Engine popped :(

Malt_Vinegar

Malt_Vinegar

Malt_Vinegar

Don
Joined
20 Oct 2002
Posts
17,282
Location
In a house
Im a very sad bunny.
Looks like my Prelude ownership is coming to an end. My own fault, it got hot, and tried to limp it off the motorway, and the top hose exploded literally as i stopped.

Engine being looked at now, but apparently the oil smells cooked, and waiting on the results of a compression test.

Sucks to be me.
 
Damn.

The H22 engines are pretty darn strong. If there's no loss of compression, I'd be sticking a "new" top hose and do an oil/filter change and driving it on!

Alternatively, get yourself over to PUK and see if anyone's breaking a car that you can grab an engine from! - Edit: I see you already have! ;)
 
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That's a bit of bad news :( From what i've seen when browsing the web, H22 engines don't seem to go for much cash, swapping the engine wouldn't be that costly, definitely not worth getting rid of the car over.
 
unlikely to have popped the engine, the head gasket is certainly fried and the head will need a reface but the blocks can withstand quite a lot.

the headgasket is a thermal fuse and should fail to prevent the block itself coming to harm.
 
Cheers Lopez, replied to the thead :)

I have been struggling to find time to get cracking on this over the last few weeks. Driving around in a little clio at the moment.

Started on Thursday, and got tot he point where most of the bits i need to remove are off, and i just have to get the alternator belt off and then see whats next. There is a LOT of stuff to undo and most of it has not been undone since it was put on the flipping thing in 1997 :p

I am going to be working on it today after my breakfast, and would hope to get to the point where i can whip the head off by the evening. I am taking it slow, and following the manuals. I dont wanna bugger this up if i can avoid it!!
 
Hello guys! Update time!! (posted on preludeUK forums too, but figured you guys might be interested!)

Not had a lot of time over the festive period for car fettling, but had a few hours last night.

I managed to get the alternator off (afterbreaking a wratchet spanner on it) and seem to have done all of the required work in the 5th gen bible to start the head removal process itself.

I have a couple of Q's though!!

1 - What gasket kit should i be using? I have seen a few "JDM" h22a gasket kits from the states on ebay, will end up costing about 100ish. Should i be using these, or going to the stealer direct, and tapping them up for a kit?

2 - It seems there are not instructions or steps for removing the inlet manifold in the 5th gen bible? Does this mean i do this after removing the head? Access does look a little bit difficult whilst its in-situ!

3 - I noticed a special tool in the instructions, is this part deffinatley required to complete the head removal? Oh, and how important is getting everthing to TDC. I plan to make sure it is all at TDC, but if i somehow balls it up, what is the best way to check/ensure the engine does not lunch itself when first starting?

(I will try to get some pics tonight after work)

Thanks for any help :D
 
I left the inlet manifold on when I did this to my civic. If its the same then the inlet is at the back making access a pain. Then removed it after it was off (head needed skimming).

What does the special tool do?

There should be marks on the crank pulley and engine block to get the bottom end to TDC. There should also be marks on the the camshaft pulleys and the head the line everything up for the top end.

I didnt bother making sure I had TDC when i took the head off my civic engine (b16), just triple checked everything with the markings when i put it back together. Make sure you check they're all still lined up when the cambelt is on and tensioned. Its easy for it to slip a tooth when re-assembling and put things slightly out.
 
for reference everyone, if you ever end up in a situation where your water temps are sky rocketing, obviously the normal fan should be trying to control it, but to give it a hand you can put the car's heater on to the highest possible heat setting and put the fan on full to give it a helping hand.

good luck with the engine fella
 
Matt82 said:
for reference everyone, if you ever end up in a situation where your water temps are sky rocketing, obviously the normal fan should be trying to control it, but to give it a hand you can put the car's heater on to the highest possible heat setting and put the fan on full to give it a helping hand.
Click to expand...

Also make sure the heater isn't set to recirculate.
 
it has saved me a couple times, or helped me. once when i had a funny connection at the fan, sometimes the fan just wouldnt come on and id notice when the water temp said 95-100C.

it helped at the ring when i looked down and saw 110C on the water too
 
Batf1nk said:
I left the inlet manifold on when I did this to my civic. If its the same then the inlet is at the back making access a pain. Then removed it after it was off (head needed skimming).

What does the special tool do?

There should be marks on the crank pulley and engine block to get the bottom end to TDC. There should also be marks on the the camshaft pulleys and the head the line everything up for the top end.

I didnt bother making sure I had TDC when i took the head off my civic engine (b16), just triple checked everything with the markings when i put it back together. Make sure you check they're all still lined up when the cambelt is on and tensioned. Its easy for it to slip a tooth when re-assembling and put things slightly out.
Click to expand...

Thanks, set my mind at ease :)

The special tool is not actually needed, its the clasp that holds the cam belt tensioner when installing a new one. Mine was changed less than 2k ago. So belts should be fine. (It seems I forgot to stop reading the bible, and went a bit too far!!)

I was very worried about the TDC stuff, but its a relief to know it can all be set after :D
 
Its cold out there tonight!!

Ok, need a bit more help!

I am trying to remove the Cambelt at the moment. It seems that i need to remove the crankshaft pulley to get the bottom cover off the side of the block! Only problem being, that it says it needs a special tool. Is it possible to just slide the cambelt off the cam pulleys. This would let me get the head off without having to use the special tool? (Its the one that lets you anchor the crankshaft pulley so you can loosen the bolt)

Am i missing something here?
 
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