Radiator pressure question
 

'96 VTEC auto, seems to have excessive pressure in the cooling system. Coolant "pushing" out of hose connections. Replaced stock hose clamps on new radiator hoses, now coolant is leaking out of the new heater hoses when engine is running. On cold engine, took off the radiator cap and coolant pushes out of the radiator. When I place the palm of my hand over the opening, if I pull my palm up slightly, coolant squirts out with a lot of pressure. Remember, this is a stone cold engine, idling only a minute, or two to do this check.

Also, in my opinion, seems like the exhaust is blowing white smoke far too long after engine warms up. This was from yesterday before I noticed it leaking coolant out of the heater hoses.

Am I looking at a bad head gasket, cracked head or block, or PLEASE can there be a simple solution?

Thank You

RE: Radiator pressure question
 

Sorry, but it does sound like a head gasket. Could be a cracked block or head, but more than likely it's just the gasket. Cheer up, it's not that bad of a job to do yourself. If you have a lot of experience it shouldn't take more than a day, even a noobie should be able to do it in a weekend.

The only problem I usually run into is there aren't a lot of machine shops open on the weekends.

I would strongly reccomend taking the head to a machine shop. At a bare minimum get it flattened, usually they will run a pressure check and look for cracks for a small additional fee. Usually it runs me around $100-120 but then again I usually have an exhaust stud or two that need some repair and there is no better time to do it.