Hi.
I took my 98 Civic ex to a mechanic recently, they told me I have a bad cylinder head/camshaft. Is it possible I could have a bad block too? Is there a way I can check and make sure, before I go and buy a new head or a new/used engine?

 

Did they say what exactly was wrong with the cylinder head and camshaft?
Did they tell you how these parts broke? (i.e. overheating, lack of oil, etc. )

 

Give some background.

Is there a reason you don't trust the mechanic's diagnosis?

Are you able and willing to diagnostic tests yourself?

 

The shop didnt tell me what was wrong with the head/cam. I bought the car from a junk yard. They told me it was running when it got there. But I don't believe that. I took it to a shop nearby to get a timing belt done, but the told me they couldn't do it because of the bad head.
I don't know what happened to the engine prior to when I bought it.

 

So what do you need?

 

Remove the valve cover. Remove a couple cam caps. Take pictures of the cam from different angles. The more (within reason) the better.

As for knowing if the block is any good, drop the oil pan. Are there metal flakes anywhere? Remove the center main cap, and take pictures of the cap bearing, and the crank journal.

 

I suspect it has a broken timing belt w/bent valves.... just a theory. We won't know for sure because the OP doesn't seem to know much about the car. Guess we'll just have to wait to read an official report of some sort from the mechanic.

Did the mechanic give you a detailed description of what's wrong or did he just say the head was toast?