Blown head gasket

3ric101

New Member
I am having trouble with my 2002 Honda civic ex. The motor over heats just by having it on. I took it to a shop and they told me it could be a blown head gasket. How much do you think it is going to cost me and what is a good place anyone recommends?
 

CodeName_EJ6

ASE Certified Mechanic
Estimate 700+ dollars.. its a lot of labor (not really). But the shop would try to G you
 


3ric101

New Member
thanks

Thanks for the info i found a friend that would do it for $600 still alot but i am tried of driving a v8 to much gas!
 

DeathLens

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what does your oil look like?
 


emerican

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If you can do it yourself youd save a ton its not really all that difficult i did one in my buddies not that long ago and have done them on alot of cars before.
 

Decipher

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All of this "do it yourself" business is really dependent on whether or not you warped the head. If you did, depending on how bad it is, a shop might be able to mill it back to stock tolerances. If it's too far deformed, then you're looking at replacing the motor. But you need to find out if this is in fact the case, either way, before spending money on a new head gasket that may very well be burnt up before you pull out of your driveway.
 

Hendo

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Well, I bought a 92 hatch that was overheating because of a "bad head gasket":



Your radiator look like this, by any chance? XD
 

Hendo

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My point being that it sure as s**t wasn't a head gasket lol
 

dj_hallucn8

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My rad & head gasket were both bad after mine overheated, I replaced the rad myself for $40 but the head job cost $1200 but they also replace all hoses, water pump, timing belt, hot tanked & machined my head plus replaced 2 valve springs so I got my money's worth out of that repair, I would have done it myself but it would have taken longer.
 

Hendo

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wtf lol did u dip it in acid
I didn't do s**t to it, I bought the car for $600 and that's what the radiator looked like when I pulled and replaced it. That's what happens when it has a couple pinhole leaks, it drips and corrodes it away like that. Girl thought or was told it was a bad head gasket. I replaced the radiator and have put 3000 miles on it and it's straight good in the hood. That's what I'm sayin to this guy, check the radiator. There's only a couple things that can make it overheat. Bad radiator or water pump, blocked heater core, stuck thermostat, and blown head gasket. That's pretty much it. Jumping to the conclusion its a blown head gasket without checking everything else is dumb and expensive.
 

emerican

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^ word
Even if it does end up being a headgasket might as well check everything and make for certain that its not them first
 

3ric101

New Member
manyit took me awhile to read all the comments

the car has 238k miles on it and has never had major problems till now i mean it could be that the gasket gave out, i am not sure but i am a college student and i have a part time job. I barely have anytime to work on my car!
 

Hendo

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the car has 238k miles on it and has never had major problems till now i mean it could be that the gasket gave out, i am not sure but i am a college student and i have a part time job. I barely have anytime to work on my car!
5 minutes to drain the coolant, loosen two hose clamps and pull them off the radiator, take off the one bolt on the hold-down bracket, unclip the fan connecter and you lift the thing out. In a civic it's SO frikkin easy. And when you're at that point, you can pull the upper radiator hose off the engine, loosen three bolts and pull the thermostat housing off and replace the $10 part. But hey, if you'd rather pay someone $600 to replace something that MIGHT be bad rather than spend 30 minutes doing this to make sure.. it's your money hoss.
 


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