Hello, I am new here and I am looking for some help/advise. I am working on a friends car, a 1996 Honda Civic with V-tech, and I think she may have a blown head gasket so I am trying to confirm this (I plan on running the compression test if I eliminate everything else). She was driving the car and she said the rpm gauge jumped and the gas would not work then the car died. It also sounded like it over heated. I had it towed to my place and checked the oil, bone dry. Checked the coolant, also low (probably from the over heating) so i filled it as well. The car started and kept oil pressure. I let the car warm up and noticed it started idling rough and low. I adjusted the idle and started it again, seemed ok. I test drove it and not even 0.5 miles away it died on me. I tried to restart it and no go. It is not the battery because after about 5 min, it cranked and I got it home. Checked the oil, still good, it also started to seem like it was over heating but not bad (i may have caught it right at the beginning?). I let it cool and refilled the coolant and checked for air bubbles. I started the car and let it warm up, the top radiator hose is holding a lot of pressure. I hear it start to boil again and shut it off, another over heating. Fill the coolant again, check for bubbles. This time i left the radiator cap off and let the car run. I noticed it got hot fast but the gauge did not indicate anything out of the normal. Next thing I know it is really hot and there are bubbles coming out of the radiator (they were not constant but more like one a second or one every few seconds and it eventually started getting more frequent) almost as if there were air bubbles but when I tried squeezed the hoses, no bubbles at all. I am assuming the temp gauge is a bad sensor but my main concern is the over heating. Also, the car feels really sluggish (I drive a V8 but there is no way this civic is this slow and it seems to be struggling with getting to a higher rpm). The fan did kick on so I dont think that is the issue but it did only kick on 1 out of the 3 times that i can recall. Any input would be appreciated.

Cliff notes:
1996 Civic, v-tech
Car died, wouldn't start. Waited a while and it started, runs like crap and dies when warm. Coolant is boiling and the top radiator hose has a lot of build up pressure. With the rad cap off, there are bubbles coming up from the rad but the coolant level does not seem to be dropping as if it were an air bubble. Temp gauge not indicating car is hot but it is over heating. Head gasket?

I have been checking on line and so far, there are a lot of people who had a bad head gasket.

 

Welcome in,is there white smoke coming from the exhaust pipe and a ticking noise/ It sounds like a head gasket,if it's overheating then you need to have the head shaved before putting on a gasket it may be warped.

 

Thanks for the welcome and taking the time to read that long post.

I am not seeing any smoke and there is a ticking noise but I was not sure if it was from her running the engine with no oil or just normal drive train noise. I plan on doing a compression test today to try and confirm, just wanted some input before having to go that route.

 

That would be the next step,a compression test,is there water on the dip stick or yellow foam on the oil cap?

 

I ran a block test, the blue dye did not turn yellow which should have indicated a blown head gasket or cracked head/block. I then ran a compression test and got 1:135, 2:125, 3:110, 4:125 (car was warm and when I cranked it i held the throttle at wide open). I can tell there is blow bye on cyl 4 because there is oil on the plug. I bypassed the fan and drove the car around the block. It did not overheat but i did not drive it long. It did however die on me about half way around the block. when I push in the clutch to come to a stop the rpms just slowly die out and it dies. It seems gutless, no power at all, and has a pretty bad knock around 2500+rpms. After it died a few more times, i got back in front of my house and it was having a hard time starting. I was turning it over and pumping the gas and it barely started, I limped it into the driveway. When I got the car from her, there was no oil in it at all, probably because the no 4 blow by but I am afraid there might be some internal damage from being driven with no oil. I have no idea how long it was driven like that but i added 3.5 quarts and I believe that is how much it holds.
I currently do not have a book on the car but I will probably have to pick one up today.

Edit: no oil in the coolant from what I can see and no coolant in the oil from what I can see.