rogersbm82

My wife's go-worker just bought a used civic. Not sure of the year like a 94-96 maybe? The car overheated on her way to work, she had it towed to the dealership and they said it was a blown headgasket and would $800 to replace it? Is that legit? Seems a little high to me. You could buy a motor for that.

thumper64

1.Buy parts from dealership
2.Get under your wife's coworker's hood
3. ?????
4. Profit!

EDIT: Sorry if that's not helpful. The dealership is always going to gouge you and OEM parts are always pricey, but usually best. A head gasket is around $60 and head bolts should be around $100. I haven't shopped around for the service, but that does sound high. Most of us do our own labor, so you're going to get the same response as I'm giving, which is to do it yourself, it's not that hard.

boostedb20ek

thats kinda steep if you ask me. you could have the head off of the car in about an hour or 2 depending on you and ready to pull the old gasket off.

rogersbm82

Is there a DIY thread for this on here. I am good on most things with my integra but never pulled the head off.

Bakeoff

Most shops will charge 600-800 for this job. If you decide to do it yourself, make sure you have a torque wrench and GET THE HEAD SURFACED. If you don't, its most likely to happen again in another 6 months to a year. Since the head is coming off, you might as well do a timing belt and water pump at the same time since shops charge 500-700 to do that and it will only take you another 30 minutes, half of its apart anyway, and the parts will be under 100.

sde780

There's a writeup in the FAQ. Get the head resurfaced, or at least checked for straightness

IhateworkingoncaRs

If your not comfortable, don't do it unless it's on your own vehicle or you know them really well. 800 would be a little high here but shop rate is probably higher over where your at.

TravisCadello

thats not to bad, I thought the dealer would charge way more. about 600 is what a cheap mechanic will charge around here and i thank id rather have a dealership work on it then the cheap mechanic.

metal41mulisha

i just bought a buddy club .5mm head gasket for 80 bucks for my gsr motor and did it myself for my del sol... not that bad of a job depending on mechanical ability

94EG8

That doesn't really sound out of line. And yes you could buy an engine for that which is my preferred way to deal with blown head gaskets in D-series engines.

TravisCadello

Lol, If you race it then yea, I'd change the engine out for a JDM d15b but if its someone who just drives it and not into fixing it up then I'd just change the head gasket. Hey OP, You should charge her $200 and do it yourself and get her to buy the parts.

sde780

^Why would you swap in a JDM d15 if you're racing? There are so much better options out there, D-series wise

metal41mulisha

if you were gonna swap the motor why even buy another d series

thumper64

What else can you swap in using a D series tranny, mounts, ecu and such without any kind of adapters or fabrication? What if all the person wants is cheap, reliable transportation and they don't care if it's slow as molasses in winter?

6000pounds

yea make his wife pay for the parts which im sure she will anyways but charging your wife? anyways back on topic. i highly doubt you will need to mill the head unless this car has been running the 1/4 mile. check for straightness to play it safe but just have a torque wrench and if you wanted to be spiffy use ARP head bolts/studs>130 bucks. the OEM gasket prolly cost you around 85 bucks. with no turbo changing a headgasket can be a mild job but easily done. then throw some hondabond or some other adhesive when you put the valve cover back on and you're good to go.

ps. dont forget to check the coolant when it's all back together

1992Si

Have you ever done this type job before ?

The first one is a PITA. Once you learn what you can leave off the next one is much easier.

If you do it yourself, you'll understand why they charge what they do.

metal41mulisha

i guess you have a point there