Rep Power: 0

I bought my Civic from a used car dealership in July 2010. After purchasing the car, the check engine light came on (about 12 miles after I drove it off the lot). Dealership agreed to check/diagnose light issue. Code came back as "Insufficient EGR flow" so replaced EGR valve. Light came back on, dealership said there was nothing else they could do. In the mean time, car using a quart of oil in 100 miles or less. Took car to trusted mechanic in home town, removed intake manifold, found oil leaking into cooling system. Mechanic said my head gasket had a warped cylinder head; they milled the head and replaced all gaskets and seals. Car operated okay for a time, light came back on. Mechanic (along with a few other car enthusiasts) suggested the car had been raced by a previous owner (underlight accessories visible, hoses that lead no where, etc). suggested that because the car uses so much oil, try to sell it or replace engine. advised that it's okay to drive, but keep checking oil levels frequently.
4 months ago, drove from indiana to arizona for new job. CEL came a couple times on drive out here. checked oil, topped off, light turns itself off after oil replacement.
Current drive to work and back is 10 mile commute - car continuously uses oil on a rapid scale. car recently started overheating. turned on heat to try redirect some of the engine heat away from block (that works sometimes, but usually not). heat inside car not working - blowing cold air. check engine light is on. one day, engine wouldn't turn over, finally did, however stalled several times before staying on. temp gauge on dash at "HOT" level. took car to honda dealer in AZ. they found 2 qts of oil missing, and oil in cooling system - diagnosis: possible bad head gasket/replace engine. they topped off fluids and turned off light. i was made aware of this and decided to "shop around" and get quotes from other body shops.
a few days later, CEL light back on. green light indicating car is in drive blinks after car is on and driven less than a half mile. sometimes hard to start/turnover. if car has been turned on and off in a short period of time or a lot during a day, it overheats.
today (one week after seeing Honda dealer) car overheats to above the letter "H" on temp gauge on dash. drive ~3 miles to make it home (driving with heat on full blast to try to cool engine). i hear a pop/ping noise. look in my side mirrors and see gray/black smoke coming from exhaust pipe/hood is smoking white/gray smoke. car still driving okay (not jerking or stalling) so pulled into apt parking lot, open hood. radiator reservoir cap has blown off and radiator fluid is all over everything under hood and leaking out onto body of car. oil level low and oil still visible in coolant.
Blown head gasket causing cap to pop off and oil leak into cooling system? Try to fix head gasket or just replace engine and call it a day? I haven't had a full month with this car without the check engine light coming on for some reason or another. I am so frustrated and want to cry! PLEASE HELP!
I bought this car because it had low miles and was a honda. my friends have had their hondas for 10 years no problems. i was not expecting this kind of trouble with a civic.

 
Rep Power: 235

Get a new engine. Check local CL for a good engine or check here for nationwide salvage listings: http://www.car-part.com/

Usually there are Honda only guys in your area, they will be the cheapest to swap the engine out unless you do it yourself. Otherwise your looking at $1500-2000 just for labor.

 
Rep Power: 314

Unfortunatly... you have some serious issues here.

Your mechanic should have told you to check your coolant levels along with the oil, that is why your car is overheating. Air is displacing the coolant in your cooling system and causing the car to overheat and your heat not to blow hot air. This would not have saved your engine but it may have lengthened its life a little bit. If your head gasket has already been replaced its probably a warped/cracked head or something wrong with your block. My only suggestion is the same as lazlong. You can find a D17 for 800 dollars which is cheaper than your total repair cost right now. It's unfortunate that you had to go through so much before realizing that you need a replacement engine. If I were you I'd take it back to the dealership where you got it from and get a lil' angry. This isn't the cars fault, its the previous owners.

So your blown head gasket is causing your overflow to fill up and blow the cap off for sure.

 
Rep Power: 188

yeah definitely would replace engine on this one.

 
Rep Power: 0

thank you all so much for the replies! i've found a couple of engines on www.car-part.com in my area. I've requested further information on those. I've found a couple mechanics in my area that would replace the engine and radiator for ~$3000. i'm not too happy about having to spend a bunch of money on a car that i bought less than a year ago. it's very frustrating!

 
Rep Power: 235

^ If they'll do it for that much then it should include the parts (engine, rad, whatever) AND a warranty on the work.

If you can find a Honda club in your area it'll be much cheaper although it probably won't have a warranty. There's some guys here that will swap engines for $300-600 w/same day service. You just have to get the engine.

 
Rep Power: 314

If you lived close to me I'd do it for a case of beer and a helping hand It's not a hard job just somewhat time consuming and you need some tools. 3000 is WAY too much to spend.

 
Rep Power: 235

^ Flags hours on this job are horrendous. That's why they'll usually charge $2000 labor.

