Hi. I read a lot of the threads on here but this is my first time posting so I hope I can get some insight as to what is wrong with my car. I have a 2005 honda civic LX coupe, 181,000 miles. 3 weeks ago, I paid $1200 for a head gasket, spark plugs.. drove it from Tennessee to Louisiana and had no trouble with it the whole time. I left to go back to Tennessee a couple days ago and only made it to Hattiesburg, Ms. I was in a drive thru line for about 20 minutes (watching the temp guage because it's a habit from the last gasket issue).. in a matter of 2 seconds, the temp was all the way up to the hot part and it began smoking. I just left Firestone, it failed a block test. I can't get a hold of the mechanic that replaced the head in Tennessee until Monday. Does this mean I have another blown head gasket or the mechanic didn't replace it correctly? Also, I never use the defroster but realized I had it on the whole time from La to where I am now. It was freezing. I have driven this car for 10 years in La so I never use the heater/defroster. Not sure if that makes a difference but it is something I did different. I love this car so much and have done everything to keep it properly maintained since I bought it so it was a dissapointment when the head blew in the first place. I decided it was worth putting the money into fix it since it has never given me any issues over the years. Before the head gasket was diagnosed, I replaced thermostat, checked fans, fuses, replaced radiator cap, etc. Thanks for reading.

Kat

 

If the head wasn't checked for flatness, putting a new headgasket on wouldn't seal properly. So, unless they pulled the head and checked it for flatness... you may have another blown headgasket.

 

a block test is different from a compression test, if it fails a block test that just means it has a leak when you test the cooling system that is coming from the block, you would need a compression test to see if the head is sealing but it's possible the head gasket is leaking so that coolant is either going into the crankcase or externally to the outside

are you losing coolant ? when the car warms up is the lower radiator hose getting warm ? are both fans running when it's overheating ?