Rep Power: 0

Looks like the Head Gasket needs replacing.
- there are no visible signs of coolant lose.
- I’m adding about 8oz to 10oz every 100-150 miles.
- the overflow is overflowing.
- temperature gauge will climb above halfway.
- I can feel the car misfiring when the temperature gauge climbs.

My questions are;
- what’s book time for the head gasket replacement (water pump & timing belt we’re replaced 8,000 miles ago).
- anything better than OEM / Genuine Honda parts?
- Head Gasket.
- exhaust manifold gasket.
- intake manifold gasket.
- valve cover gasket set.
- v-tec solenoid.

Did I miss anything? It’s a US spec car, but the car isn’t in America, so it takes about 2 weeks for parts to arrive. I plan on buying a reconditioned cylinder head, for about $350 & installing it, as opposed to trying to find a machine shop (language barrier), plus I don’t want the car to be down for 2 plus weeks.

Any other advise to pass on?

Thanks Much!!!

 
Rep Power: 367

no for head gaskets
the felpro blue have mixed reviews

by vtec solenoid, do you mean the gasket?

 
Rep Power: 224

Make sure the head gets checked for warpage, resurfaced if needed. If it is warped and a new head gasket was installed anyways it will cause premature failure.

 
Rep Power: 367

what is an USDM car doing in South Korea?
I am not completely sure, but if the civics there uses the Japanese model with D17A engines, you should be able to get those instead

 
Rep Power: 0

I’m assuming the v-tec solenoid is attached to the cylinder head. I’d rather just put a new solenoid on, as opposed to re-using a 20 year old part with 170,000 miles. If the solenoid broke & I didn’t have one, the car would be down for at least 2 weeks, due to shipping times.

 
Rep Power: 0

I will be installing a reconditioned cylinder head. I don’t want to try & find a machine shop to plain the head. Too much of a hassle to save a few hundred dollars. I’d have to deal with finding a machine shop open, on my days off from work. Or, take time off from work to get it plained / machined. Deal with the language barrier of explaining what I need done. Assuming the head might be junk, now it’s a 2 plus week shipping time to bring the head over.

 
Rep Power: 0

The US government / military will ship house hold goods (HHGs), vehicles for employees / soldiers to their duty station. Sometimes the cars are sold to contractors who are able to have cars here. Then the employee / soldier will buy a new car from Military Auto Sales (MAS). Because this new car isn’t sold in the USA, sales tax isn’t applied, along with other cost savings expenses. Then the US government will ship this new vehicle to their next duty station. If the US spec vehicle does make it back to US soil, then I believe original sales tax might be due.

Used cars in South Korea are crazy cheap here (unless it’s a German car), especially for some reason if the car is older than 10 years, or so it seems. Very few locals seem to want Japanese cars. Finding a Honda / Nissan dealer, you usually need to travel afew hours away. Then there is the import cost of parts that locals need to pay, for the Japanese cars. With the language barrier, I think it would be like pulling teeth, for me to find a D17A engine here.

This is the land of Hyundai, Kia, Genesis & Daewoo (GM). Of those cars mentioned, 90% are either a black, white, or something of a silver/gray.

 
Rep Power: 367

ok, thanks. Yeah, knew the many south korean car makers, did not know it was that hard to find a honda dealer.
vtec solenoid... I have only seen one case of it failing (not gasket or cleaning related, it is veeeery rare