Blown Head Gasket

I was thinking it could be a cracked head, Cause I found out that if it was the block there would be water/oil on the ground. Thank you for the reply I am going 2 take the head in and have it pressure tested and hopefully that is the problem. I also found out on the #3 cylinder it has a heali coil and the crack could be there.

Engine Mechanical problem
1988 Honda Civic 4 cyl Two Wheel Drive Automatic 150000 miles
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Radiator was punctured, caused the car to overheat
end result blown headgasket,replaced the with a new radiator, new battery, new sparkplugs, head gasket repair, Alternator was replaced 4 weeks ago. car is not starting friend mechanic tried a treatment like liquid glas that seals the head gasket, car still does not start. How do I replace the head gasket.
Any suggestions what else I can do or how do I replace the head gasket, the heater does not kick on and it is supposed to come on in order for the repair to work

Hi there

After an engine overheats, sometimes it is difficult to start because of low compression. Lubricating oil has dried up so try putting some engine oil into the cylinders via the plug holes and crank the engine without the spark plugs to get the piston rings working again.

By the way, since you have done some repairs, have you installed the timeing belt correctly and also the distributor?

Engine Mechanical problem
2004 Honda Civic 4 cyl Front Wheel Drive Manual 76000 miles

My car has been overheating for about a month now....had a mechanic check it out figuring it was maybe just my Thermostat, and it ended up being the head gasket is bad!!! my question is : If i keep driving on it with a blown Head Gasket, what could be the damages that could happen?.......it is an very expensive Job and cant afford to pay that right now!

Driving the vehicle with a blown head gasket. Can do a lot more damage if left untreated. One thing is that its still going to keep running hot and use antifreeze. Having coolant in the engines combustion chamber can cause the engine to hydro lock and potentially bend a connecting rod. If antifreeze is running through the exhaust system it will damage the catalytic converter over time. It sound expensive to have it repaired, but the more its ignored the more damage it can cause

Hi i have a 94 honda civic hb. It has 168,000 miles on it. The engine is a 1.5 liter. I blew my head gasket but i have another engine but idk if it will work. Because my spark plugs are at the top of the valve cover and on the other engine they are at the bottom. I nedd to know if i switch out the heads will it work? Or do you have any other suggestons on how to get my car running?
thank you

I would say it would not. A salvage yard can tell you better than I.

Pull the head off and take it to a auto parts store with a shop and have them look at the head for warpage and cracking. They can plane warping.

How do I check for blown head gaskets myself? What tools will I need? What should I know or look out for before I attempt any checks, configurations, or repairs? How much should a mechanic charge to replace head gaskets if needed? Please help, I've gotten a lot of different answers.

We don't get involved with costs here because there ARE so many variables. Some shops include things in their quotes that might be needed, then surprise you with a lower bill if possible. Some shops quote the basics to be the lowest cost and get the job, then have to tell you about additional needed things as they're found. Conscientious mechanics are going to replace the timing belt at the same time which only makes sense when they have your best interest at heart. Some mechanics will not because they think they're looking out for your wallet. Hondas use mostly "interference" engines that develop expensive bent valves if the timing belt breaks, and they often break earlier than the recommended replacement interval.

You have an engine problem but you didn't bother to list the engine size or the symptoms so I can't comment on the best course of action. There's seven different engines available. You mentioned head warpage so I might infer you're losing coolant or have white smoke out the tail pipe. If that is correct, there's two things you can do. One is to add a small bottle of dark purple dye to the coolant, then search a day later with a black light. The dye will show up as a bright yellow stain that you can follow back to the source. If you find it inside the tail pipe, the head gasket is leaking.

If you have bubbles blowing into the reservoir or have unexplained coolant loss, there's a chemical test for that. It involves drawing air from the radiator through a glass cylinder with two chambers partially-filled with a special dark blue liquid. If combustion gases are present, the liquid will turn bright yellow. Auto parts stores that rent or borrow tools will have the tester, but they usually make you buy your own bottle of fluid. That's because it will be ineffective if it is contaminated with coolant or if it freezes. They don't want to risk borrowing it to someone after the last person contaminated the fluid.

That fluid can be more expensive than just having a mechanic perform the test. It only takes a few minutes unless it takes a long time for the problem to show up. For example, sometimes the car will only start blowing white smoke after a long drive at highway speed. In a case like that, you'll want to do that right before your appointment at the shop.

To check a cylinder head to see if it's warped, you'd need to take it to an engine machine shop after you clean the surface and give it the proper surface prep for the new gasket to bite into. They'll have a precision straightedge and feeler gauges. The maximum allowable warpage for a cast iron head is .005" in any direction. For an aluminum head it's .002"

When a head with an overhead camshaft is warped it can't be machined flat like the old iron heads were. It has to be heated and straightened or replaced. If you machine them, that doesn't address the camshaft journals which will be out of line too. If that's bad enough, it can cause the camshaft to break, or at the very least, it won't spin freely.

