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I've been replacing head gaskets and radiators on this 05 Civic for several years now, ever since the first time it overheated due to gasket material from the water pump getting into the coolant and ending up in stuck between the radiator and the rubber cap seal after she let "a shop" do the timing belt / water pump.
The head had always seemed flat enough, I could see light but couldn't get the .002 gauge under the straight edge. Eventually I could see a teeny tiny spot of erosion on the head where the gasket kept failing on the backside of the #2 cylinder. The gaskets used to last about 2 years but the last one lasted only a year, there's no machine shops near us, and the car has near 500k on it so...
8 months ago I put on a reman head + new radiator and for 7 months it was perfect. Now it's overfilling the resevoir again. I really thought I had it this time
I've never pulled the block. There's no visible damage on the tops of the cylinders. I can't even see how it might fail.
FFS Why doesn't someone just invent an automatic cooling system refiller that tops it off everytime the car cools down?
if it overheated several times, the block might be a goner after the initial cases... Before the remanufactured head.
Potentially the first head was a goner.
best bet is a "new" engine, service it before you put it in (gasket, bushings, piston rings, TM/WP, seals, etc.)
I always get the Mahle parts from the local auto parts store.
I'm thinking at this point we've got 3 choices. New car (we can't really afford), long block (that's a lot of money for an 05 with this may miles on it), or tearing the whole thing down, resurfacing the head and decking the block.
The problem with option 3 is She would have to drive the truck to work leaving me no vehicle to haul large auto parts around.
I've always torqued the head per my manual with my Snap-On digital torque wrench. I'm thinking about going to 75nm this time. Has anyone tried this?
Says in the instruction "don't overtighten" It's not worth the risk of stripping a bolt hole. The head and block expand (heat) at operating temp so if even if it a bolt hole didn't strip at 75nm when the engine is cold it may at operating temp?
Did you check the block for flatness?
Also, there is a wear indicator on the cylinder head that should not be milled past that indicator depth.
