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Just wanted to start off by saying thanks to those who help make these forums possible. I've enjoyed reading a lot of stuff on here, but am not really mechanically inclined enough to contribute myself.

So, here's the issue. I have been having heater problems in my car for quite some time. Early last winter I checked my coolant levels and my resevoir was low so I filled it up. Heater problems seemed to go away for a while, then suddenly this spring I find my temperature guage all over the map, check my heater and it's not working again.

My coolant levels were fine, so i took it into a shop, expecting to just have to replace the thermostat.

Come to find out I had a leak in my radiator, and had the whole thing replaced with new hoses, thermostat, etc.

I had an issue where I had to take it back in two times after getting it replaced due to a slow leak I was getting from one (or two) of the hoses.

Now, just days after having my radiator replaced, suddenly I have problems with my engine shaking when I first start the car. I'm pretty sure it's due to a cylindar not firing, because my RPM's kinda float all over at idle until the engine levels out and then everything is fine. Usually takes at most 10 seconds to correct itself.

I was thinking that I probably need new sparkplugs as the car is 80k miles and 10 years old and I've yet to replace them, but can't really afford to do this right now and have it not fix the problem. Anyone have any other idea's as to what it might be? Or is this a pretty sound theory?

 
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Do you trust the shop you've been going to? I suspect you never had a radiator problem, or an issue with the hoses. Did you see coolant on the ground? I recently experienced these symptoms ( no problems with the temp gauge though) and I had a blown head gasket. Honda sold the car to me this way and claimed it was fne, had no problems, but I obviously knew otherwise...but they "couldn't replicate the problem."
I suspect that the miss fire we have both experienced is due to coolant being drawn back into the head through the holes in the gasket and then being burned off when you start up the car the next morning. Do you have this problem ever time you restart the motor or only after it has been allowed to cool down? If its only after the motor has cooled a bit, I am confident you gave a leaking head gasket.

 
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Yes, it's only after a cold start.

I should say that I did trust the shop I was going to. But I was pretty peeved and broke after I went in to have my thermostat checked, they did a pressure check in my system and found a "pinhole" leak that the pressure blew out large enough that I had no choice but to get a new radiator. Then after they did all the radiator work, I had to take it back TWICE just to get them to properly fix the hoses from leaking.

I finally dug around the forums on here a bit more and it would seem to be the consensus that I have a leaking head gasket. I also found that it would seem I could change my own spark plugs for much cheaper than I expected, so I'll likely do that anyway since it's due.

Any idea's on how much it may cost me to get the leaking head gasket fixed, or how critical it is to get repaired? As I mentioned in my original post, I'm not really flush with cash right now after buying a new radiator, but at the same time I dont want to turn a $500-$1000 expense into a $4000 expense.

 
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I paid about 1300 for the gasket job and tming belt/ water pump as I was due for the belt and pump anyway. When I checked prices for the gasket alone, I got quotes ranging from 700-900ish. Whoever you choose, see if they combine labor costs on the timeing belt and water pump. You are close enough on miles that if it were my car, I would kill two birds with one stone. Much of the labor overlaps on the two jobs so if they are done seperately, you would be over paying.

 
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I should add that the 1300 price I paid was all inclusive. All belts were replaced, all seals were replaced, as well as coolant and oil. The tensioned is also new. Many times the shop doing the work WONT replace the tensioned unless requested (read: extra costs)...

 
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So here's a potentially interesting question. Is it still a blown head gasket if it's suddenly just stopped doing it?

I was all kinds of nervous to start my car up for work Monday since usually the longer it's set the worse the problem has been and the car sat in the garage all weekend.

Started it up, and no issue at all. Perfect ignition. Problem has yet to repeat itself since.

 
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Some days mine would do that too. It was totally random at first, then just got more frequent.
You may want to have a compression test done to check for leaks in the gasket, but if the car still runs well aside from the start up issue, the leak will likely be too small to detect. Based upon symptoms alone, I concluded that it was the gasket, however Honda couldn't confirm that with a compression test. The mechanic there did think it was the gasket too though he couldn't prove it with the test.

 
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Man, it's a shame you guys don't live near me. It kills me to see you pay that much when I can do it in my driveway for a fraction of the cost. I could use the money and you could use the discount. Try to find the local Honda guys/club and see if you can get one of them to help you.

 
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That's great suggestion. I happened to be in a huge time crunch and didn't have access to a garage at the time or I would have taken it on myself as well. Don't pay Honda unless you have to!

 
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honestly sounds like a head gasket issue to me.

 
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If you suspect the head gasket, check procedure here.
https://www.civicforums.com/forums/3...reference.html