Air bubbles after head gasket replacement – 2002 civic ex

[Scott Parsons]

I just got finished doing a head gasket kit on a 2002 civic ex 1.7l. I chose to do the HG on my car because of my overflow tank was over filling, and the coolant reservoir was requiring more fluid.

The symptoms I’m experiencing are intermittent small bubbles in my coolant especially if I squeeze the upper radiator hose. The operating temperature at the time this occurs is 194*-205*

This happens after burping the air following Eric’s video using the lisle funnel kit.

I used the fel-pro head gasket kit and gates timing belt kit to complete the job.

Oddly enough after changing all gaskets and seals, and reassembling, I started up the motor and dark black/brown smoke came from above the headers and below valve cover. I bled the air out of the coolant and eventually the same problem seems to be unresolved.

I did take the head to a shop, had it cleaned up, machinist said that it was not warped, and had it cleaned up. I cleaned up the block by hand with 2000 grit wet sand paper.

Any ideas what I should do now?

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[college man]

If your sure you bled everything you may want to do a block test.

[Scott Parsons]

Thanks, I will start with the block test test and report back.

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[college man]

[quote=”Ufoforever” post=161814]Thanks, I will start with the block test test and report back.

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🙂

[Scott Parsons]

I wanted to follow up and note that the block test came back negative, no change in color of the test fluid.

The overflow tank was at the cold line after cooling down and the coolant was at the bottom of the radiator neck.

Could the bubbles be caused by the coolant boiling, or starting to boil? For what it’s worth, I used Walmart prediluted 50/50 antifreeze.

[Scott Parsons]

Update –

Coolant is slowly disappearing from overflow tank and the coolant level inside the radiator is correct.

[David]

If the coolant is gradually going away, and you have bubbles showing up, there is likely a leak somewhere… can you smell coolant in the engine compartment? You probably already have, but if not, go over every hose connection carefully and look for deposits of dried coolant – if you find some, there’s your leak. Another way to check would be to have the coolant system pressure checked (if it finds a leak, it doesn’t tell you where, but it does tell you if the system is sound)

Another possibility would be air trapped in the coolant system, but it’s been a while so I would have thought it all would have found it’s way out by now…

[EricTheCarGuy]

What you’re experiencing may be a normal condition. After the engine warms up and you have the radiator cap off, you will see small bubbles in the coolant the same way you see it in a pot of boiling water.

Coolant will get low over time normally. It’s 50% water which evaporates and causes the level to go down.

Something you might also want to take a look at is the radiator cap. It can actually cause the original symptom you described. I don’t like aftermarket radiator caps for Hondas. In fact, I keep a stock of old, good caps around to replace bad ones when needed.

I cover all this in more detail here.

http://www.ericthecarguy.com/faq/what-to-do-when-your-engine-overheats

Good luck and keep us posted on your progress.

[Author]

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