Welcome to the forum! It's a pretty rare find this is he Gen that has the last manual transmission. I agree with you this is better than those others that has a lot of miles with a lot of rust too. This could be an SE model. I noticed that it has a sunroof but no fog lights. Head retorquing might work. I'll link a site you can use for diagram purposes.

 

I think it's whatever one step up from a base model is. An LX? EX? I appreciate the diagram. Yes, It's a fairly rare car. I've been looking for one of these with a manual transmission for quite awhile, and they're not easy to find.

I think pretty rare on these engines. From the picture it looks like its been leaking for some time and has left a build up of residue. Would that be right?
First thing to do is be as certain as you can where the coolant is coming from. If you are sure its from the head gasket then your only real option is to replace it. Retorquing might help but I think a long shot. Any indication from the service history if the head has been off before?

Unfortunately, I did not get any service records with this car. Getting service records with a car, unless you buy it from the original owner, is somewhat rare in the USA. I don't think I've ever gotten any with any car I've ever owned.


I agree with you, it looks like it's been leaking, or at least seeping, for awhile. But may have just now sprung a more serious leak.

 

Water Hose - 2005 Honda CR-V 5 Door SE KA 5AT

Shop in the parts listing - 2005 Honda CR-V 5 Door SE KA 5AT Water Hose. Discounted prices and Hassle-Free Return on genuine Honda parts.

www.hondapartsnow.com

 

I think pretty rare on these engines. From the picture it looks like its been leaking for some time and has left a build up of residue. Would that be right?
First thing to do is be as certain as you can where the coolant is coming from. If you are sure its from the head gasket then your only real option is to replace it. Retorquing might help but I think a long shot. Any indication from the service history if the head has been off before?

 

Are there any signs of serious overheating that might have warped the head? Checking under the rocker cover to see if all looks good and clean would give you an initial idea. Only mention as if the head is warped then thats more of a problem as you are into more major engineering work (head skimming etc). Hopefully (!) its just a blown gasket which would be clear once the head is off.
It's obviously not a quick job requiring quite a bit of stripping down - and how long it would take depends on skill level etc. If you have time and patience then go for it - otherwise I think I'd move it on.

 

The engine doesn't look like it's full of sludge or anything. Looks OK. However, the car was imported to the cold northeast from sunny California. Where I guess it could've had more of a chance to overheat.

 

Only the EX model was available with the manual trans.

Since you don't have any other symptoms, clean up the area of the leak and monitor coolant level.

Before replacing a HG, I'd do a compression and leak down test.

 

I figured a compression/leak down test wasn't needed since the car wasn't overheating, and I saw no mixing of fluids.

Looking at a couple of online diagrams, it seems like there is a coolant passage very close to this corner of the block/head. With only a very thin area of gasket between it and the outside of the engine block. I suspect coolant is leaking through that small area, either due to a failed head gasket or due to a warped head.

 

I had coolant leaking into that area quite a few years ago. Mine was a tiny leak from the heater hose just above it.

 

Hi. I own a 2002 EX 5MT CRV. I replaced all my water hoses this summer. Often people think there are ust the upper and lower radiator hoses and when you pull up hoses on the Honda Parts Diagram the hoses are listed in different diagrams so all the water hoses can be easily overlooked.

Maybe you water leak is trickling from another part of the engine. Know that there is the water coolant inlet bypass hose situationed behind the intake manifold. You have to remove to see the hose. It is possible that hose went that attaches to the connector that attaches to the thermostat housing that receives the thermostat assembly where the lower radiator hose attaches to could have gone. You can pull up the Water Pump Diagram to see the hose/hoses I am referring to in addition to the upper and lower radiator hoses you will find on the radiator diagram. I include three different links depicting the water hoses.

