Hey everyone. I am new to driveaccord.net. I have owned two previous accords, a 1990 and a 1992. I have always loved hondas & especially accords. I picked up a 1999 accord coupe 2.3 EX about 6 weeks ago. Everything seemed great about the car so I bought it. About 3 weeks later I went to do an oil change & when I popped the hood I noticed the coolant resevoir tank was full & starting to overflow a thick, brown, mud-like substance.
I immediately starting doing research on the internet & all the info I could find lead to a head gasket problem. The next day I took the car into the shop; They flushed my coolant system twice and refilled with fresh coolant to see if the sludge would come back. They drove the car for over an hour on the highway and sure enough the sludge was back. They diagnosed it as the head gasket and that It would have to be replaced.
They replaced the head gasket and flushed the system once more. I picked the car up and have been driving it for two weeks now since the repair. I went to replace my spark plugs and wires yesturday and took a look in the resevoir tank; It again had brown sludge in it (not as much as originally) but more than I would expect to be left in the system from the original problem. I then drained the enitre coolant into a pan. The pan was full of mostly coolant, but the top 2-3mm was the sludge substance.
I figured that maybe this was all just residue left in the system (the repair shop said there would be oil left in the system and it would need a flush in a month or two to get most of it out) So, I checked the oil level with the dip-stick and it was low (just below the lower dot) which unless the repair shop forgot to top it up after the repair, oil is again getting into the coolant system.
Does anyone have any ideas, suggestions, past experiences??? please help, I love this car and just wanna get this problem resolved!!
Well, depending on how long the gasket was seeping oil into the coolant, there could be a lot of residual oil in the coolant passages all through your system - heater core, radiator, intake coolant passages, motor, etc. Did the shop do a coolant system flush with something to really clean any junk out? That might make more of a dent into the smaller passages than just a drain and refill - otherwise you might be doing this quite a bit.
In terms of oil usage, did the shop say anything about the rings or other things they might not have addressed? Some oil usage is normal - although it's not clear from your description (a) what the level was after the work, and (b) how many miles since the work and how far it dropped.
Hard to say for sure - but there still could be some residual in the cooling system that needs to get cleaned out...
Well, I was doing an oil change when I noticed the original problem, so when I was done it was full (the oil was to the upper dot on the dip-stick) When I went back into the shop on saturday to tell them about the recent discovery they said I would have lost oil in the head gasket repair. I dont know a whole lot about repairs so I'm not sure if this is true or not. So, the oil went from the top dot to the lower dot in two weeks/800km.
The gen 6's 2.3 does have issues with cracked blocks.
The head gasket repair isn't the solution, replacing the short block or entire engine is the only way to repair it. The cracks that form are so deep within the engine that they can't be repaired.
I'd bring the car back to the shop that did the repair and insist that either they give you what you've spent back or credit that amount towards another block or engine.
Fredsvt - I see by your public profile that you're an auto tech. Since the head gasket replacement, the oil accumulation in the coolant is not nearly as severe. Is it possible that this simply represents oil residue? Are you convinced at this point that the problem is a cracked block? Should he top off his oil and wait a bit longer before this conclusion is reached?
I can only imagine what he must be feeling right now.
1. if it had over heated before it had the head gasket replaced, it may have warped the head.
2. residue from not cleaning it up. try changing the oil & coolant every few miles & see if it goes away.
3. a novice way to check for head flaws is to have someone else crank it while you watch the coolant overflow reservoir. Bubbles while cranking mean a flawed head or gasket. It's not 100%, but about 90%. The flaws will cause bubbles when starting.
94-97 had oil seepage, but it went out...not inside.
99 had a coolant leak from the block....it was a pipe.
Don't wait too long to talk to the shop no matter what!!! The longer you wait, the less apt they will be to help out. If they diagnosed it as a head gasket & it's not repaired, then simply take it back & let them know you still have the same problem. ASAP!!
That Cascade idea is WONDERFUL!!!! I've never used it in a car, but the logic works!!:thmsup: It's the recommended way to clean out a jacuzzi or whirlpool bath. Hot water & a cup of Cascade. Run it. Refill it. Rinse. Ta da! It's to cut any body oil or/and soap scum in the lines. It was in the owners manual for my tub.
We'd never heard of using it in a car, but even up old "dogs" can learn new tricks!!:thmsup: Thanks Fred!!
We have the same problem with a 99 honda accord 2.3L (180,000) brown sludge/oil in the reservoir and radiator, now the radiator is plugged. What should be my next step? It seems pulling the head is a waist of time?
The Porous block issue was on the 1998 to 2003 4 cylinder engines. The oil pressure build up in the gallies and force the oil into the cooling jacket in the block. That is why there is no antifreeze in the oil, only oil in the antifreeze in the radiator.
After cleaning out the radiator 5 times (plus removing both radiator hoses and blowing in the head once) and test driving the car in between, everything worked fine. The car runs just fine, but oil is again starting to build up in the radiator and the oil level is going down in the block after 2 weeks. I guess we will just keep changing the antifreeze every few months unless we get a different engine reasonable priced. Thank you for the information!
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