 
Rep Power: 314

They overcharge hours on every job they do ... My friend is a mechanic and I've seen him do jobs in 20 minutes they charge 3.5 hours for (A turn signal switch on an S-10)

 
Rep Power: 0

Does anyone know of a mechanic that can change out the engine in the greater Phoenix metro area or in North Scottsdale for a fairly decent price? That's where I'm at and I'm not finding anyone willing to do the swap for anything less than $3000. I've only lived here for 4 months so I have no idea where to do to find reputable people that won't rape my on labor costs...

 
Rep Power: 0

oh and I'm not sure how to go about finding a Honda club in my area Lazlong. I've heard of a place here called Import Powerhouse and they supposedly deal mostly with Hondas and only purchase and/or install Honda factory parts. I'm very apprehensive to use an import place because I bought my car from an import dealer and nothing good has come of it. I just don't know what to do

 
Rep Power: 235

^ No worries. I did a google search and found the Pheonix Honda Underground Car Klub, or P.H.U.C.K. for short. lol.
http://www.angelfire.com/az/civperf/


Also try www.honda-tech.com, you might be able to find a local there.

Another place to go is the local tech school like UTI. They might not do it for you but, if anybody knows where to find a car club it's an automotive student. Just look for the riciest car in the lot. lol.

 
Rep Power: 0

So, I found a local mechanic to do the engine install and radiator install for $2400 (parts, labor, tax, hose, timing belt, etc. replacements). The engine they found is from a local salvage yard with 70,000 miles on it. They warranty the engine for what the salvage yard warrantys it for (6months i think).

I'm looking into a place here called Import Powerhouse. They work primarily on Hondas (so I've heard) and in checking out their website, it looks like they install JDM motors only. I called yesterday and they quoted me $1000 for engine, $650 for install, $150 for radiator, no quote on radiator install. I forgot to ask them what their warranty is for the engine.

I'm trying to decide which place to go with...What would you do?

 
Rep Power: 235

If Powerhouse has a warranty go with them BUT, tell them you've been burned before by shops like this and you want to see the shop before you purchase. Look at how they're dressed, professionalism, attitude (everybody, not just the guy you talk to), organization, and how busy they are. Before you go up there, do your research and find out how long they've been in business (in good standing) and any customer reviews.

 
Rep Power: 0

Iit's been a few weeks and I haven't heard anything from powerhouse (I've called them 4 times and left messages; they won't call me back). I'm not going to pursue them any further.

My car is still running, and since it's my only form of transporation other than taking the bus, I've been driving it short distances to and from work (10 miles one way) usually without any problems - Although I drive with the heat on 24/7 to try and draw heat from the engine should it even think about overheating.

I had to drive it about 30 miles on the highway (stop and go traffic during rush hour) last week. It handled fine on the highway (speed limit 65mph - went no faster than 68mph the entire drive). As soon as I exited and drove through town a bit (getting stopped at a stop light or two) the temperature gauge shot up to close to "HOT" almost immediately. I've noticed this happening after driving on the freeway for a bit and exiting. Idleing and in park, the car seems to heat up quicker. Anyway, after I reached my destination last week (only .3 mi from the interstate exit), I shut the car off and let it sit for about 3 hours. With the engine cooled off, I checked the oil (level ok - no sign of oil loss) and the coolant (very little in the radiator/reservoir). I checked under the car and there was a puddle of what I assume was coolant. I couldn't tell the color of the liquid so I don't know for sure. A friend saw me working on my car and came over. He said it might be a bad temperature gauge? With all the oil/engine/radiator problems I've had with this car, I don't think that's the case.

With the coolant filled, I started the car. It had a VERY rocky start. I had to gun the gas while in neutral a bit before it "caught" and ran okay. It was a little rocky when I put it into gear too. I had my radiator flushed a couple weeks ago and this happened when I started the car that day.

I drove to the freeway, only going about 30mph and the on ramp had a speed limit of 25mph because of a sharp turn. I had to slow down on this turn and upon doing so, the temperature gauge on the dash started to creep up to "H." I blasted the heat, the gauge went down a bit. As soon as I entered the freeway and reached a cruising speed (set cruise control to 68mph), the gauge returned to normal. Upon exiting to go home, I drove 45-50pmh without and overheating issues.

So the issue seems to be that I'm loosing coolant quite a bit. I assume this is due to my car wanting to overheat constantly which is due to a bad engine? I have an appointment with a mechanic recommended by a friend (he works on cars as a hobby but is a service manager at the Bobcat service center). He said he works on 7-8 vehicles a day at work and looks at cars at home in the evenings on the side. I'm going to see if he recommends anything to prolong the engine life until I can save up some money to get it replaced.

This has been an absolute nightmare! I just wanted to keep everyone posted and thank you all for your help!

 
Rep Power: 314

Whats probably happening is you have a warped head which is leaking coolant by the gasket. The coolant on the ground is hopefully from the overflow spewing coolant out (if not you may have more serious issues) This is made worse at higher RPMS while your driving on the highway, which explains why you heat up after the highway drive. The engine takes on a lot more air while on the highway hence keeping it cooler.

Your temperature sensor is okay... I can almost guarantee it. Take it to get checked again but your probably best off to get a replacement engine