Well I've searched on this forum about overheating, which led me to change the thermostat and coolant and still overheats. So I have come to realize that my car has a bad head gasket. So my question is how much did some of you payed to get it replaced? I thinking about letting the dealership replacing the headgasket, water pump, and timing belt. How much do you think I'm going to spend?

 

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=home+dealership...rson%2C+CAuote.

 

i just had to do that to my car. i payed roughly parts and labor about 500 bucks, runs like a champ again.

 

Are you sure it's not a rusted/cracked coolant pipe on the back of the block by the water pump? Mine rotted a bit and cracked... I was getting no heat to the dash and i was smelling coolant a bit... it's a more and more common problem with our em2s lately... Might check that before you go too far...

 

same overheating prob here

if u positive its the head gasket then skip this step..
goto napa auto part..buy head block tester kit $50 = smells radiator for exhaust gas = head gasket cracked.warped/leak.

i got qoutes from 3 local shops
head gasket $600, 700, 800 p+l

used engine(@30-40K from japan surplus) $1000,1300, 1500 p+l

so i replaced whole engine for $1000 parts and labor. Runs like brand new..why cause i had 130k miles on minez alrdy

before i got the cracked head gasket..it started with a faulty WaterPump...which leaked coolant..cause overheat into red..caused cracked head gasket....so check if yur waterpump is in good condition...

local shop waterpump n timing belt change $300 p+L

 

A quick way to tell if your head gasket is gone check your oil dip stick and you should see coolant on the dip stick with oil because your coolant will pass thru your oil system...

 

not really. my car overheated and had a bad headgasket and did not have coolant mixed in the oil.

 

there are several ways a HG can blow. some can simply be an exchange under certain conditions between the combustion chamber and coolant jacket. the most common indication of this is the overflow tank overflowing from combustion pressure escaping into the coolant jacket around the cylinders and pressurizing the cooling system, triggering the radiator cap, and then overfilling the overflow tank. a secondary sympton can go the other way, when the combustion chamber is under a sort of vacuum you pull coolant from surrounding areas into the combustion chamber to be burned and consumed. if it's bad enough you'll have white exhaust smoke.

some HG can blow so badly that you have a combination of combustion pressure escaping into the coolant jacket, and then from there, coolant finding it's way into the oil galleys within the engine. that is when you have the chocolate milk oil.

personally, i'd never hesistate to do anything to a SOHC since they are so easy to work on, but if you can't find that sort of time or whatever you might be able to find someone on here who is well-versed and can help you. also, you might find that an established honda tuning shop can give you a better rate than your average mechanic.

good luck.

 

mine was only the thermo and the fan switch so make sure u know b4 throwin money at so much stuff for no reason.

 

How often does this happen, I'm looking at Civics to buy for a DD, was this an issue on the 96-00' models?

 

nope. not at all.

i had a '97 hatch for about 10 years. i built two different SOHC engines for it before i swapped to a b18c in 4/07. i often said that if i had just left the original engine alone, i would have still had it running on that original engine without issue when i sold it with well over 200k on the chassis 12/07.

i strongly feel that the 96-00 civics were incredibly well designed vehicles. everything was designed with practicality and durability in mind. super easy to service, high quality from top to bottom from a parts perspective and just damn good basic transporation.

really, the 6th gen was a culmination of the technology and designs they were using for quite some time- the engine, trans, HVAC, etc were pretty close from 1988 until 2000, so they had plenty of time to refine and perfect all of that. and i feel they did.

if you can find a clean 6th gen that isn't modified and was maintained...you should have no trouble for quite some time! and if you do, not to worry because they are like legos- SO easy to work on.

 

I've had no HG problems on mine at all, 86K strong. I'm also religious with coolant flushes though.

 

I replaced mine due to the same problem. I paid a mechanic in Tijuana Mexico 100 dollars manual labor and it was 35 dollars for the original dealer gasket in San Diego CA. And about 20 dollars for swepping the head (that is to make it evenlly surfaced. I also replaced the radiator with one from an 03 coupe bought at a junkyard for 100 dollars. I replced that myself. And then had a mechanic put a metal type amplifier swicht that would give the option of turning on/off both fans at the same time the motor and air conditioning fans. Because even though I changed the temp. sensor with a brand new one. The motor fan would not go on till the temp when to about 75% up. Which I think is stupid. I monitor the temp once in a while specially during slow traffic or in my case when crossing the border. Then when it goes beyond the half mark I turn the swicth on and in less than 1 minute the temp is back down to normal which is just below half way about 49%. Oh any money I spent in Tijuana will caused you anywhere times 6 to 10 times more in the U.S. I hope ypu are close to a border town to reap the savings. Oh that would be around 1000 to 1200 dollars here I hope you have the money.

P.S. The switch cost about 5 dollars and an electrical mechanic put it on for 20. This was all done in Tijuana Mexico althoug.

Good Luck.