[loldelslo08]

K, so, since I purchased the car back in October it's had an idle issue(revving up and down) until it got to operating temp. Guy said it's been doing that since he had purchased it years ago. I thought nothing of it til now. Recently, since about mid december, my car has been pms'ing a LOT. It now continues to have the idle issue and my oil temp gauge goes past the H after driving down the highway for about 15-20mins. So I asked my auto teacher. Said it's either a tight throttle cable, or low on coolant. Filled that sob right up with coolant and the idle problem went away......for about 2mins. As I left my school car started smoking REALLY bad and sounded like it was choking, spittering and sputtering badly. So it's burning antifreeze So, all this being said we came to one of a few conclusions that either a)head gasket could need to be replaced b)block could be cracked somewhere which is causing pressure to build up and c)I forgot what c was >.<

Anyways, wondering if you guys have ever experienced similar problems or have any other ideas as to what it could be. It's my only car atm and I'm hopin the problem is as cheap as a head gasket but I can only hope. It's a 94 S with a stock D15 in it. Also, plan on replacing the gasket this weekend so any advice/tips on that is appreciated. Thanks <3

 

[MQTGSR]

K, so, since I purchased the car back in October it's had an idle issue(revving up and down) until it got to operating temp. Guy said it's been doing that since he had purchased it years ago. I thought nothing of it til now. Recently, since about mid december, my car has been pms'ing a LOT. It now continues to have the idle issue and my oil temp gauge goes past the H after driving down the highway for about 15-20mins. So I asked my auto teacher. Said it's either a tight throttle cable, or low on coolant. Filled that sob right up with coolant and the idle problem went away......for about 2mins. As I left my school car started smoking REALLY bad and sounded like it was choking, spittering and sputtering badly. So it's burning antifreeze So, all this being said we came to one of a few conclusions that either a)head gasket could need to be replaced b)block could be cracked somewhere which is causing pressure to build up and c)I forgot what c was >.<

Anyways, wondering if you guys have ever experienced similar problems or have any other ideas as to what it could be. It's my only car atm and I'm hopin the problem is as cheap as a head gasket but I can only hope. It's a 94 S with a stock D15 in it. Also, plan on replacing the gasket this weekend so any advice/tips on that is appreciated. Thanks <3

If your blowing/burning white smoke, you're burning coolant, which is most likely a bad HG. Your idle issue should not be related to your level of coolant, that is most likely a dirty/bad ICAV.

 

[loldelslo08]

If your blowing/burning white smoke, you're burning coolant, which is most likely a bad HG. Your idle issue should not be related to your level of coolant, that is most likely a dirty/bad ICAV.

Yea, that's what it's doing, but if my coolant level isn't related to my idle issue, then how come once we filled it(it was low too) the idle problem dissapeared? It came back the next day though because of all the coolant we put in being burned.

 

[LogikPhryk]

The IACV runs off of coolant temperature. If there is no coolant, it stays open. Have a read.

"The valve also lowers the fast idle speed in steps during warm-up, after the coolant temperature has reached 131°F (55°C). To prevent erratic running after the engine first fires, the valve is opened during cranking and immediately after starting to provide additional air into the intake manifold."

http://www.autozone.com/az/cds/en_us/0900823d/80/14/18/39/0900823d80141839/repairInfoPages.htm

 

[Kabooki]

I would think that if its blowing white smoke = headgasket issue = water in combustion chamber = crappy idle having water in chamber and being at low rpms.

 

[loldelslo08]

Kk, Monday I'm bringing it into my school shop and me and my teacher are going to take the head off. If it's the gasket we're just going to slap it on and I'll be gtg, but he said if it's the head then it's not going back on. So if worst comes to worst and it IS the head that needs replacing, I need to know where to find one for a decent price. Stock D15 head or maybe a possible vtec head(would need all the shit though for the swap with it). So if anyone knows any places that would give me a good deal, let me know! Or if anyone is selling one with less then 70k on it or a rebuilt one let me know please. Thanks.

 

[liquidblue]

Kk, Monday I'm bringing it into my school shop and me and my teacher are going to take the head off. If it's the gasket we're just going to slap it on and I'll be gtg, but he said if it's the head then it's not going back on. So if worst comes to worst and it IS the head that needs replacing, I need to know where to find one for a decent price. Stock D15 head or maybe a possible vtec head(would need all the shit though for the swap with it). So if anyone knows any places that would give me a good deal, let me know! Or if anyone is selling one with less then 70k on it or a rebuilt one let me know please. Thanks.

my old sol had the same idle issue. it was due to a leaky head gasket. you should not just slap on a new head gasket, if your gasket is the problem it most likely failed due to an over heating issue, warping the head causing the gasket to fail. you will need to have the head machined. you can get it fly cut at any machine shop for about 25$ depending on how much has to be cut off a adjustable cam gear would not be a bad idea either. before you remove the head time the distributor. CLEARLY mark the distributor positioning before you remove it. after the head has been repaired and installed (with the cam gear) put the distributor back on using the marks you made. check it with the timing gun. it will most likely be off just a bit due to the change in height of the head. now use the cam gear adjustment to correct the spark timing. it should only be a degree maybe two. this works due to the fact that the distributor is driven directly off the cam shaft so you can use the distributor timing to position the camshaft properly in relation to the crankshaft.

 

[loldelslo08]

brought my car into my school shop yesterday and me and my teacher replaced the head gasket and did an oil change in 1.5hrs! gasket ended up being the problem, lol, one we pulled out was horrible looking and one of the hole passages for the antifreeze on the gasket was broken right to the cylinder hole. needless to say, after replacing the gasket and fillin the coolant, car ran fine and continues to now. =D just shows its not always the iacv =P thanks for the advice too liquidblue, but we ended up just grinding all the old gasket shit off the head and the block and called it a day, havent had any probs yet either so =D

 

[liquidblue]

brought my car into my school shop yesterday and me and my teacher replaced the head gasket and did an oil change in 1.5hrs! gasket ended up being the problem, lol, one we pulled out was horrible looking and one of the hole passages for the antifreeze on the gasket was broken right to the cylinder hole. needless to say, after replacing the gasket and fillin the coolant, car ran fine and continues to now. =D just shows its not always the iacv =P thanks for the advice too liquidblue, but we ended up just grinding all the old gasket shit off the head and the block and called it a day, havent had any probs yet either so =D

no worries, glad it worked out for you.

 

[mattliston]

Good deal man. Did you have to shave the ehad at all? If so, above was mentioned an adjustable cam gear. It would be a good idea, and have your teacher help you. Hondas are easy to work on, but 1.5 hours if it was a first time is hella good.

 

[loldelslo08]

nah, didnt shave at all. like i said just took the air grinder to it and cleaned the head and block surfaces the gasket goes imbetween pretty well. havent had problems yet so don't feel a need to get the adjustable cam gear. tryin not to dump to much money into it atm less i find some good prices on some stuffs. =P thanks for the info tho.

 

[mattliston]

Cool, sounds like its fine then. Did you use a regular OEM gasket or did you use an aftermarket one? graphite?