Newly acquired 90 n/a will burp air from the radiator filler every few seconds or so. Added about a quart of coolant a couple of days ago, and another today.

It's screwed right?

 

if you are not leaking coolant that yes. rebuild time

 

Interesting, my newly aquired FC does the same.
I can open the coolant filler neck and start the engine (warm) and it will overflow.

My thoughts are:

1. There must be some airbubbles over in the engine which does push the water out.
2. Its screwed

Although its running just fine. No smoke or coolant buzzer. Redline it every day.

 

Yep.
Combustion gasses overpressurizing the coolant system.
Not even the block weld trick will fix this problem.

 

Alumaseal has been used to varying degrees of effectiveness; For the price I recommend trying it, personally have had a positive result with it on my old N/A engine.

+1 to not recommending block welds like Blue Devil, makes the internals nasty on top of generally not working

 

Actually, it depends. Is the radiator cap good? And is it doing this when the engine is cold, hot, or either?

Don't condemn your engine because of a faulty radiator cap. I've seen people do this before

 

I thought he was reffering to the radiator filler neck instead of the coolant overflow tank.

 

if your radiator hoses get really hard after less than a minute of run time with the engine warmed up, then its probably safe to assume you have bad coolant seals.

 

As for me, I was referring to the radiator filling neck, you know the one next to the alt. On a warm (not hot engine) I can open it and the water level will climb and then overflood the neck. The coolant hoses are under pressure too.

But all that could also be due to airbubbles in the system. I have to flush that thing first.

Edit:
Could also be that the coolant mixture has too much water which vaporizes and sets the system under pressure. Just a thought.
Edit2:
Also my engine has high compression readings -> 105 PSI front, 95 PSI rear for around 110 000 kms. Thats impressive if you ask me.

 

if there is no air in the system, the water wont boil till 250* or so. no room for expansion. thats why systems pressurize. good possibility on why your car over flows when warm.

 

Does the exhaust smell like coolant? Any water in the oil?

 

Thanks for the replies guys.

I didn't think to check the hose pressure so soon after start up. I'll do that later. (I am currently lying with ice on my ankle from falling off the truck roof)

No visible leaks or wetness in the engine bay. It is definitely not boiling. Temp will be low or operating range. Start, (which is really hard to do) remove the radiator cap, and a good sized bubble or two will come up through the filler neck about every second and a half or so. The radiator cap is good. No steam while running. Exhaust smells "off", but not like coolant. During particularly hard starts, it will emit what appears to be steam in plumes. the moment it starts, gone.

I'll give the alumaseal a try. I know the motor's toast, but IIRC it's like $6. Maybe get a few more miles out of it.

I quick look @ Atkins shows I can get an o ring kit for $150. When the car is running, it idles smoothly, accelerates well, and sounds really good. So I think this might be what we will look into. Just pulling the motor apart and replacing the soft seals.

the thing is, it's not my car, but it's my fault (sorta). A bike/car buddy found it on GL, he had this yellow, loud *** civic. I suggested offering his DD civic to trade. The guy said it was recently tuned up and ran great. My buddy did the trade last week with out me. So now, he has this busted car and a recently de-mufflered motorcycle for transport.

 

I fixed the hard start issue. It turns out the PO had replaced the ECU fuse with a skinny wire and low amp switch inside. It was pathetic, this "fuel cut switch" wiring. I'm surprised there wasn't a fire. I pulled the wires and popped in a fuse and she fired right up... every time!

It's a pretty car, these are the CL pics. There is local guy that will build the motor for $500 + parts as a favor, so this might turn out to be a nice ride by the end of the summer. That is of course if my buddy can get the cash. He is more confident now.