Also there is a chemical test for the same thing: Like this Lisle Kit
A flashlight...so you can look under the damn car for rust.
I've bought and sold multiple cars. It's amazed me how few of the buyers ever bothered to look under the cars I was selling - and I'm in PA.
If you're looking at old or high milage cars or cars prone to head gasket issues - a combustion leak detector kit is dirt cheap and can save you a lot of headaches:
https://www.amazon.com/Lisle-75500-Combustion-Leak-Detector/dp/B0007ZDRUI?th=1
Don't buy one if you're looking at a 2 year old camry, do buy one if you're looking at old subarus or pre 2005 4Runners etc...
Just regurgitating tips I’ve heard and stuff I wish I knew when I got my 03. Check inside the oil cap for any residue, milky means there’s likely a head gasket leak. Check radiator overflow, make sure it’s at a normal level. On a deceleration make sure it’s coasts smoothly. If it’s stuttery could be diff damage. Would feel rude to do but one of these kits are handy for determining if there any head gasket leakage. Easy to use. Lisle 75500 Combustion Leak Detector https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0007ZDRUI/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_GQJDSK9QQBAA7D9HA25Y
But yeah, bug eyes rock :)
So, it very well may be just an air pocket getting bled out still. However, it sounds like you probably bled the system correctly. But, if it needed to be bled, even though the temp was reading low on your gauge, you could have still overheated your engine and done some damage to heads/head gasket. Depending on where and how badly the gasket is blown out, you won't necessarily get water in your oil.
Said all that to say, it could possibly be combustion gas. If it continues, get yourself one of these and check.
Lisle 75500 Combustion Leak Detector https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0007ZDRUI/ref=cm_sw_r_apan_glt_fabc_42K80RV0HVDEDT3876DE
If it's just overfull, it'll fix itself by puking out the overflow, haha.
> I like to do most of the maintenance on my cars, but I figure this is probably over my head.
You can confirm if you get something like this from local auto parts store. It will tell you if exhaust gases are in the coolant.
That is probably cheaper than getting compression test kit - but you can maybe hire those or a mate has one.
That will tell you for sure if it's not readily apparent your oil is a milkshake
Then buy one on amazon, they aren't too expensive. $33 here https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0007ZDRUI/ref=as_li_qf_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=gearheads01d-20&creative=9325&linkCode=as2&creativeASIN=B0007ZDRUI&linkId=c42eab7275eabbdd2a3de348c8e67422
You can always try one of these.
Lisle 75500 Combustion Leak Detector https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0007ZDRUI/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_ulV.Db5MJV40A
The liquid reacts to hydrocarbons in your coolant so if any exhaust gases are getting into your coolant it will show. Milky coolant will indicate it too but you might not be to that point yet as that’s usually a sign of a massive internal HG failure. I’ve had head gaskets go that just do not have typical signs of failure. I kept getting air bubbles into the coolant system and it ended up being a small leak from a cylinder pushing gases past a HG. Every 4-5 days my car would overheat and I’d have to burp it to get the gases out. I went nuts trying to refill the car and burp it with my lisle funnel and had zero luck. It ended up being a HG after it failed a hydrocarbon test.
Sorry about the link, I’m on mobile.
last time I had a head gasket failure, I could see there was water in the oil, which came from the antifreeze. of course this was final stage, though the car remained driveable for a short time. but its possible it could have been detectable chemically before it was detectable visibly.
https://www.amazon.com/Lisle-75500-Combustion-Leak-Detector/dp/B0007ZDRUI
sounds like the head gasket.
you probably can sniff the exhaust after driving it and smell coolant coming from there. Its also trashing the catalytic converter by running coolant through it.
The gasket fails on the exhaust side of the gasket, coolant wont leak into the oil, nor will it blow blue smoke because its usually a very slow leak, the system will hold pressure, and depending upon how bad the gasket is you may not see any major symptoms.
As the gasket fails more what you will get is a little bit of coolant will leak into the combustion chamber(s) if it sits overnight, then on cold start it will misfire or idle funny for about 2 or 3 seconds, then it will smooth itself out.
This is a good home tester, you put the chemical into the tube and hold it over the radiator cap, if the fluid changes yellow from blue that means exhaust gas is getting into the coolant. This was how I determined what was wrong with my civic.
Had the head gasket done about 12K miles ago and haven't had any issues since. The shop resurfaced the head, did the timing belt and water pump along with a fresh set of spark plugs and a new serpentine belt to the tune of about $1200.
