leepham

Hi,

Not a big car person so forgive the ignorance. The car I have a question about is my 1993 Honda civic.

When I bought the car as is, and had no idea there was a problem with the coolant. After driving for the first few days, the car overheated on me and I had it checked out. I was told there maybe a crack in the engine or something wrong with the head gasket. However, being broke I was advised to just always have coolant with me and montior the level in the reserve tank. 3 months pass of keeping my eye on the reserve and refilling when necessary.

A couple of days ago, the car overheated again. However, this time it was different. The heater stopped blowing hot air out a few minutes before the temperature gauge began to rise (on a really cold day i might add). I got the car checked out and was told it may be the thermostat, but to test drive for a couple of days and come back, so I had the thermostat replaced and coolant refilled. 2 days later, and about 250km later it overheated on me again.

Now the mechanic says it has to be the head gasket and i need that replaced.

My question are,

1. Do you all think that's the problem and will replacing the head gasket solve the problem?and if yes
2. What should I be paying (canadian dollars) to replace this?

Any help or response would be appreciated,
Lee Pham

zeeman

iTrader: (1)

get a compression test done before you do anything. It could be as simple as an air bubble trapped in your cooling system, so bleed the cooling system. Or it could be your fan not turning on. Does your car smoke at all? Or does it smell like burning coolant? Burning coolant is a very sweet smell, to me it smells like celery to others it smells like butterscotch.

leepham

Thanks for quick response, zeeman. I already had the coolant system bled, because there was air in the hoses. But it only tempoarily fixes the problem because it over heats again. No smoking comes from the car, unless it's over heating and I don't smell anything sweet nor celery like. But my nose isn't very keen, because I think I smell good contrary to what other say. lol

Lee Pham

zeeman

iTrader: (1)

well if it was your headgasket A) a compression test would show very low psi in 1 or more cylinders B) there would prolly be a lot of smoke coming from your exhaust C) your car would generally run pretty crappy.
Check to see if there is any coolant leaks, put a big piece of cardboard or something underneath your car while it is parked over night, this will show if there is any leaks.
My car had an overheating and disappearing coolant problem and it turned out to be my waterpump. Have you ever changed your water pump? Check to see if there is any signs of coolant by your water pump on the timing belt cover. The water pump is, while looking at the engine from the front of the car, on the drivers (right) side of the engine, near the bottom of the engine where the crank pulley is, the crank pulley is where all of the belts go around at the bottom of the engine (like the alternator belt, the power steering belt and a/c compressor belt) I could see a big wet spot on the timing belt cover where the water pump is when my water pump was shot.

DaleatRT

easiest headgasket check would be to start the car and take off the rad cap (DO THIS WHEN THE CAR IS STONE COLD!!!!). if you see bubles coming up through the coolant (bigger bubbles, not tiny, settling bubbles), it's either the head gasket, block, or your cylinder head. sounds like a gasket problem to me.

QuiCK_TiME

check if the coolant is milky, and i believe the butterscotch smell as zeeman mentioned.
if so, head gasket is toast.

Mr. Death

You could have a leaky heater core.

zeeman

iTrader: (1)

Very true. Check too see if the carpet on the floor is wet at all. Check drivers side and passenger side, check up by the console and behind where the radio and heat controls are.

leepham

No leaks in interior of car. And i notice the butter scotch smell now that you guys mention it. Smells quite nice and I think i've been smelling it since I got the car. Lol

I'm bringing it in today, he said it should be ready tomorrow... so I hope he makes sure to do all the test.
Thanks to everyone who replied.

One last question,
How much should it cost to replace a head gasket here in Toronto?

Peace,
Lee Pham

dingus88

man if you over heated that car that many times I'd be just getting a freash jdm sohc zc to replace it, your head could be warped/cylinders/pistons roasted. I mean you road a bad head gasket that was roasted for a long time, your pistons must be steam cleaned very good now.