Ok here is the deal. I have a 98 Eagle Talon with close to 154k on the motor. I had two codes recently come across my view on the OBDII scanner. They were P106, and P0420. I undersand what these codes mean, but what I am having a slight issue with is a oil leak that just started happening after these codes had come across my path. The leak, I would personaly consider to be a mid range leak located near the 1st cylinder on the exhaust manifold. I am guessing that it is the Themostat Housing gasket, instead of what every Honda fanatic keeps telling me "Dude, it's your head gasket. To sum this issue up I am having a little amout of white smome coming out of the exhaust. Nothing to major, but there seems to be oil, and a slight amount of antifreeze. I am totally confused on what this might be. Is there a possiblity of it being the Head Gasket, or do you think it is just a matter of other minor problems that are accumulating overtime? The engine is well maintaned, and I try not to run it to hard. Any help is a big help. Thanks for your time!

-DSMalex!

I dunno what to tell you. It may be a headgasket. White smoke in the exhaust and an oil leak from the head/block on an engine with 150k on it..... That would be my guess. It could have actually blown. I would pull the head asap and check just to rule it out.

DO NOT PULL A HEAD TO RULE ANYTHING OUT. Proper testing beats stupidity. Come on already.


First things first. If i understand you correctly, you have an oil leak right by the thermostat housing? Or is it a coolant leak by the thermostat housing? White smoke in the exhaust (its easy to misinterpret burning oil for white exhaust).

First things first, check the oil for level, and consistancy. Your looking to see if your losing oil or its getting contaminated by coolant.

Check coolant for signs of contamination. Check level when hot and when cold. If when cold you are low coolant, add some water and run it till its hot. Are you pushing coolant out of the overflow resevoir when hot?

Compression test the motor.

Leakdown test the questionable cylinder (take the pressure testor adapter for the compression tester and put an air compressor on the adapter and use it to presurize the cylinder. Watch for bubbles out of the coolant with the rad cap off.

If you can do all these, post the results here and we can help you determine if the headgasket is actually bad.

Would you pay for a head gasket change just to see if it was the problem? I would love to be ^ his mechanic, i could be rich by the end of the year