code has popped up 3 times, no smoke. But it overheated, and was blowing coolant out the overflow which is a sign of a head gasket issue. Then again, I overfilled it, so that would be expected, has gone a short time with no more blowing out the overflow.[/quote]
I think the dealer is full of shit. They have no way of knowing it’s a blown headgasket without doing a cylinder leak-down test. Have you drained the excess coolant?
How much coolant have you been losing?
[/quote]
Sorry I’m so out of order in these replies.
When I first got the car I noticed after a while the coolant got low as the fans didn’t kick on. Filled it. Fine for a few years.
Then it’s gotten low again with no signs of leaks, overheated.
When I filled it up, I put way too much in the overflow as well. It kept spit out coolant for a few days. Has not done it since.
Coil pack on the cylinder has been replaced.
Code PO303 came on, I reset it and was fine for about 6 weeks and maybe 500 miles, then came on. I reset it, changed the coil pack and came back on about 60 miles later.
Coolant levels so far seem to be maintaining, with no smoke out the exhaust.
A vacationing penguin is driving his through Arizona when he notices that the oil pressure light is on. He gets out to look and sees oil dripping out of the motor. He drives to the nearest town and stops at the first gas station.
After dropping the car off, the penguin goes for a walk around town. He sees an ice-cream shop and, being a penguin in Arizona, decides that something cold would really hit the spot. He gets a big dish of ice cream and sits down to eat. Having no hands he makes a real mess trying to eat with his flippers. After finishing his ice cream, he goes back to the gas station and asks the mechanic if he’s found the problem. The mechanic looks up and says “It looks like you blew a seal.”
“No no,” the penguin replies, “it’s just ice cream.”
[quote]Dr. Pangloss wrote:
A vacationing penguin is driving his through Arizona when he notices that the oil pressure light is on. He gets out to look and sees oil dripping out of the motor. He drives to the nearest town and stops at the first gas station.
After dropping the car off, the penguin goes for a walk around town. He sees an ice-cream shop and, being a penguin in Arizona, decides that something cold would really hit the spot. He gets a big dish of ice cream and sits down to eat. Having no hands he makes a real mess trying to eat with his flippers. After finishing his ice cream, he goes back to the gas station and asks the mechanic if he’s found the problem. The mechanic looks up and says “It looks like you blew a seal.”
“No no,” the penguin replies, “it’s just ice cream.”[/quote]
I love this one ^^^ Oldie but a goodie.
And shit, next time I have an issue with me or my fiance’s Civic, maybe I’ll come here first lol.
Blown head gaskets can act in different ways…coolant in oil, blown between two cyl, or coolant being sucked into a cyl and causing a loss of coolant and a misfire (this sounds like you). Damage depends on how hot the engine got. Cheapest, do it yourself is to pull the head.(job is mostly labor) If your going to pay somebody, get it out of the dealer, and find a independent shop. Junk yard mtr. probably cost about the same as a head job.
Fix it and drive it, or fix it and sell it. Well maintained, good running hondas hold their value well.
Oh yea, I’m an ASE master tech with 35 yrs exp. if I can help, let me know.
One of my cars was diagnosed with a blown head gasket when I took it in after I noticed I was losing coolant and I had oil dripping from somewhere. I took it in for a second opinion at a nearby, highly recommended mech. They ran a block test 3 times and it came back negative.
It turned out that it was the water pump that was leaking coolant, a bad radiator cap, and the oil was coming from a pretty bad leak in the distributor. Got that taken care of, along with replacing the spark plugs. So far, another 1000 miles in, and we’re still good.
I apologize for thread jacking, but it’s a similar situation.
I own a 12 yr old European vehicle which is probably worth around $6-7500. At some point within the next 10k miles i know it’s going to need roughly $5k worth of work, possibly closer to $8k. If i invest the money, ill have a nice vehicle, however if i invest the money; i just pissed away more money than the vehicle is worth. I can elaborate further but wanted to get some basic feedback.
OP, I would make sure the head isnt warped if it overheated. Also maybe look into a new motor depending on the condition of the body, honda motors are not hard to find.
[quote]Aggv wrote:
I apologize for thread jacking, but it’s a similar situation.
I own a 12 yr old European vehicle which is probably worth around $6-7500. At some point within the next 10k miles i know it’s going to need roughly $5k worth of work, possibly closer to $8k. If i invest the money, ill have a nice vehicle, however if i invest the money; i just pissed away more money than the vehicle is worth. I can elaborate further but wanted to get some basic feedback.
[/quote]
If I’m reading the above situation correctly, I would suggest selling the (currently working) car within the next few thousand miles.
