ok... so after about 20 minutes normal driving... temp gauge goes up. no white smoke, thermostat is new, radiator flushed, and filled with water, coolant, and water wetter. after about 20 minutes, i stop to check out the coolant level and seems to be empty. no apparent leaks. whats the best way to check for blown head gasket? compression test? or am i gonna have to get the head taken off? whats the estimated cost for this repair?!? Thanks for all answers, replies, suggestions... 93 B18A LS Integra

 

does your coolant bubble at all? estimated cost for repair is about $70 if you do it yourself.

 

how much is a new gasket? where do i get it from.. dealer? and how long would it take to fix? approximately.... if its my first time taking off the head. i have a chiltons! ahahah

 

it will probably take a day simply because you'll be scared and going real slow but it's really easy. gasket is about $70 at the dealer at most. it shouldnt be any more then that. just disconnect everything that connects the block and head. you can even pull it with the intake manifold on the head. be sure to remove head bolts in the proper order to prevent warpage.

 

any special tools that i need? i have my trusty sears metric socket set and thats about it... thanks turbointeg for your help

 

well you'll need to get a torque wrench from someone to torque the head down when you're done. Other then that, the metric set will do fine, everything on the outside is mostly just undoing hose clamps and removing hoses. Then you just have to remove the cams and the head bolts are right there. Be sure to set the motor to TDC before you put everything back together and pay close attention to cam timing when putting the timing belt back on.