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Hi..need some suggestions..my 97 honda crv was smoking quite a bit after the head was swapped out...many persons suggested that the valve seals needed to be changed and the smoking will stop..carried it to a "mechanic" to have them change only to hear that cam shaft seal/valve needs to be replaced and some sort of cover seal needed to be replaced as well can't remember at this point. Now upon getting back the vehicle the check engine light is on..the oil light comes on as well now and then, but the dip stick is reading that it has in enough oil and very frighteningly the vehicle seems to be back in a state of how it was before the head was swapped, in that the vehicle when in drive idled right down to nearly 1 and eventually shut off when I came to a stop. There also seems to be just a little bit of oil in the radiator...any suggestions because I really don't want to carry it back to the same person...thanks
well, you have to. Oil in coolant IS head gasket issue. Sounds like whoever messed it up first, simply draw more trouble in.
I am afraid, you did use "mechanic" for not so good reason.
Good luck. Oh, and the oil light. That you have plenty of oil means squat. If your oil pump is not pumping - here ya have it.
do you think a bad/ improperly installed oil pump can be causing the oil light to be coming on and subsequently can that be the reason the engine check light is on?
Location: East of Seattle since 1992, originally from SF Bay Area
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Yes, a faulty pump can cause the light, but with a bad head gasket, not only can oil get into the coolant, coolant can get into the oil. Allow that to continue and you will soon need a whole new engine when the bearings go. I would suggest talking to friends and family to find a mechanic that someone trusts. Ask ahead of time if they will put in writing any problems that could be attributed to the previous work, so you can ask to be reimbursed or take them to small claims court. Even if you
end up wasting that money, you have to get this fixed or it will end up costing you a lot more.
The strange thing is that the only problem that existed prior was the vehicle smoking..so many persons concluded it was simply the valves wanted changing..after which the mechanic started saying that something for the crankshaft needed changing as well as the oil seal and some topic cover seal or something like that..there was no case of oil and coolant mixing before..no engine check lights nor oil light..so I'm wondering if there could have been something this guy failed to replace or if it could me a matter of the valves not being correctly set...I now notice as well that the oil light seems to be coming on anytime the engine runs at a low rpm like below the 1..and the vehicle doesn't seem to have it's usual power..it will stay between the 2 and 3 on the rpm gauge unless you apply more force on the accelerator..otherwise it won't accelerate an slowly go along...I'm gonna take it to another mechanic..I wasn't the one who took it to this guy..so I'm a bit upset about everything..
Location: East of Seattle since 1992, originally from SF Bay Area
42,500 posts, read 77,098,077 times
Reputation: 53839
There are many things that could have been done wrong, but most likely is failure to position the head gasket perfectly, or to properly torque the head bolts. Low oil pressure at low RPM may mean a faulty pump but can also be from thin oil due to coolant in it. Smoking from bad valve stem guides usually happens just at startup, oil gets past them and runs into the cylinders when it's sitting parked. Smoking while running is usually bad rings.
Merry Christmas first of all if you celebrate it. It smokes while running so, may just need to swap out those rings..Also I notice on the cover for the head gasket that a bolt is missing..but I'm assuming that won't cause any problems..am I wrong? Thanks for all the advice so far..will be carrying it to a different mechanic with all these things in mind, so I can have an idea of what steps to take next.
On the older Honda's they were notorious for the oil pressure senders leaking on the back of the motor. This would cause two things. First off the low oil pressure light would flicker due to sensor failure and second an oil burning smell because it would leak right down the back of the block onto the exhaust pipe.
Now you may have further problems such as the valve stem seals. If I were putting a used head on someone's car then you better believe valve seals would be replaced. Also the camshaft seal wouldn't really have anything to do with burning oil smell or smoking. The cam seal is behind the timing cover, behind the cam gear. IF the seal failed then oil would simply leak down behind the timing belt (or on it) and out the bottom side of the cover, but not at a point where it would leak on the exhaust pipe to smell or smoke.
Last edited by observer53; 03-28-2013 at 10:39 AM..
Reason: by request
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