Problem: Blown Headgasket

Well, it finally happened, I ragged this motor out until I blew a headgasket. Well I'm not exactly sure, a friend seen white smoke coming out my exhaust and asked me does it still have the same power. I said no and that it would bog out sometimes in the morning and it never used to do that. After the bogging out this big ass cloud of smoke would come out and then for the rest of the day I would see smoke here and there. It was fun while it lasted. I know it's not a total lost if I did blow it, so I am going to replace the headgasket, well a friend and myself. My question is, what steps would I need to take to change out the head gasket and all the shop workers, how much am I looking at on just parts?

This is an idea of what I have to do:

Remove the head in it's entirety including timing belt, valve cover, head assortment, and the distributor. I'm not exactly sure but I have a few books that talks about these things. (haynes and some other book similar to it)

Another question is, is there anything I should remember or to lookout for while doing this so I don't totally fuk up the engine when I crank it over? Any hints or pointers would be appriecated. Thanks

FnkDrSpok

Well open your radiator and see if it's brown instead of green and the same for the oil, see if it's mixed with the anitifreeze. If so than your headgasket is gone. If you drove it around for a while than there is a chance that you cracked the head. When you pull the head off you need to undo the head bolts in a certain manner to no worp the head, also you must retighten them in a certian order. You should have the head taken to a machine shop and have the head shaved.

1st make sure its the head gasket, theres no reason to do all that labor for nothing. Then get a repair manual from www.helminc.com & that will walk you through the process with proper torque specs. or get the same thing online : http://www.binghamtonlife.com/manual/2gsm/default.htm
Make sure you have the proper tools before starting

Get all your parts from Honda, tell them you are doing a head gasket & they will give all parts needed. While your head is off have it inspected or you could check yourself with a true bar - anything more than .002" clearance is no good.

There is no need to remove the intake manifold completely, remove all bolts from head & bracket from underside, then just lay the intake manifold back. It might be a good time for a timing belt, water pump, drive belts, & valve adjustment. Since your already gonna be in there.

Dont forget or dont loose the oil jet between the head & block

Thanks for the help, but I just took it to pro's. Turns out that since I had been driving it for a few days while in this condition they stated that i might of warped the head. And of course I don't have the capabilities to do that in my little garage. So I just took it to the shop where I know they would get the work done right. Thanks again.

FnkDrSpok

Thanks for the help, but I just took it to pro's. Turns out that since I had been driving it for a few days while in this condition they stated that i might of warped the head. And of course I don't have the capabilities to do that in my little garage. So I just took it to the shop where I know they would get the work done right. Thanks again.

FnkDrSpok


How much are u paying???

I paid for a compression test and leak down test (60) which was waived if I got the work done there. Headgasket cost 55, and labor was 150. They had to re fill the radiator fluid and oil and re surface the head. So it all came up to 230 total. I heard worst but this was from a performance shop so I guess he doesn't have hourly rates like most shops. He's kinda a friend of mine so I guess he gave me some slack.

FnkDrSpok

hell yea, they want $400 minmun to fix my headgastket.

damn....that's expensive...for that price i would get a new dx engine from the junk yard...lol....a little exageterive but that's expensive for a head gasket job......keep looking

FnkDrSpok

hell yea, they want $400 minmun to fix my headgastket.


that's a good deal!!!!!!!!!!!!Because they're going to charge me 973 dollars to fix my blown headgasket.