My wife and I live in the mountains in the Sierra and need reliable transportation. Our 05' Civic overheated, head gasket is blown & our mechanic has told us the heads would need to be machined and we need a new radiator. Should we machine them or replace the engine? Our mechanic told us the repairs and labor would be 2,000 and up. This car also has some sort of unrelated short that causes the headlights to be dim. Any guidance on what to do would be greatly appreciated.

 

Replace.. faster and maybe cheaper..

 

Appreciate the reply!

 

It is possible to replace the head gasket yourself. Its arduous, but I did it on my wife's civic. I took the head to a machine shop and had it resurfaced and put everything back together, but it took several days. Moral of the story, I would not pay somebody else $2k to replace a head gasket. Resurfacing the head is about $50 at a machine shop and all the gaskets, belts, and sensors were about $400.
If you are going to spend 2 grand then it better be for a new motor.