You could check to see if there's coolant in the oil, yeah. Anything more is gonna require going to the shop. You might be able to rent a kit from auto zone that will help you check.
http://www.amazon.com/Lisle-75500-Combustion-Leak-Detector/dp/B0007ZDRUI
I also have a 2001 Civic, and I had a bad head gasket that caused bubbling in the coolant. I replaced head gasket, which fixed the overheating issue, but I was worried because I still observed some bubbling when I had the rad cap off and revved the engine. However, I think that the circulating coolant will just naturally tend to be turbulent at the top of the radiator when you have the cap off, causing what you (and I) might perceive to be bubbles in the coolant.
You can get a combustion leak tester to tell for sure whether or not combustion gasses are getting into your coolant. From your description of the problem, I'm kind of doubtful that this is the case, but it's always an option to test for it before you just assume that it's a bad head gasket.
17 years is a pretty good run for a radiator. Replacement when it starts leaking from corrosion is not unusual.
Head gaskets go out for a number of reasons. At 137k, I don't think that's unusual. Though I will note that ignoring the signs of a blown head gasket can bring you cooling issues.
My normal field test for a blown gasket is to bring a rubber glove, and open the radiator cap on a cold engine and wire the glove over the opening. If there's engine exhaust leaking into the coolent, the glove will inflate.
This tool is a better way to catch a head gasket leak early. If you catch the leak early enough it's just a normal (expensive) repair job.
Check the oil dipstick to see if it's milky/cloudy in the crankcase. Also take off the oil fill cap and see what it looks like in there. You might also have coolant in the oil, then it would smell sweet and look like a chocolate milkshake.
Block tester to test for exhaust gas in coolant is cheap and easy and requires no other tools, here's the one I have: https://www.amazon.com/Lisle-75500-Combustion-Leak-Detector/dp/B0007ZDRUI/ref=sr_1_7?crid=34F9JCCMVNL00&keywords=coolant+block+tester&qid=1667581889&qu=eyJxc2MiOiIxLjgwIiwicXNhIjoiMC43NCIsInFzcCI6IjAuNTQifQ%3D%3D&sprefix=coolant+block+tester%2Caps%2C225&sr=8-7
Compression testing isn't much harder than pulling the spark plugs. Here's the one I have: https://www.amazon.com/BETOOLL-HW0130-Cylinder-Compression-Automotive/dp/B00SKSAB8U/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?crid=3H1W91DO1T3ZI&keywords=compression+tester&qid=1667581974&qu=eyJxc2MiOiI0LjM0IiwicXNhIjoiNC4wNCIsInFzcCI6IjMuODUifQ%3D%3D&sprefix=compression+te%2Caps%2C397&sr=8-1-spons&psc=1
Paying a mechanic to do those tests would cost about the same as buying both those tools.
My guess is that your best bet is a new used engine. You could take this one apart for a head gasket job, but you'd need to take the head to a machine shop, and even if you do all that you're left with the same old cylinders, pistons, and rings unless you do a full engine tear-down, rebore, rebuild.
After diagnosing you could also try Blue Devil Head Gasket sealer before deciding on new engine or engine teardown.
You can try using this to see if there's combustion products in your coolant.
https://www.amazon.com/Lisle-75500-Combustion-Leak-Detector/dp/B0007ZDRUI
Bubbling in the Reservoir points to blown head gasket. test with something like this just be happy that head gaskets are pretty easy to do in miatas
Lisle 75500 Combustion Leak Detector https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0007ZDRUI/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_tai_hM4bybS86P4WB
Are you SURE it's not a blown headgasket? Sometimes it's really hard to tell and the only symptom is airbubbles in the cooling system.
It might be worth waiting for the car to cool down, getting a combustion leak test kit, and sampling the gasses in the rad when the car is running but cold.
Something like this: https://www.amazon.com/Lisle-75500-Combustion-Leak-Detector/dp/B0007ZDRUI/
There is no way of definitively knowing by just looking at the head gasket, because you can't actually see it without taking the head off of the block. There is a kit you can buy on Amazon for $30. When I was in high school I had a '95 Acura Legend, and I blew the head gasket due to a worn out thermostat. A good indicator of a faulty thermostat is if the heater is not blowing any hot air (or takes a ridiculous amount of time to get hot air).
Edit: Left out that if the shop that you took it into didn't mention anything about the risk of a head gasket blowing due to overheating, there is absolutely no way I would let them touch my car. Sounds kind of sketchy to me. Further Reading
Do not replace the head or gasket. Once a motor overheats you will have nothing but problems with it. Get a junkyard/ebay motor and swap it out.
Lisle makes a cheap tester you can buy to check if the head gasket is really blown.
http://www.amazon.com/Lisle-75500-Combustion-Leak-Detector/dp/B0007ZDRUI