Engine Mechanical problem
2005 Honda Civic 4 cyl Two Wheel Drive Automatic 121000 miles

so i took my car in to the dealer for overheating problems and got told it was a blow'n head gasket.... they told me it would be 1700 to repair does that sound right!?!?!!?!?

Hi lilbiglou,

The diagnosis and cost of repairs seems correct for overheating issues.

Did you have coolant losses ?

Engine Mechanical problem
1999 Honda Civic 4 cyl Front Wheel Drive Automatic 169000 miles

Hello Awesome carpros..
We have had two mechanics tell us that the head gasket is "blown" and we've been driving the car normally for over a year now and have to put about 1/4 to 1/2 cup coolant into the radiator every morning. When driving the engine does not overheat (unless the coolant gets too low) nor does white smoke emit from exhaust pipe. MY QUESTION IS: Is this normal to be able to keep driving the vehicle and if so/not, how long can we expect the engine to keep running. Also, is there anything else we can do to extend the life of the car.. thanks very much
Dave

Hi there,

This is hard to say, if coolant is leaking than i feel it is an external gasket leak, leaks into the combustion chamber will result in a major failure sooner rather than later, a head check will show if there is any exhaust gasses in the cooling system, if not it will be an external leak and the time factor on the life span just can't be known, i would consider having the problem repaired sooner rather than later.

mark (mhpautos)

a couple of months ago my 96 civic (120k milles) overheated do to a leaking radiator and as I was sitting in traffic when the car finally gave out. It did not start at all after this. The AAA mech. told me by the noise that I might have a blown head gasket. The heat initially melted insulator of the spark plug leads into the spark plug chamber. I broke down my engine block to the head gasket to find coolant in the cylinder. I am not sure if it got in there with the vibrations of taking the valve assembly off or by the "faulty" head gasket. The head gasket appears to be fully entact but i can see that it consists of three thin layers that flake apart in what I think is a normal fashion. The pistons seam to appear fine and I can't tell if I have blown piston rings yet.

Should i stop where I'm at and replace the head gasket and radiator or should I keep digging? I thank you ahead of time for your assistance... Thanx...Danny

[quote:a660b86fbc="avamt3483"]a couple of months ago my 96 civic (120k milles) overheated do to a leaking radiator and as I was sitting in traffic when the car finally gave out. It did not start at all after this. The AAA mech. told me by the noise that I might have a blown head gasket. The heat initially melted insulator of the spark plug leads into the spark plug chamber. I broke down my engine block to the head gasket to find coolant in the cylinder. I am not sure if it got in there with the vibrations of taking the valve assembly off or by the "faulty" head gasket. The head gasket appears to be fully entact but i can see that it consists of three thin layers that flake apart in what I think is a normal fashion. The pistons seam to appear fine and I can't tell if I have blown piston rings yet.

Should i stop where I'm at and replace the head gasket and radiator or should I keep digging? I thank you ahead of time for your assistance... Thanx...Danny[/quote:a660b86fbc]

Probably the Head its "warped" because of the intense "heat" ..send it to a machine shop to be on the safe zone..

Also you have to check your block for cracks and be sure about it because all the work that its behind (and the antifreeze you found)..

replace water pump timing belt, all oil seals (got burn because of the overheat) and check the idler tensor on the timing belt..

let us know and good luck!

Engine Mechanical problem
1988 Honda Civic 4 cyl Front Wheel Drive Automatic 75000 miles

I think the head gasket is blown. The car will barely start and there's coolant spraying out of the tailpipe. Also, when it does run there is a hissing sound coming from the radiator overflow tube. I need to know if it's the gasket or whole head that needs replacement.

Hi john hosey,

Symptom indicates a bad head gasket but without removing the head and sending it for testing, we would not know the extend of the damage.

If the situation is really bad, the complete engine might need to be replaced.

Engine Cooling problem
1998 Honda Civic 4 cyl Front Wheel Drive Automatic 140k miles

Just had my water pump replaced last month. After overheating again yesterday, found out we have a blown head gasket. Is the new (remanufactured) water pump at fault? or could it be residual damage from the last failed water pump?

Hi superhawk996,

For this engine, when overheating occurs, it can damage the head gasket but is not noticeable in the beginning. The fault would become full blown only after some time, even up to almost a year before it becomes very bad.

I would believe the problem is from the initial failed water pump. After removal of the cylinder, if the rign around the cylinders are very dark or badly worn, that would indicate the problem had been there for some time.

engine was rebuilt 1 year ago since then it has periodically overheated and blown 2 head gaskets. Had gasket repaired 4 months ago purchased new cataylitic converter for Ca standards passed smog 2 days later car bogged down and overheated. Tech did say that the vacuum advance was working intermitantly. Help !!

check the radiator as you must find the reason for the overheating issue

Roy