is it possible to replace my head gasket myself?

in your opinion what is the best replacement gasket?

if I smell a sweet smell in the valve cover(oil cap area) that means I am getting coolant into my cylinders, but I dont see white smoke and there is no loss in coolant, what else could it be?

any help would be great cause I've been chasing a gremlin for a while and I think i found were he was hiding, I just can pin point it.

 

Do a compression test on the motor. A headgasket can be hard if you have never performed one before. Make sure you use an oem gasket from honda.

 

Yep and Yep

If you're not familiar with it definitely purchase a helms manual.

 

i thought about the compresion check, would that tell me if a seal was bad?
and if I get one done and the compresion is fine then what?

 

The only time that I have seen a headgasket that wasnt sealing properly but still came out with good compression was on boosted motors. And thats only because of poor headstuds that would cause the head to lift under boost. Other than that if you think its your headgasket most likely youll have poor compression

 

can any auto repair shop do one or do i have to take it to a performance shop?

 

You could buy a compression tester. DO NOT GET ONE FROM WALMART. Unplug your ignition coil so you do not get any spark in the cyclinders. Then take out all your spark plugs or one at a time. Install compression tester with a little oil on the threads. Crank car I believe 7 times. Check compression and compare to what it should be compared to owners manual. If the cyclinder you test is really low compared to the other cyclinders you can add a small spoon full of motor oil in the spark plug hole. DO the compression check again and compare. If it goes up a lot you may need new rings if it still is low you may have a bent valve.

Let us know your cyclinder numbers

 

keep in mind all the cylinders should be no more then 10% off from the other cylinder

keep us posted with what the compression reads in each cylinder we are here to help out

 

Is your car running fine right now?

Have you changed your oil yet?

 

you can hear the mis fire between 1500-2200rpm i change the oil a few hundred miles before its due only cause my oil light will come on.

 

If that's all you're experiencing, I doubt the head gasket is bad.

Oil didn't look unusual? Pay close attention to your oil level everytime you get gas. See if it's getting lower.

Where in MD do you live? If you're close, maybe I can check out your car.

 

next friday I'll be in gaithersburg at my uncles shop and for the rest of that weekend I'll be on the eastern shore. Im stationed in norfolk so I go home just about every other weekend.

 

Im starting to think its my valve seal cause i just noticed oil on the intake manifold, which is why i prolly haven't been able to smell burning oil.