Oil in radiator - 1998 Accord

I have 85,000 miles. 4 cylinder & 5-speed manual. I take good care of
the car and never had any problems. Did the maint and a few small
repairs like CV boots, etc. The radiator fan must have failed an it
overheated rapidly. I shut it down fast.

The car was fine but I had oil in the radiator. I took it in. I had
the head rebuilt, new head gaskets, new radiator, radiator fan, changed
the timing belt, hoses and other things. I spent about $2700.

I got the car back and drove it for about two weeks then saw coffee on
the driveway. I checked the radiator and had coffee again. I took it
back to the mechanic and now he is pushing a rebuilt motor at cost -
$900 and $600 in labor. He obviously is feeling a little guilty. The
car is in good shape. Sadly, we did not go down the replace the engine
path first. He thinks there might be a crack in the block.

Any suggestions? I doubt any stop leak stuff will help. I can flush
the radiator but the oil can get back in fast. I am not sure if the
oil or water is under more pressure.

The oil leak prodicts that swell gaskets will not work. I spoke to CRC
who make nano technology stop leak products going in via the radiator
but they said if the oil comes into the cooling too fast - their
product will not work.

I loved my Honda but I never had a car have a catastrophic failure like
this.

No dealers have Accord VPNs with 5 speeds and the price went up. I am
pretty disgusted with Honda.

wrote:
> I have 85,000 miles. 4 cylinder & 5-speed manual. I take good care of
> the car and never had any problems. Did the maint and a few small
> repairs like CV boots, etc. The radiator fan must have failed an it
> overheated rapidly. I shut it down fast.
>
> The car was fine but I had oil in the radiator. I took it in. I had
> the head rebuilt, new head gaskets, new radiator, radiator fan, changed
> the timing belt, hoses and other things. I spent about $2700.
>
> I got the car back and drove it for about two weeks then saw coffee on
> the driveway. I checked the radiator and had coffee again. I took it
> back to the mechanic and now he is pushing a rebuilt motor at cost -
> $900 and $600 in labor. He obviously is feeling a little guilty. The
> car is in good shape. Sadly, we did not go down the replace the engine
> path first. He thinks there might be a crack in the block.

most likely. blown gasket on a honda rarely leads to oil in the water.
either a crack or incorrect assembly.

>
> Any suggestions? I doubt any stop leak stuff will help.

no.

> I can flush
> the radiator but the oil can get back in fast. I am not sure if the
> oil or water is under more pressure.
>
> The oil leak prodicts that swell gaskets will not work. I spoke to CRC
> who make nano technology stop leak products going in via the radiator
> but they said if the oil comes into the cooling too fast - their
> product will not work.
>
> I loved my Honda but I never had a car have a catastrophic failure like
> this.
>
> No dealers have Accord VPNs with 5 speeds and the price went up. I am
> pretty disgusted with Honda.
>

it's unfortunate, but statistically, it's rare. very rare. if you want
to keep the car, don't use a rebuilt motor. they don't last that long
and are too expensive for what you get. it's best to buy a used jdm
import engine from japan. low mileage. guarantee. will work just
fine. have your mechanic replace it and have words with him about all
the money you wasted on uneconomic repairs last time around. motor
price in the $500-$700 range. unless you're doing the repair yourself,
the economics of trying to repair a honda motor just don't work - simply
replace.

wrote in
ups.com:

> I have 85,000 miles. 4 cylinder & 5-speed manual. I take good care
> of the car and never had any problems. Did the maint and a few small
> repairs like CV boots, etc. The radiator fan must have failed an it
> overheated rapidly. I shut it down fast.


I see you've posted this identical message independently to
rec.autos.tech, BUT at the same time have (correctly) crossposted to two
Honda groups.

Bad, stupid boy. Have you ever considered that you may be
cheating some readers out of the information posted to rec.autos.tech?

It so happens that a rec.autos.tech poster named Ted Mittelstaedt has
given the best advice thus far on this subject. Readers who venture not
beyond the Honda groups remain unenlightened by Ted's nuggets of wisdom.


>
> The car was fine but I had oil in the radiator.



<snip>


>
> I loved my Honda but I never had a car have a catastrophic failure
> like this.
>
> No dealers have Accord VPNs with 5 speeds and the price went up. I am
> pretty disgusted with Honda.



This is rich. You screw up your car through bad maintenenace, and then
you're "disgusted" with Honda.



--
Tegger

The Unofficial Honda/Acura FAQ
www.tegger.com/hondafaq/

Tegger wrote:
> wrote in
> ups.com:
>
>> I have 85,000 miles. 4 cylinder & 5-speed manual. I take good care
>> of the car and never had any problems. Did the maint and a few small
>> repairs like CV boots, etc. The radiator fan must have failed an it
>> overheated rapidly. I shut it down fast.
>
>
> I see you've posted this identical message independently to
> rec.autos.tech, BUT at the same time have (correctly) crossposted to two
> Honda groups.
>
> Bad, stupid boy. Have you ever considered that you may be
> cheating some readers out of the information posted to rec.autos.tech?
>
> It so happens that a rec.autos.tech poster named Ted Mittelstaedt has
> given the best advice thus far on this subject. Readers who venture not
> beyond the Honda groups remain unenlightened by Ted's nuggets of wisdom.

that means me - i have ZERO interest in gm, frod or chrysler.

>
>
>> The car was fine but I had oil in the radiator.
>
>
>
> <snip>
>
>
>> I loved my Honda but I never had a car have a catastrophic failure
>> like this.
>>
>> No dealers have Accord VPNs with 5 speeds and the price went up. I am
>> pretty disgusted with Honda.
>
>
>
> This is rich. You screw up your car through bad maintenenace, and then
> you're "disgusted" with Honda.
>
>
>

jim beam > wrote in
t:

> Tegger wrote:

>>
>> It so happens that a rec.autos.tech poster named Ted Mittelstaedt has
>> given the best advice thus far on this subject. Readers who venture
>> not beyond the Honda groups remain unenlightened by Ted's nuggets of
>> wisdom.
>
> that means me - i have ZERO interest in gm, frod or chrysler.



But there are several actual working professional techs in that group. One
of them is a Toyota mechanic who also has extensive Honda experience.

There is a lot of excellent general automotive information posted there
regularly.



--
Tegger

The Unofficial Honda/Acura FAQ
www.tegger.com/hondafaq/

Tegger wrote:
> jim beam > wrote in
> t:
>
>> Tegger wrote:
>
>>> It so happens that a rec.autos.tech poster named Ted Mittelstaedt has
>>> given the best advice thus far on this subject. Readers who venture
>>> not beyond the Honda groups remain unenlightened by Ted's nuggets of
>>> wisdom.
>> that means me - i have ZERO interest in gm, frod or chrysler.
>
>
>
> But there are several actual working professional techs in that group. One
> of them is a Toyota mechanic who also has extensive Honda experience.
>
> There is a lot of excellent general automotive information posted there
> regularly.
>
and a /lot/ of utter garbage.

for instance, i swung on over to read the mittelstadt comment you
referenced and noticed a thread titled "calculate diesel fuel
consumption". 4 days later, no one has pointed out that it /is/
possible to calculate consumption if injector flow rates and pulse
widths are known. if the injection is common rail/electronic, that can
be scoped.

so yes, there's a lot of service technician level activity, but that
doesn't interest me. my jets get lit by things like graham w's write-up
on igniter failure, not some buick dude bleating about his brakes.