Rep Power: 0

Sorry if this has been posted before, ive been looking aroud and cant find anything relating to it.. but anyways-
I have a 03 ex 145k. Head gasket recently **** the bed, was going for a while but now I can't drive more then 20 miles without the car loosing tons of coolant and overheating.
I brought it to the shop to get diagnosed and estimated yesterday, got a price of 1,500-1,900$ but that's with the new WP, Belts, Head being machined, and other miscellaneous items. Is this worth the price? Or would I be better of buying a used engine and swapping it out? Any opinion is appreciated, seeing I use my car to travel for work daily.. thanks!>_<

 
Rep Power: 209

i would fix the one you have, as long as your mechanic is capable of doing so, you know how it has been treated, a used engine you do not,

if you replace the engine you should be replacing the timing belt, tensioner, water pump, etc etc on the new engine anyway,

whatever you decide make sure you get a good warranty with it

 
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i have a 2004 civic with 222,000 when it had a bad head gasket. i got it fixed for $1,600 out the door. i now i have 225,000 and no overheatting issues and no loss of coolant. the guy told me if the engine was maintained well, he would keep my engine and just repair it. if you buy another engine, it can have the same problem. replacing the engine cost a lot more and other things can go wrong. i got my car back in 1.5 days. for me, its worth 1600 rather than get a new car.

 
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I just finished this job on an 04 SI 1.7 VETC with ~ 260K's

Its a big job but not that bad if you are handy and can follow some of the really good DIY's and a manual.

I had the head decked/Trued at the machine shop, new belts, top end gasket kit, a sore back and some bleeding knuckles and the job was completed. I asked if they needed to check the valves or do the guide seals and they mentioned that they rarely ever need to be done unless the engine has been severely overheated and at that point there would be bottom end/cylinder damage.

Sometimes its best to work with what you have vs getting some unknown.

 
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Thanks for the feedback. Just to update, I just got my car back from the shop,

 
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Thanks for the feedback.
I just picked up my car from the shop, I got the head fixed. Lucky I received a awesome price from a family friend, I only ended up getting charged $1k overall. $380 for the labor itself. The car feels great now though! Well worth the money :]