Gents,

I'm looking at replacing the head gasket on my '99 Honda Civic. I've never done it before, but I have the Haynes manual. It seems straight forward, just very time consuming. I'm looking for tips and pitfalls from anyone who has done this before.

Any advice for someone who has never cracked open an engine?

 

Don't attempt it alone, there are so many little things to keep track of, and you will need special tools. My advice is to have two tables set up, one for the parts you remove, the other for tools. Make sure to keep track of all your hardware. And when you remove the crank shaft pulley don't forget about the little key that comes out of there too. DO NOT LOSE THIS KEY OR FORGET TO REINSTALL IT.

Timing an engine can be very difficult too if you've never done it, I would recommend finding a friend or relative with experience dismantling an engine.

 

While I haven't used a Haye's manual for years, I often found them lacking. Find an online honest-to-goodness Honda manual or buy one. Compare the two for the entire story.

My advice would be to label, label, and then label some more. Take a bunch of pictures before you start dis-assembly. The theme here is to leave yourself breadcrumbs in the woods in case at any point you want to back out. You can then get your car to a running condition again and get to a mechanic if you should find yourself over your head. Also, if you go all the way, which I think you will find you can do, you will be able to get every connector, every vacuum hose, and every hardware stack-up returned to originally designed status. It really is important.

Pay particular attention to the both the tightening and the loosening sequences on the critical parts. Irreparable binding/warping/damage can occur if not followed closely. It isn't rocket science to be sure, however, attention to detail is critical. Another poster suggested tables, which is a good idea. Label cardboard pieces and then stick your hardware in it.

Take your head to a machine shop to have it checked for flatness, or find a Starrett or some other suitable 18" or so extremely flat plane to be used to check your head and block when the two are separated. Placing a headgasket on a warped piece of metal will not work. Don't let the machine shop just start milling away without a good check though, they do that routinely, as this is where they make their best money, and it is often not warranted. Have the head pressure checked to ensure no internal cracking on a water jacket. When checking the level, find a good clearance gauge, you will need one anyway to set the valve clearances after getting the head back from the shop, and make sure that in no direction does a .002" gauge fit beneath your level piece of metal and the deck being checked.

Having someone else there to watch your back is a great idea as well, as posted previously, sometimes it is good to have a sanity check to make sure that nothing has been forgotten.

The hardest part on my 1994 was the bleeping power steering bracket. Sheesh, it must have been an afterthought.

Good luck,

Ed Fisher
Dallas, Tx

 

Another piece of advice is to stuff rags into the oil drain holes at the corners of the head, immediately after you take the valve cover off. Anything dropped down those holes will end up in the oil pan and require removing the pan to retrieve.

When you get the head off, carefully clean the gasket surface of the head and block down to bare metal everywhere. Any traces of the old gasket interfere with the sealing of the new one.

You should not need to remove the crank pulley unless you're going to change the timing belt at the same time.

 

Good ones MK. I had forgotten to mention that one of the things I found most helpful was that I have an honest-to-goodness gasket scraping tool. It looks like a screwdriver with a really wide blade that is beveled on one side. It is wide enough to help a careful person span the width of the surface reducing the chance of gouging. They are not expensive and I have found mine invaluable over the years on many projects. I also used some cheap lacquer thinner that I keep around (you can get it at a body shop supply store) for cleaning and such. The application of this solvent onto the gasket residue assisted greatly in softening the material for scraping. All this said though, I think your headgasket is the sandwiched metal type so it may not be as hard as the junk composite type that came off of my car. (See my posts about the TSB).

 

Awesome advice guys! Thanks for all the tips. I noticed there were a few tools mentioned that I should definately have. If I were doing this in my garage, what is a comprehensive list of tools you think I should get before I start the job?

 

Good metric 6 point socket set (12-point sockets were invented by the devil), good metric wrench set, and a quality torque wrench. Also a good set of screwdrivers with sharp bits. Note the theme? Good, quality, don't cheap out on the tools, they can last you a lifetime and pay for themselves many times over. Also, don't be pulling and wrenching around to get the hoses off, especially from the plastic upper radiator nipple. Loosen the clamps, and twist the hoses with your hands or sometimes gently with a pair of hose pliers until you break the seal. Don't yank! After that they come off rather easily. Oh, you will also need a timing light most likely. If you mark where the distributor is currently you can get by upon re-assembly, but it will ultimately need a light to dial it in. Heed what MK said as well, no need to remove crank pulley. Loosen cam pulley, after getting everything at top dead center, and wiggle it off. It is tight but it will slide off. When re-installing, leave the timing belt as close to its natural plane as possible and bring the cam gear to it. Wiggle and jiggle, it will go on.

Ed Fisher
Dallas, Tx

Ed Fisher
Dallas, Tx

 

...Follow-up... My wife was driving this car before it crapped out. Since I was not there, all I know is her description of what happened: she noticed "eventually" that the engine temperature was "really hot...past the redline" for "some long period of time [she] thinks" before the car "quit."

When I started pulling out the spark plugs today, I noticed that the distributor boots are actually melted to the inside of the spark plug chamber and attached to the spark plug as well.

Any thoughts on how to get the rest of this plastic off without it falling into the inside of the engine when I remove the spark plugs?

 

After spending a day dealing with the distributor line boot problems, I was able to get the spark plugs out and have the following data from the compression test (engine was definately cold by this time):

Dry:

1: 90 PSI (slow build)
2: 100 PSI (fast build)
3: 100 PSI (fast build)
4: 80 PSI (slow build)

Wet:

1: 110 PSI
2: 160 PSI
3: 145 PSI
4: 120 PSI

I'm thinking worn piston rings all around and probably a blown head gasket as well. Thoughts? Any advice before I tear this engine open?

 

Driving until it "quits" due to overheating almost always means the whole engine is toast.