Glenn2006

Hi all,

So my 3.2 with 325,000kms on it was running perfectly until about 3 weeks ago. I started to notice some overheating at idle, but didnt worry too much about it since it cooled down after moving again. After this happened a few times, I checked the coolant which seemed alright, checked fan fuses and made sure the fan engaged with the climate control. I had the thermostat changed yesterday ( 150 cash from a reputable place I've always dealt with and know the man well. )

100kms of driving and I'm convinced the problem's fixed...

I just put 20 bucks of 89 octane gas instead of the usual 91 cause im feeling cheap. On startup at the station, I got a really rough idle, like really. Continued at every stop light I came to. After one of the lights, bam! the temp needle starts creeping up=[. Tried to bring the temp down with the climate fan, but nothing worked. It went all the way up to the red, and I even saw a bit of smoke coming from under the hood. I'm so sad now..I think it's a head gasket.

What do you people think? It's almost like the cheap gas triggered something..or maybe just a strange coincidence..

Thanks for reading.

01tl4tl

the problem started with overheating- rising temp at idle- thats usually plugged radiator or bad water pump- the pump is supposed to be replaced every 100,000 miles

The ac fan wont make up for the extra demand the ac puts on the system- if you
need to drop temp quickly in an emergency- simply put heat to FULL HOT, that opens the little heater core-radiator and dumps cold coolant into the system
Combine all that with a bad thermostat---
All of that lead to a weakened head gasket which finally went
The gas will cause some prob and possible detonation- but not the root cause of your prob
If its just a head gasket replace it and hope the head is not warped

KaMLuNg

iTrader: (5)

with that many miles on the engine it won't be worth it to spend the money to change the head gasket... if you are willing to spend the money, swap the engine...

Glenn2006

hmm..

I've seen our engine, and also the type II's on ebay for about a thousand dollars..what's your opinion on those? They say they're low milage, and working..but should there be anything to worry about when buying an engine from the internet?

01tl4tl

The standard concerns would apply to any interent purchase IMO

Check you local junkyards- now called auto recyclers-at least then its a local -
known mileage unit- you may even see the car it came out of!
they test them for compression and you can get one that only recently stopped running.
For safety- you should replace the water pump and timing belt before install

Glenn2006

well, i figured out it's burning about 300ml of coolant per 70kms if I measured correctly. At least thats the point at which it begins to overheat again. Also white smoke coming from exhaust at normal operating temperature when i stomp the gas.

How safe is it to drive like this?, assuming I constantly check coolant level and not let it overheat. I just dont think I have the time right now to get a HG job done, or maybe I even want to get a swap done, not sure:\

01tl4tl

white smoke is coolantr in the exhaust
The more you drive is the closer to replacing the car you get
You can check the level every morning and get 5 miles when suddenly- no more engine
Leaks never get better- not to mention you are dumping water into the combustion chanber- water and gas have different compression rates- guess what happens inside the engine
On an up note- the water/steam WILL clean that piston spotless!,,,or fill it with green liquid

Glenn2006

just thought I'd update..

found a japanese engine place by my house..that i nvere even knew about somehow..they have 2 engines from our car, then about 5 or 6 from legends. One looks to be a type II. They want 600 for the engine. 100 more for the type II (which looks in really bad condition IMO). they do swaps at this place. and their mechanic, whose English was poor could only tell me that he'd do it for "good price." Oh and the engine has 72000km on it
I'm not too skeptical of this place, seeing as how they have literally hundreds of engines, and installations by them are guaranteed (dont know the details of that guarantee.)

anyways. I'm going to try to bring my mechanic to this place tmoorrow and see what he thinks of these engines.

take care all

(in before this post is worthless without pictures)

01tl4tl

be really careful on those engines- they often do not have identical motor mounts or other installation issues
Make sure its the exact same engine type or its trouble like you cannot imagine
Just try and get it smogged!

Go90go

The stock mounts bolt on to those blocks. The difference lies in the harness... A rewiring job that was done with me sitting on my garage floor and Ken kitting on my intake manifold, haha! ::EDIT:: Since it's still a 3.2, no re-wiring is needed, just use the original harness.

$600 is a VERY good price for our motors. Ever try buying a B18 that's NOT stolen? .

~Cheers~

P.S. I'm assuming the guy is Chinese, so tell him, "Bay ngo ho di gah cheen aH!" The aH is raised in pitch. It means, "Give me a better price!" and it usually works. He might start giving you better deals all around. If not, then say, "Ho. Ngo ting yut lay saht nay." That means, "Good. I'm coming tomorrow to kill you."

aznboi2424

iTrader: (10)

haha dude, im chinese and i can understand what your sayin. he aint lying, this guy knows his cantonese

Go90go

^ Thanks, haha, . It's helped me plenty when negotiating with people. They feel better if dealing with someone in their native tongue, be it Russian, Polish, Cantonese, Mandarin, or Arabic, although my Arabic sucks horribly and is limited to a few words now, . In my experience, though, at least knowing how to properly pronounce a few greetings or key phrases can help sail you through what otherwise would've been a cold meeting.

~Cheers~

Glenn2006

Hi all, I had meant to reply to this sooner, but anyways...all is fixed now. A friend of my co-worker had a small shop about 40 mins away that he uses for side jobs when hes not working at his fathers shop. This mechanic has done a lot of work on older Acuras, and after talking with him for a bit, he said he would do a HG job (both) for 650. This was the best price I had heard so I agreed to it. Also, since I have no record of when the timing belt was last done, I asked him to put a new one in there. He just charged me for the part ($110), since he would have the old one off anyway. Anways, all in all, I gave this guy 850 for a job well done, and quick...700kms so far and no problems.

take care

ps, he showed me the crack in the old gasket. was right by cyl. 6. a good 3 or 4 mm wide...and my timing belt was all cracked and old looking..

Go90go

^ Good shit! Now you've got a nicely running motor and let's hope you don't have to tear it apart again for the water pump, .

~Cheers~

meazz1

Glad to see the problem was resolved for such a reasonable amount of money.

Where is this mechanic located?

Glenn2006

He has a small shop he works out of on the side when hes not working at his primary father's shop. It is located in the Weston Road and St. Clair Ave. area, T.O