2002 s2000. White smoke from exhaust. Oil starting to look milky. Radiator bubbling so much I can't check with a head gasket leak checker. Any chance it could be anything else than a head gasket? Don't have thousands of dollars to spend. Is it too big of a project to do myself?

 

A couple of "head gasket" posts recently so look around. Replacement of the gasket does not seem like a easy or trivial repair and simply removing the cylinder head to get at it requires a detailed process so as to not damage the engine. There's other maintenance that can be done at the same time. Engine rebuilds involving any machining have a dismal success rate and the local shop that rebuilds LS engines every week probably has no clue on how to handle the S2000 engine.

The Honda Service Manual is available. Read up on the process before considering if you want to tackle the job.

-- Chuck

 

Well, you could have a cracked head or block on the worse end of the fix-it scale.

 

Too hard to judge if the job is too hard to do yourself of course. I would do it with no worries at all if it were mine but I have done a lot of wrenching and learned throughout life from a professional mechanic, and have done much harder jobs than that. To some it may be well above what they want to tackle. So cant judge that for you. There is nothing magic about doing it on an s2k that does not apply to most other cars really. Shop manual should be used and followed for tightening/loosening sequence as you would on any car.

Now, can it be anything else? Yep. Could be the block or the head as mentioned. Anywhere that coolant could pass from the cooling jacket to the cylinder.

The head could be cracked, but could also be warped. Only way to know is to pull the head and send it to a shop to have it checked. Then based upon the result, will have to determine if the head is fixable or it is better to find a good used one to swap in.

 

OP seems to have lost interest and hasn't been on the forum for a month. Has one (1) post: this one.

-- Chuck

 

Hope you are ok ,these things happen.