Then put what you got for the car, along with what you won’t be putting into the repair/maintenance, into a new-used car.
From a financial standpoint, postholedigger’s advice is spot on. But from someone who has owned a 12 year old German car, you’re never going to replace the quality for the $15,000 you sell the car for plus maintenance you don’t perform. I mean, if you want to go from an E-Class to a 2 year old Camry, it will make a lot of financial sense, but it’s not the same.
Autos are emotional purchases for me, not just financial ones.
x2, A car is not just an A - B metal cube, which im sure does not compute with some ppl. Plus it makes absolutely no financial sense, but i have zero interest in driving some ecnobox. I like my interesting car, however i already invested a decent amount into it. Getting something else of equal quality will be near impossible, or ill replace it with something that is going to need the same kinds of work my current car already has done.
Getting nickel and dimed to the wheels fall off, vs. more money entirely on a new ride.
[quote]Dr. Pangloss wrote:
Care to share what it is?[/quote]
It’s a 2000 Audi S4. I dint want to get into specific details and totally thread jack, but there are not too many auto threads going on here.
It’s one of those cars that the expression, “while you’re in there, you may as well do all this too” has never been more true.
It needs a timing belt, which the whole front end has to come off to do.
It’s going to need a clutch, but it could also use some new shift collars or syncros since it doesnt like going into second gear very much anymore.
At this point, it would make more sense to just drop the whole drivetrain instead of tearing apart the front end, and still having to drop the tranny. However, the small stock turbos also like to go bad, often 1. Which mine still work fine, however to replace them requires having the motor dropped…
My logic says, do it all up at once and be done with it. My adult logic says that’s financially ludicrous.
VW Audi Group used 2 types of turbos during that era; K03 and K04’s. The K03’s are about the size of a mans fist, and are used on the Audi/VW 1.8t motors and my 2.7 V6. The K04 is a larger turbo used on the high output Audi TT, and Audi RS4 which uses the exact same 2.7 motor as my US spec S4. They cost roughly the same price for the pair, so obviously im buying the larger K04 turbos. They’re OEM quality, and with a reflash it will make 450-500hp just bolting them on, which is intriguing.
Again, i apologize for thread jacking but im very interested to hear what the non-car-forum internet has to say.
If you really arent looking to spend much money on it, you might have success with a product like Bars Head Gasket Fix. Granted, it really isnt a ‘fix’, more like a patch. But Ive seen it work, and work well. I work at a Chrysler dealership, and Ive seen customers with head gasket or cracked head/block issues try the chemical additives and keep driving the cars for years afterward. You dont have a lot to loss, itll either work, or it wont.
Ah, I love that car. Going to go with GIAC for the chip?
I’m very familiar with VWAG products, I rebuilt and raced a 92 GLI some years back with the 2.0 16v (9a) engine. I installed Koni’s all around, big brakes off the 94 Corrado, etc. It wasn’t a very fast car, but cornered like a rat in a drainpipe.
[quote]Dr. Pangloss wrote:
Autos are emotional purchases for me, not just financial ones.[/quote]
Sure. I have multuple Porsches (new, old, from 911s to a Cayenne Turbo for a daily driver) and my wife drives a supercharged Range Rover or a Jag depending where we are at the time. I understand.
But I also pay cash and it’s essentially play money to me.
When I was a broke law student (and single dad) just getting out to my first clerking job at a federal appellate court, I drove a 10 year old VW mini van with a big fucking dent in it. Cost a whomping $1800. Drove that “car” for 6 years, including when I was making low/mid six figures as a “rich” associate at a big law firm, while all my compatriots were renting Mercedes.
Now, they’re all comfortable.
But I’m rich, and could go fuck off on an island if I was so inclined.
Ah, I love that car. Going to go with GIAC for the chip?
I’m very familiar with VWAG products, I rebuilt and raced a 92 GLI some years back with the 2.0 16v (9a) engine. I installed Koni’s all around, big brakes off the 94 Corrado, etc. It wasn’t a very fast car, but cornered like a rat in a drainpipe.
My daily was a 93 500E until recently.
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Nice, my first car a 98 GTI VR, which i stupidly put a supercharger on, and had a front wheel drive car with over 300whp.
The previous owner of the S4 installed the APR software, which isnt bad i guess. I dont have anything to compare it to, but i will say it’s faster than my GTI ever was, even with the shit K03 turbos. They’re specific 2.7 tuning companies with better tunes that GIAC, but they still all cost roughly $500, which i dont want to spend b/c i already have the APR software.