Rep Power: 0

My civic is having intermittent hesitation and misfire on all four cylinders for the past couple months. I took the car to the dealer and they performed chemical test and found hydrocarbon which indicates HG damage. How would HG damage cause misfire and hesitation? The dealer is asking for $1500 to fix the problem.

 
Rep Power: 189

because if ur headgasket is blown the engine cant build compression. causing a misfire or very low compression.

if u want it done cheaper take it to a local shop instead. or diy, there is a couple diys for headgasket changes.

 
Rep Power: 188

Yes as mentioned above HG damage can cause misfire issues. The cylinder loses air/fuel mixture before it is ignited due to loss of compression.

Do you have any loss of coolant or overheating?

 
Rep Power: 254

Small amounts of coolants gets into the cyclinder causing the misfire. Thats why in the morning you will have the biggest misfires because the coolant pools itself up in the cylinder. $1500 is high even for a dealer. I paid $1200 for it to get done at at dealer a few years back.

 
Rep Power: 812

when you shut the car off, the gasket shrinks and coolant can collect in one or more cylinders. next time you start the car cold, and there is coolant in there and possibly on the spark plug, it will misfire for a minute until it is burned off and everything expands enough to seal the leak. this is why you also start losing coolant from the overflow tank over time with no visible leak (it is burned in the engine) and why there will always be air bubbles when you try to bleed the cooling system.

 
Rep Power: 0

The car was overheated once about four months ago. It doesn't seem like I am loosing coolant (overflow tank still stay at max) and the temperature looks normal. The strange thing is the misfire/hesitation kind of come and go. It may last for 60 miles and go away and the car will run fine for a while. Then the whole cycle starts again. Do you think it could be some other issues beside damaged HG?

 
Rep Power: 188

Are you throwing any codes?
misfires can be caused by vacum leaks in the intake manifold, or behind the throttle body allowing unmetered air to bypass the air flow sensor. EGR valves can be another cause of misfires..It can be anything related to fuel and spark really...

 
Rep Power: 0

I don't remember the exact codes. I need to look it up when I go back home tonight. But I think they all say misfire on cylinder #1, #2, #3, and #4.

I have two additional questions. The overheat incident happened fairly briefly. It occurred right after I pulled my car to a parking and was about to turn off the engine. I started the car again after 2 hours and everything was back to normal. Do you think the head is still in good shape and not need a replacement?

My car has 105K miles on it. Is it still worth the money to fix the HG and the head (worst case scenario)?

I am trying to make a decision whether to fix it or trade my car.

 
Rep Power: 812

a slow/small head gasket leak can cause misfires. so can bad or wrong brand spark plugs (ngk and denso are best), clogged fuel infectors, and possibly the fuel pump and/or strainer if it is getting old.

 
Rep Power: 188

Misfire on all 4 cylinders is a little less random.. I would check your plugs and wires too and make sure they are all good. Start with the less expensive stuff first and work your way to the head..

 
Rep Power: 0

Hey bud I had the same issue minus the over heating check your spark plugs mines were autolites I switched them to denso problem fixed !!

 
Rep Power: 0

I got all four plugs and coil packs replaced 2 months ago. I used NGK plugs. Would a blown HG affect all cylinders? I mean all four cylinders will get misfired

 
Rep Power: 189

a blown headgasket CAN affect all 4...but i wouldnt think it would be likely they would all missfire out of nowhere. unless this problem started right after it overheated. then you probably blew the gasket...or...dare i say warped the head

hopefully not tho but id check ur egr valve vaccum lines and everything they said ^^ first. but my guess it u f***ed up ur gasket or head when it overheated.

 
Rep Power: 812

when only one cylinder was missing, i got two codes "cylinder 1 misfire" and "random cylinder misfire" even tho i knew it was only one cylinder causing the problem. if you lose more than one, the car will barely even stay running and feel like a big earthquake.

 
Rep Power: 0

The hesitation/misfires happened few weeks after the car was overheated. I know I need to replace the HG. But what is the chance that the head will still be ok given the overheat occurred right after I parked my car?

 
Rep Power: 189

the only way to tell if the head is damaged is to pull it off and inspect it.

 
Rep Power: 367

if it did overheat and you turned the engine off, it will still be hot.
if it did overheat, the last thing you want to do is to not to check head before installing new gasket, you might need to do all the work again. unwise.
if you got hidrocarbon test positive, there is no thinking twice. DO the HG job.
if you have misfire, you will need to come clear on that also before even thinking on trading the car - they will find out in no time.

not even sure why ye so undecided...

 
Rep Power: 812

you need to take the head to a machine shop to have it checked out. only they will know if it can be fixed up and installed, or if you need another head. the block almost never warps.

 
Rep Power: 254

Does the car still currently overheat?

 
Rep Power: 0

No more overheat since that time. Temperature pretty much stay at midpoint during driving.

 
Rep Power: 0

You may find these youtube videos useful

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QA7KV...feature=relmfu

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3suQy44G_B0

The combustion leak tester and fluid rent for free at autozone with a deposit. If the test is positive, then you can be sure that there is a combustion leak inside the engine.

 
Rep Power: 254

I dont believe you have a headgasket problem. What lead you to believe it was the headgasket, the misfire? Is your heat hot? Forgive me I didnt read through the whole thread, however two things you should do is a pull the plugs and a combustion test as mentioned above wouldnt be a bad idea.

 
Rep Power: 0

Dealear found hydrocarbon in the system. I also took the car to my mechanic and he performed a test similar like the vid shown. Test is positive and hg is blown. I will get it replaced next week.

BTW, is Steel Seal real works? It sounds too good to be true.