please tell me it's not the headgasket or a cracked cylinder. please?


ok, so i can smell antifreeze when i first start up the car. i'm not actually positive it's from the exhaust, but there is alittle water vapor from the exhaust pipe. there is no oil/water crossing. it has a smoothe idle and seems to have ok power (for a 92hp d15).

if it is a bad head gasket, or cracked/warped cylinder/head, it doesn't seem too bad at present. how long can i run it like this?

what are the consequences besides rusting out the exhaust system? oh, and killing the engine.

if this little burro can just hold on for 6 months or so, i'll lay it to rest and replace it with a zc or b16.


oh, and alot of the metal parts inside the car (seat frames, metal behind dash/console) are rusty. maybe it's the heater core? but the glass isn't oily on the inside?

all help is appreciated.

 

to find out if it has a blown head gasket or not i would do a cylinder leakage test. youll need a leakage and an air compressor. remove the plugs set the cylinder that your testing at top dead center between the compression and combustion strokes. test all four cylinders and if the head gasket is blown then the air that your forcing into one cylinder will come out of the cylinder beside it. how are your coolant levels doing? is it losing alot? have you had any repairs done to the cooling system lately?

 

Do you have smoke coming from the tail pipe, if so what color is it?

Also, examine your oil does it look milky at all?

 

i'm not losing any water as far as i can tell, very, very slight white-ish smoke or vapor. it can only be seen in bright sunlight. earlier today, i smelled teh exhaust just after startup, and i didn't notice any antifreeze smell from there. i notice it when i'm inside the car. so i guess the heater core is the next logical culprit.

recent cooling system work - new water pump, but the smell was around before then, too. the radiator and all the hoses i can see easily seem good.

the oil looks dirty, but not really milky.

 

It may be something with your heater hoses or core but if it had a leak you would definitely be losing water.

Have you recently spilled coolant inside your engine bay becasue that smell will stick around for a while. I had a heater hose leaking and when I replaced it, I still smelled coolant for a week or two.

If you think it has something to do with the heater system, just reach up under your dash near the center and see if you can feel any dampness or smell anything there.