Below are three webpage Honda diagrams from Bernardi's Honda webpage site showing the different water hoses. I searched using a 2002 Honda CRV EX 5MT (the vehicle I own). I am using MT model search thus no hoses from the automatic transmission to the base of the radiator for AT Transmission fluid cool-off. If any of you have an AT you will have to select proper model AT model for the additional transmission cooling hoses that go to the radiator.


2002 CR-V SUV EX (4WD) 5-Spd Man - 49 State Emissions (KA) | Water Pump - Bernardi Parts Honda




2002 CR-V SUV EX (4WD) 5-Spd Man - 49 State Emissions (KA) | Water Hose - Bernardi Parts Honda




2002 CR-V SUV EX (4WD) 5-Spd Man - 49 State Emissions (KA) | Radiator Hose - Reserve Tank - Bernardi Parts Honda

 

If you determine that your leak isn’t hose related and is in fact head gasket, Kseal is a pretty reputable product and available at most parts stores, online, etc. it specifically targets leaks like yours seems to be. There are other products on the market but I’d stay away from them.

K-Seal® ULTIMATE - Best Head Gasket Leak Repair - K-Seal®

K-Seal® ULTIMATE is a permanent repair for head gasket leaks, cracked heads and porous blocks. Guaranteed for the life of your engine, or your money back!

www.kseal.com

 

I think I would buy a vacuum pressure tester for the coolant system and give that a go to see if it will reveal any leak in the hoses mentioned so far

 

NEVER use anything leak repair in coolant system your asking for trouble. This will cause engine issues. If there is a real leak in the radiator replace it or cabin radiator replace it. What you want to do is clean that location and see where the leak is coming from.

 

Yes, Thats exactly the one I have, And you pay about the same i did, Except I bought it when it was 7 years old. If you pay that recently, wow veryyy expensive. That leak i never had it on mine, if the leak is very small I would leave it alone, thats me,

 

Greetings everyone, I just recently bought a 2005 CRV, with the 2.4l K series engine, and a Manual transmission. The car has 95k miles, and is in absolutely great condition overall. I paid about $11,000 for it, which seems insane, but it was a good deal in todays market for a lower miles, manual CRV where I live, as I was looking at other cars with close to 200,000 miles and rust that are selling for $6-8,000. View attachment 157927 Unfortunately, right after I bought it, I noticed coolant leaking on the ground. After some investigation, it seems to be leaking right below the connections to the heater hose, on the backside of the engine. It appears to be leaking out of the head gasket, in between the head and the engine block. I didn't notice this during my inspection of the car before buying it, and the car drives perfectly. So I didn't have any red flags like the car overheating. View attachment 157928 Like I said, the car doesn't overheat. Nor does there seem to be any oil/coolant mixing. So it seems it's a purely external leak. Is this something that could maybe be fixed by retorquing the head? Is that even a thing you can do on these cars? This is my first Honda, and I admit to not knowing a lot about them (although I am far from an automotive novice), but I feel like this is an issue I've never heard of before on a Honda. Does anybody here have experience with this kind of a leak on a 2.4 K series engine? I'm not sure what my game plan should be. Replace the head gasket myself? take it to a shop? Sell the car and take a loss?

Replace it with a multi-layer head gasket it has three layers that way when they expands it solves the problem Hondas are awesome cars I had a 2004 Civic with the same issue it died at 267 k did me very well

 

Like others have mentioned, it very well could be some other something that is leaking and the juice is traveling back to that area along the head, to block seam. Could be wrong but I don't think its a head gasket problem, unless at one time someone had the head off, then I would suspect the gasket. Too many people doing mechanic work that ruin things when they clean off the old gaskets then you do end up with problems like that. You paid a kings ransom for that car and now you would want to take a loss just to possibly end up with something worse than what you have now? Sorry I don't see the sense in it.
If head work ahead use only the OEM gasket from a dealer.
EDIT,
Wow just noticed this is a very old thread, I just wish the original posters would come back and let us know what happened and sorta close the thread out.
Still nice to beable to add more pertinent information though.

 

OP hasnt been on in months, locked until they decide to return...