I have a 1992 Accord EX 5-speed with 217K miles.

Was driven overheated 6 years ago. Ever since RPM cycle 1200-2100 at idle in cold weather until warmed up. I'm lately losing coolant and worried about Head Gasket.

I have to do Timing Belt, Valve Cover Gasket, and Oil Pan Gasket soon. Any reason I should not lift the head and get it squared away at the same time?

From the FAQ's, manuals, etc... I'm having a hard time inferring whether I can get myself in much trouble.

Sorry for the novel before, and thanks for the mild rebuke. This place is great. Any advice for a guy just getting my feet wet in this kind of work on my car?




Modified by waciii at 8:12 AM 9/6/2008

 

Shorten your novel up a little bit and ppl might wanna read it to help ya out......

 

If the timing belt snaps while you are on the road your car is going to die and depending on how fast you were going you can bend the valves in your motor and cause damage resulting in replacing the engine. I would buy all the parts and the gasket (it's cheap) get it fixed dude asap before the colder weather starts coming along dude. Heres a site where you can buy discount Honda Parts.

http://www.hondaautomotiveparts.com/
very good service & fast shipping

2 the person above, you wasted a post dude.

 

Care to explain the Idle issue a little further so we can diagnose your problem? I ask because if your idle is jumping from lets say 1000 to 2000 it may be that your Idle Air Control Valve defective.

 

gqstatus05:

I'm definitely doing the timing belt in the next couple weeks and the car is pretty much idle until then.

What I'm really curious is whether my overheating episode and coolant issue is pointing to a head gasket and since I'm doing the timing belt anyway, should I go ahead and lift the head, check it out (get it to a machine shop if needed), and eliminate the head gasket as a concern. I'm have a hard time inferring how complicated changing a head gasket is although I've read all the FAQ's, manuals, etc...

re: the Idle issue:

After it was driven about 5 miles with the temp guage maxed, the idle issue showed up and has been doing that ever since. Something related to driving it hot triggered it.

thanks