Guys I have a 1998 Honda civic ex with 163,000 miles on it. The car over heated on me one day I had to get a new thermostat and radiator. After the repair the mechanic ran did a test and noticed that bubbles were coming up in the coolant. He told me that this is a sign of a head gasket problem. Well I decided to Continue driving the car until the problem got worse. Well this week it got worse the car is noticeably loosing coolant I have to top it off more nearly every couple of days. The problem occurred on the way to work earlier this week I noticed the car was running hot as I turned into the parking lot. So I come out at lunch and popped the hood its barley any coolant in the radiator now this radiator was completely full 2 weeks ago. I’ve also been monitoring it more over the past few days and its loosing coolant a lot. I’ve spoke to a few techs about this and they all say replace the engine head work is expensive they quoted me 1300 I know I can get a used engine from Japan for around 750.00 shipped of course I will still have to pay someone to put it in. So guys what are the best places to order used engines from someone that will give you a decent warranty. I want to keep this car at least until I finish school which will be 2 years from now. Also what all is involved in a engine change out I know they will have to do a timing belt and water pump on it also and how much should I be paying for this type of work. Any help with this problem would be much appreciated

 

You could just swap the headgasket yourself. It requires a bit of know-how, and the proper tools, but isn't TOO hard. How confident are you about working on your car? It'd be nice to save yourself the cash.

And, 1300 fora head swap is reeedonkulous!

 

I into computers I don't know to much about working on cars. I called another shop in the area all they do is Honda and Acura the rep stated they basically send your head to a machine shop for rebuilding they than replace all seals she quoted me at 1100. I've just heard some mechanics say they don't do a head job on a car as old as mine with 163000 miles because of some pressure issuses that it may cause. One guy said the top end of the engine would be new while the botton half would be old and that it could cause problems with smoking and cause the car to burn oil. He kept talking about oil and piston rings.

 

If its just a head gasket problem then it should be easy for someone that is into computers. Just read up on how to do it for a few days and once you are confident you can do it, unbolt that bitch! Unless you want a sweet JDM swap...

 

isn't yours still for sale??

 

When you are loosing coolant, are you seeing where it goes? Is your oil level getting higher? Did the tech that said your head gasket may be going out check your coolant for any emissions? The reason I am asking is becuase if you are getting allot of coolant in the oil, you might end up having to replace the whole motor. Also, there are other places that coolant may end up if you do not see it leaking externally like the transmission or heater core area. Most likely it isa head gasket becuase hondas usually do not have heater core problems, but the fact that this is all happening after you had a radiator replaced makes me skeptical that somehow coolant and transmission cooler lines got involved with each other. Not likely but possible. This of course is only possible if you have an automatic transmission.

I would have a shop diagnose the head gasket first or see if they say if there is motor damage or whatever. Maybee bring it back to the shop that did your radiator and see if they can check to see if there is any emissions coming out of your coolant, that is a dead give away that your head gasket is bad. There are DIY tools for this but I am not familuar what brands they are and where to get them becuase I have allways used a gas emissions analyzer at my shop.

If it is a head gasket you can do it yourself. The good thing about it is you do not have to do much under the car. And if you need any help with anything thereare allot of people on here that can help. And a haynes manual will help too. There are allot of recorces. You should bring it to a machine shop to have the head resurfaced and pressure checked though. And if they recomend to go through the head and put new seals or grind valves or anything it may not be a bad idea since you have it off.

 

Ok I will get some more testing done but I’m still unclear to why a lot of shops say to replace the motor. They keep talking about a new top half of the motor while the bottom half is old and all of these pressure problems and the possibility of the car burning more oil and smoking. Basically I guess I’m trying to ask how do you know when the car needs a new motor instead of simply reworking the head?

 

yes and no, theres a guy who has supposedly sent me money for it, I'm just waiting to recieve it.

 

look for a local tuner or imports shop and see if they have any old engines laying around that were swaped and see how much to swap that engine into your car