Civic 7th gen head gasket leak diagnosis

[sk_durani]

Hi guys,
I’m having trouble diagnosing if i have a head gasket leak on my 7th gen civic 1.6vti. The issue i’m facing is that after driving 100kms i have to add around 250ml of water in radiator. There are no visible leaks, bo bubbles on starting, the car is not over heating, no cold or hot starting issues. I’ve changed the radiator cap just in case. I’m very confused as of now. Is it really a head gasket issue or something else? expert opinons needed.
Thanks

[ali454]

Do a compression test on the engine if you want to be really sure.
Go to a workshop that offers compression testing.

Also if you havnt ever changed the rubber hoses its time you change them as they have gone hard and start to leak under pressure.

Also minor leaks in gasket are possible as the engine completes its life.

[dani_kk]

Pour coolant in your car, particularly red.. Genuine honda.. Remove all water out.

Once you're back to coolant you'll be able to identify leaking spots.. Since these type of issues show same signs as gasket breach.
But 70% times they're leaks in cooling system & people just replace their gaskets & end up in bigger problems.

[sk_durani]

When i got the car serviced, i got the whole water removed and added red abro coolant in it. After 3 days the whole red coolant turned clear and rusty.

[dani_kk]

It was on water earlier? That's sad..
Which city you're located in?

[sk_durani]

Yes it was on water earlier. I’m located in karachi.

[dani_kk]

Try visiting someone for compression test..
& try gasket leak test shown on YouTube & also do ph test of your radiator coolant.

After these tests you'll be able to identify whether its gasket or not..

[sk_durani]

Yes i’ll get the compression test done ! Thanks for replying!

[ZainMahdi]

When the water was removed, how did you - or the mechanic - de rust the cooling system?

[sk_durani]

The problem is he didnt de rust, i also didnt have idea that the system has to be de rusted.

[ZainMahdi]

Read the following carefully - if you want a more details on this method, google "mercedes benz citric acid flush".

You dont need to remove the radiator, and I'll write the procedure, the exact same one Ive written a few dozen times on PW. remove coolant and thermostat, fill with water/flusher (citric acid/commercially available rad flush) run engine for 10 minutes, drain and flush, keep flushing for about 10 minutes with clean water. fill with little amount of baking soda to neutralize and acid - flush again for 3 or 4 minutes, close all drain taps, connect back pipes and install thermostat, fill with …

I did the same to my Khyber nearly 3 years ago, when I acquired it.

The car had run on water all its life - this method removed the rust that was temporarily plugging leaks in the cooling system. I had to get a new radiator core (and a water pump just in case).

Ever since then, the car drives with temp gauge in the middle, and it never overheated. It initially reduced coolant, because I didn't perform a pressurized leak test after performing the flush. Got it resolved after a bit more research and a couple of weekends.

Anyways, ever since then, the car has been running like a charm - probably one of the few Khybers in Pakistan that have trouble free cooling systems. The temp gauge mostly stays in the middle.

This method can potentially cost you a bit of money upfront, depending on how rusted your system was - thats why mechanics avoid de rusting radiators (customers want cheap easy fixes) - but its worth it if you want to keep the car for any length of time.

[shabbir.1]

Before getting into anything major or performing leak-down test, just do this one simple test, bypass the heater core by doing the following steps:

a. Remove the inlet rubber hose from the heater core (letting hot water from the engine into the heater core).

b. Now also remove the second adjacent hose, connecting heater core with the engine (return path). Remove this hose from both ends (engine side as well).

c. Connect loose end of the hose in "a" directly with the engine (to the point where you removed the hose in "b").

This is required to bypass the leaking points in the heater core (if any), which is more vulnerable to rusting when plain water is used in cooling circuit.

Now fill the system and bleed the trapped air, drive the car for a day or so and recheck the coolant level.

If the coolant has reduced like previously, check all hoses for pin holes along with their connections and proceed for other tests as mentioned in the above posts.