Okay it's me again. I'm new to the whole Integra thing since this is my first and it's my first foreign car ever.

The other day I took my Integra to a very reputable mechanic to have my water pump and time belt changed. I also decided to have the exhaust replaced since it had rusted apart and my car was sounding like a dirt bike. Upon completion of these repairs, he did a once-over on the car and noticed that I was very low on coolant. I filled it up. No signs of radiator leaks anywhere. Well I'm getting a weird burning smell out of the exhaust and my coolant level keeps dropping. Does anyone think it's the head gasket? If so, how much time/money am I looking at? These may be dumb questions, but I have a LOT of inexperience with this car since I've had it for about 2 weeks now. It's a 1993 Integra LS hatchback with 159,754 miles on it. 5spd. Anybody with suggestions, please reply. Thanks! :huh:

 

A head gasket would probably not make you leak coolant. The hot smell from the exhaust could just be because it is new and you are burning whatever might be on it, grease from mechanic's hand when it was installed for example. The coolant has to be going somewhere, any leaks, particularly around water pump as it was just replaced. It also could be a leak in the radiator(they tend to crack, though I am not sure if this is a concern with 2nd gen car) or even a bad rad cap.

 

It is very possible for it to be a headgasket. If the coolant isnt leaking externally, then it is leaking internally. You can get a block check kit from a parts store or you can take it to a smog shop and have them sniff the radiator for HC's.

 

Pull the radiator cap and see if it looks milky, that's a good sign the head gasket has taken a shit, and new exhaust usually smell funny until they are worn in a little.

 

Okay thanks guys. Another good callout from the folks on this board. I'll let ya know how it goes.