I took my head off to replace the head gasket. I put it back on and started the car. I noticed a coolant leak from the intake manifold. Also the idle was really lopey for a second and then it climbed quickly until I turned it off like there was a huge air leak bypassing the throttle body. Also, after I turned it off, there was a huge puddle of oil all over the floor. I didn't scrape the old intake manifold gasket off before I put the new one on. Could this be the source of my coolant leak and erratic idle/air leak? I am not sure where it is leaking oil but it doesn't look good.

I also installed a BOV and tapped the vacuum line connecting the intake manifold to the secondary butterfly valve. Could this potentially be a problem?

The car has been down for a week and a half and has been towed twice. I had it towed to my mechanic, and he wouldn't work on it because it was recently turbocharged, so I had to get it towed to a performance shop. I am just wondering if this is something I can fix myself. Please help if you have had similar experiences.

 

Upside down head gasket maybe?

 

I'd hope it wasn't the an upside down headgasket it's fairly easy to see the UP marks on it before installing. The IM gasket shouldn't be the one leaking the coolant...And for sure not the oil. Put some more oil in and find where it's coming from.. then the same for the coolant. Why did you tap the vaccum line??

 

Not scraping off the old gasket could be the cause of your erratic idle...it will leak air. As for the coolant/oil problem....coolant, check the IACV and lines going to it, it has coolant passing thru it. Check and see if you can tell where the oil is leaking from.

 

I am certain it is leaking from the intake manifold gasket. I am pretty sure I installed the head gasket the right way, but that may be it. The mechanic is looking over it tomorrow. I know the intake manifold gasket is leaking coolant (and possibly air) but the huge oil leak is very troubling. If it is the headgasket, I will get it towed back to my house and pull the head off again since I know how to do it and I don't want to pay over a grand to deal with it. I had the tap the vacuum line because of the blow off valve.

 

Can you see where the oil is coming from?

 

It looked like the valve cover because it splooged all over the alternator but I don't think it would leak that much oil that fast.

 

also, did you have the head decked before the reinstall? did you replace the head bolts? did you torque everything down in the correct order? not doing these things could lead to a bad install.

 

I didn't have the head decked and I used the old bolts. I did torque them to spec and in the right order according the the Integra factory service manual. The headgasket wasn't blown, so I didn't think I needed to deck the head.

 

I got a call from my shop and it is unfortunate. It is leaking oil between the block and the head, so I have to take the head off again because the gasket either sucks or wasn't installed correctly. Looks like I have a long weekend ahead of me...