Possible head Gasket?

[benevolance]

Hello,

Just bought a 1987 civic 4 door sedan (automatic) It only has 83,000 miles on it...And it is rust free and clean (south carolina)..I bought the car cheap...But I cannot get it running. The previous owner said that they took it to a shop and they indicated that the head gasket was bad.

This does not exactly scare me as I have changed dozens of head gaskets for friends and such... But I was troubled that I could not quite get the car to run. A bad head gasket should still allow the car to run, even if it puffs white smoke and idles like a bag of crap.

Any ideas?

-benevolance

[lxndr]

You're right, even with a bad head gasket your car should start. How long has it been sitting? Are you getting gas and spark?

[benevolance]

There is fire...And gas.

The car was supposed to be sitting only a month but I suspect that it was more like a year. I am going to get some quick start and give the carb a spray of that.

the battery is so dead it will barely turn over even with a boost. I may have to buy a battery just the get the car to turn over fast enough to start.

-Benevolance

[lxndr]

That's exactly what I would have recommended next.

[benevolance]

Even with a new battery it has trouble starting. I did a compression test and it is a bit low...I am thinking that it is either a case of stuck valves or a bad head gasket.

I wonder if the head gasket being bad alone would drop the compression enough for me to notice it?

-benevolance

[lxndr]

Hmmm...

I'd try fiddlin' with the carb next.

Could be that your needle valve is stuck in the closed position. This sometimes happens when cars sit for a long time and the gas evaporates from the carb.

[revhalzoo]

its probobly waterlocked, you wont get it to turn over. pull a plug and check for water if there is, open the head replace the gasket and evacuate the water from the cylanders