I feel your pain.. I'm new to Honda's...but not Internal Combustion engines, the symptoms that you describe are a classic case of head gasket failure, as mentioned allready, you can purchase a coolent/exhaust gas Analyzer and verify this.

good luck..

 

I can always just empty some oil from the drain bolt and let it settle in a clear container to see if there is coolant mixing. right?

 

It is worth a try. If you see coolant, then you verified a leak. If you don't, I don't think you can assume that there isn't a head gasket leak.

 

well now i have an oil leak and not from the valve cover which i fixed already. its coming from near the starter motor. and also the dipstick looks like it may have some green goop on it. So heres my theory..

The head gasket broken in such a way that coolant enters the oil and the oil leaks from the block?

I have pictures and i am about to post them in a few minutes.

 

heres the oil cap and a little inside the valve cover.
Heres the dipstick. I took these following pictures today.


This picture is of the oil i noticed today. I labeled some of the components nearby so make it easier to visualize the location. the oil wouldnt show in the picture if i took it farther away.

 

2.2 Liter, 4-Cylinder, 16 valve

 

I noticed it about a month ago. I assumed it was built up condensation. only did i consider the head gasket being problem last week when i replaced the valve cover and the goop reappeared within a day but in a much smaller amount.

 

I would drain the oil. If it looks more like chocolate milk than black oil, then coolant is leaking through a crack in the cylinder head or a failed head gasket.

It also looks like you have an oil leak near the distributor. It could be the distributor o-ring or the valve cover gasket. This will not cause your coolant problem. Also remove the distributor cap to see if there is oil inside of the distributor. These are things that you can take car of if/when you have to remove the cylinder.

 

Ultimately, you must decide how much evidence is necessary to confirm head gasket failure. As pointed out driving w/ coolant in the oil may damage engine bearings.

Oil leak may be head gasket or leak from distibutor nose - cylinder head interface. There's an oring seal that gets hard and leaks.

Oil can also leak from distributor cap drain point (lower side of distributor cap). This is caused by worn out distributor shaft seal allowing oil to go down the distributor shaft and into distributor housing.

good luck

 

Im thinking of which method will be more cost effective. should i have the head gasket replaced along with the TB and BB and water pump. they need to be changed anyways so having it all done at once should save some money because it has to come out anyways. Or should i just get a used engine?

Anyone have any idea of costs for the repair or engine replacement?

I made one phone call the other day out of curiosity and the first quote was $1700 for HG and timing belt. which sounded extremely overpriced.