Rep Power: 0

Hello,

I have just inherited a 1997 2 door Civic which has been overheating and have been told by a mechanic that it has a blown gasket and warped cylinder head. The cost to repair at the shop was more that the vehicle is worth so I've brought it home in hopes of fixing it myself.

Could anyone point me toward next steps in diagnosing the overheating and repairing the head please. I have basic/limited mechanical experience but nothing to lose and looking forward to the challenge.

Thanks in advance!

 
Rep Power: 285

You won't be able to repair a warped cylinder head yourself, that would require a mill I believe. If you plan on attempting the repair yourself, you'll either need to replace the head or take the head to a shop. I'd suggest you pick up a Haynes manual, they're around $20 and it will have all the DIY instructions you need.

 
Rep Power: 313

Haynes manual is good. But if you can download a honda shop manual that's even better. Depending on how bad the head is warped you might not even be able to fix it. Once the head is off, definitely have it machined by a shop, they will charge you 300 dollars (here in Canada). That's if there is nothing wrong with it internally, and also if they can fix the warping.

 
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Thanks, where can I find the shop manual and or a parts diagram or catalog?

It could just be a gasket right? Couldn't I just pull the head inspect it and lay it on a flat surface to determine if it's warped? I don't think it's been removed yet so the mechanic's diagnosis is more of a guess than fact. If it lays flat I could just clean up and replace the gasket then on to trying to figure out the overheating problem.

Sound like a plan or is this too simple an approach?

 
Rep Power: 812

best bet is take it to a machine shop like carquest and have them do all the checks. shouldnt cost more than $100. there is a very good chance they will need to mill it flat and also do compression checks and prep/clean it up. its a serious waste of time to reinstall the head without knowing if it even works or not.

 
Rep Power: 285

The engines are cheap for your car, personally I would just swap in a replacement.

 
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How cheap is cheap? and how would I go about finding one in the Dallas area? Anyone know any reputable sources?

 
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You can take a level to the head, but its not gonna tell you unless its ridiculously warped, take it to a shop, if they want more than $100 to mill it, get a junkyard head, theyre cheap as hell. The haynes manual will tell you exactly how to do the head gasket. You should do the timing belt and tensioner and water pump while youve got it all apart, just in case the pump was the problem in the first place.

 
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as an added fyi, the factory head is not perfectly milled. not sure why or what happened, but the way its cast makes it really easy to pop gaskets. i was shocked how flat it was after the shop got done with it on the bottom, and they were shocked how the head even stayed together with such an uneven bottom from the factory (no overheating). might explain why there are so many headgasket threads on here. my dc header has the same problem and one of these days i need to take it off and have it milled down as well. it hardly even seals and there are visible gaps between header and head even with the gasket.

 
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Thanks guys, the new engine is tempting but hoping to do this on the cheap and that's probably a bit too large a project for this noob. I got the haynes manual today at lunch and will see if I can get the head off and to a shop, let you know how it turns out.

 
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This makes me question the flatness of the block.

 
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This shop manual has a lot of good info on rebiulding engines. Its for the k20 engine but maybe you can find some good info in it:

http://powweb.hondahookup.com/manual..._RSX_02-06.pdf

We used it to rebuild my bros Si

 
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block wasnt bad i think, i need to hunt for that old pic when my head was off. the head tho was visibly not smooth. yeah found it. block was smooth. thats how the head looked AFTER the machine shop got done milling and cleaned it up. wow this is old, blue honda coolant wasnt even invented yet!

 
Rep Power: 313

When I removed my head it was flat as could be... but I never really took THAT good of a look at it.. My failed from unnoticed overheating

 
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the honda gauge doesnt make it easy. there should be a light that comes on when it goes to 1/2 or above.

 
Rep Power: 285

I can get a 1997 civic engine for $200 at a junk yard near me.

Since you are a noob, with with limited tools I assume, engine swap might not be right for you.

 
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I always found it funny that the car beeps at you when you leave the lights on but when your overheating it doesn't do anything at all except for that stupid little gauge !!!

 
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OK I've got the long weekend and was planning to do the head gasket (per the mechanic who told me it was bad) so I topped it off with oil, it was a quart low and went down to the car wash to clean up the engine to prepare for surgery. Afterwards I drove it around about an hour to to dry it off and could not get it to overheat, left it in the driveway running about 20 minutes (the passenger side cooling fan comes on periodically but not the drivers side fan) and the car never overheated!

So, I'm thinking to myself, before I tear into this engine to fix the head gasket I'd better make dmn sure that's what's wrong (if anything). I see no leaking around the head, no white smoke, no overheating.

Is is possible that a quart low on oil could cause overheating and that the mechanic who diagnosed the car ($50 bucks) was either wrong or just looking for a $2,000 payout?

Questions, How can I know I've got a bad head gasket? and When should the drivers side cooling fan come on?

Thanks in advance!

 
Rep Power: 812

cooling fan should be forced on with the a/c button. otherwise it comes on only in very hot weather 80F+ when the car is sitting at idle. a bad cooling fan will not cause overheating normally. make sure to do the obvious first before the head gasket. thermostat and bad radiator cap can both cause overheating/headgasket like symptoms. make sure coolant is full and does not have air bubbles. check the spark plugs for white deposits which would indicate coolant seeping into the cylinders. do a coolant hydrocarbon test to see if there is exhaust gas in it (test kits are at auto store). if you are burning coolant (not leaking from the car), its most likely headgasket.

 
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I have a 98 civic dx with 320,000 kilometres, thats about 200,000 miles. My engine was getting a little warm a couple of years ago. I checked the rad and found the cooling fins badly corroded. I replaced the rad and coolant and it has ran great every since, a got a brand new rad for $80.00. As a word of advice don't rely on anyone's diagnosis of your car start from scratch and find the problem yourself. That will save you a lot of money and start with the simplest solutions first. Good luck maybe you got a good car cheap, a mechanic told me my car wasn't worth getting the A/C fixed and that was 70,000 trouble free miles ago.

 
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03 Civic lx having the same problems I just yesterday replaced my catalytic conv. Which was going to me the last of my problems for an over heating car. First thermostat then radiator then water pump & valve cover gasket & still overheating . I ran codes & got 420(cat conv) like 3 times so I was hoping that just all the pressure built up from that bad cat was my problem however no! I do not know!!! I'm now hearing it could be a warped head but very minor tho cos my car will idle for a whole hour.. fans on fans off & not overheat however I drive it and the over heating wants to start . I have no visible leaks either and this has been a headache for forever now it feels like but only over the last two years... although the car was sitting due to it not starting after it over heated on me while trying to make it home & I finally pulled over To Let it cool down & it would not start afterwards .. put a new water pump in it & new timing & still no start so I had it towed home & November to march it was sitting . But I put a new battery & it started in march . What the crap. That's crazy . any suggestions before I just waste my money on a new motor

 
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you posted in the wrong section which may be why you didnt see this:

https://www.civicforums.com/forums/3...reference.html

You probably have a blown head gasket, go give that thread a read