freeze plugs, but it's actually leaking from above. I'm mechanically inclined but have no experience with head gaskets. I have access to Alldata but no service manual. Will it tell me everything I need to know? The farthest I've gone inside an engine is removing valve covers car runs great and we like it enough to want to keep it for a while ... I'll also mention I will be replacing the timing belt as well.
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A local mechanic tells me I have a blown head gasket on my 2003 Saab 9-5. He also said there's coolant standing in one cylinder. If this is due to stretched head bolts, might I remedy the problem by replacing the head bolts and torqueing to specifications?
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I have a 03 5.4 F150 SCrew... The intake was leaking on the passenger side (water outlet tube meets plastic).
Putting in the Dorman replacement and noticed that the front cylinder drivers side (#5) had a decent amount of coolant in it.. None of the others did. I've drained the coolant already and was wondering should I just put this back together and see?
The water outlet crossing has a hole right next to this cylinder and I can't see any cracks and not sure if the gaskets were leaking under it.
Seems like if the head gasket was blown I would see it in more cylinders? It never smoked or run bad before I got this leak... Drove it maybe 10 miles with it leaking out onto Cyl#1. Ran fine, never missed.
I just don't want to put this back together if the head gasket is blown but I don't know what to do.
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I have a 91 Ranger V6 4WD with 150K that has been sitting for 7 years. The last time I drove it (7 years ago) to a mechanic, who diagnosed it with a bad head gasket - leaking coolant and coolant in the oil.
What am I looking at as far as a project: besides redoing the head gasket, what else will I most likely need to do given that its been sitting 7 years?
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2000 Subaru Outback. The head gaskets have begun to leak slightly (oil and coolant), even though I brought it in for the recall at 80K and the dealer put in the additive. I recently (111,000 miles) put in another bottle of the additive coolant conditioner and the leak seems to have at least slowed to a trickle. Is it really essential to have the head gaskets replaced? Or could I just keep an eye on the oil and coolant levels and put a bit of kitty litter in my garage? Some of the information I googled indicates that the recall of this car is for an OUT leak and not an INNER leak--which would be worse. Is it true that an OUT leak is not as worrisome?
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I have a 2000 V6 3400 engine. I had the intake gaskets repaired with the "good metal ones" according to the mechanic I had do the job. Cost me $600. Car still has coolant leak it overheats every 3 days or so. Leaves no puddles under car when parked. Can smell coolant when stopping at stop light or stop sign or when parking car. No obvious coolant running down or pooling on the engine. Sometimes it seems like smell is coming from heat vents but no wet spots on carpet or liquid coming out of vent. Took to mechanic again and he said it was the head gasket leaking. Wants $1100 to fix it. Don't have the money. Was wondering if any of these additives you can get at Autozone Etc. may work. It wouldn't be my first choice but financially it's about all I can do right now.
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