I just wanted to share with everyone my experience so that you can know what to look for. I have a 2002 Honda Civic LX 5 speed. A couple of months ago we noticed we were losing some coolant, just a little leak from the overflow perhaps, no biggie. Then we noticed that one time when we started the car there was no heat, the car had already been driven in the last 20 mins so it was warmed up. It blew just luke warm heat. When my husband gave it some gas and held it around 2 grand, it started to blow hot again. We figured we were just low on coolant. No problems from then on for a month. About a month after that we were at a restaurant and heard the car hissing when we got out. It was hissing out of the overflow, and leaking minor amounts of coolant. We just thought either we had over filled or again we had a minor overflow leak. Then about a month later with no problems in the mean time, we were idling at the bank, all of a sudden the gauge shot all the way up, so we pulled out and it went back down, but we knew something was definitely wrong. We checked everything and it was a little low on coolant so we added some. My husband drove it about 6 more miles and the overflow cap shot off. Throwing fluid everywhere. Found the cap and drove it home. He decided it was the thermostat so bought a new thermostat and put it on, bled the system of air and then drove it down the road. The car had minimal power, it was lagging and surging. Again the overflow cap shot off spraying fluid everywhere. We again filled it now knowing it wasnt the thermostat. At this time we had read some forums so we started looking for a more serious problem. Sure enough we had vapor in the exhaust, a good amount. No smell but vapor and condensation. So we assumed intake manifold gasket. The coolant just kept burping, a constant flow of air so we knew that air was getting into the system. Which is where we stopped and let a shop take over. The shop immediately said Head Gasket and it was. We went ahead and replaced all of the gaskets while we were in there. The head was also warped and had to be milled. Tested no cracks. In the process it had also fouled the brand new plugs we put in, so plugs had to be replaced (this was the lagging and surging effect mentioned earlier) All in all it cost $600 and 3 days. Not a bad deal at all! Gasket set was $150 milling and testing $75 I dont think I should be replacing a head gasket at 140k miles. on a civic but I guess it happens. Hope this helps someone else.

 

This may actually end up being quite helpful to me. We've had nearly identical issues and (like idiots) took our 02 Civic to a Honda dealership because it was nearby and oh-so-professional-looking. They're telling us up to $4000 worth of work for non-descript head gasket issues. Time to go back to asking around to find a good local shop.

 

To the OP, thanks for sharing your story. $600 doesnt sound bad at all for that.

$4000 seems like a lot, but it does cost a lot more if there are cracks I believe. I was under the impression head gasket cracks were the beginning of a car being picked apart in a junkyard. I wish you best, maybe if you two live nearby you can go to the same garage.