Hello everyone and thanks for looking at my post.

I've got a '93 Civic with the 1.5L motor. The head gasket went out on it last summer and I took it to a shop to be repaired. Six months later, here I am again. the mechanic who performed the "fix" in the first places insists that it cannot be the head gasket blown again. Although it is ejecting coolant from the reservoir tank and trying to overheat just as it did before. I am somewhat mechanically inclined and I've decided to tackle this job myself. If you want something done right, do it yourself right? Or pay out the nose and I'm broke. My main question is this... I've noticed on Ebay some people sell remanned Cylinder Heads for $300. I am thinking this could be a decent option since I'm going to most certainly need to get the existing head inspected and milled at a machine shop anyway. I'm just looking for opinions on that idea, things to watch out for, don't even think about it... etc. Thanks much!

 

Repeat head gasket failures are not unusual. The block or head could be warped, the new gasket not properly installed (mostly that is due to failure to clean ALL of the old gasket off) or the bolts not properly torqued. Or there could have been overheating for an unrelated reason.

 

x2 repeat headgasket jobs means that the mechanic skipped a few checks. I think OP is taking a risk that it will blow again unless he gets flatness checked out. If coolant was boiling out of the reservoir I'm betting you had hot spots on the block.

 

There are many other reasons coolant will blow from the reservoir.First check for proper operation of the cooling system(thermostat,fan,radiator,pump). If all is ok, do a leak down test.

 

i would remove the thermostat, and see if its still blowing coolant back.

if it is still blowing it back, then get a new headgasket, new studs, and surface the head.

 

Get the radiator full and start the engine cold with the radiator cap off and rev it. If stuff blows out, definitely bad head gasket.

 

If coolant does not flow out under those conditions i would inspect the radiator cap itself check to see if center piece cracked off