easy repairs or not?

[Sean Price]

1990 CRX si (full stats below)

The car as of recently started smoking. I have not been driving it due to this reason. I believe it is one of two things,

1. head gasket
2. valve seals and valves.

if it is that, that needs repairs what am I looking at in terms of price? i.e. how much would it set me back?


What do you all think?

I'm looking to buy this car, here's what I got on it(from the seller of course)
1990 crx si
B16a with less than 55k miles (body has 200k) - J1 tranny - PW0 ECU - Skunk 2 valve springs (9,500 RPM redline) - GSR Cams - Hasport Mounts - Hasport Shift linkage - Cold Air Intake painted flat black - AEM bypass valve - LHT custom 4-2-1 header with 2.5in collector - Custom 2.5in exhaust - Apexi VAFC - New short shifter - Nuespeed front strut bar - OBX rear strut bar - Tokico blue struts - H&R 2in lowering springs - Ingall's camber kit - 00 Civic Si Radiator - Skunk 2 weighted shift knob - Real JDM CTR shift boot with red stitching - leather wrapped steering wheel with red stitching - MOMO Racing Harness - Amber corner lenses - Amber turn signals - 2 new axles with lifetime warranty - new GSR alternator - new timing belt - new pass. side tie rod - new nitto's and 16" Team loco rims - I also have A/C for the car including the bracket to hitch up to the b16, just never got around to putting it all in. The car could use a new sunroof motor, and sunroof panel. There is a small hole in the panel, but it doesn't leak. There are the usual scuffs and dings here and there, but this crx is in exceptional shape. The seats are in excellent condition, they don't even have the famous CRX rips and tears. The car as of recently started smoking. I have not been driving it due to this reason. I believe it is one of two things, 1. head gasket 2. valve seals and valves. I have not fixed it due to the fact that I need money for my move. I am moving mid month (september) and need to sell the car soon. *ALL RESONABLE OFFERS CONSIDERED*

Options Installed
Air Conditioning; Alloy Wheels; AM/FM Radio; Compact Disc Player; Sunroof/Moonroof;

[i_a_n112784]

Ok, white smoke is the head gasket, and you will be loosing coolant. The valve stuff would have blue smoke, and it would be loosing oil. I have always done these myself, so I can't say how much it would be, but the head gasket isn't much in parts, and the valve parts are expensive, and a real pain in the ass to do, and you still have to take off the head for the valves, so it still gets a new head gasket.

[BLU CIVIC]

Yeah And Headgaskets Usually Run $100

[Sean Price]

so basically this car is not worth it? so if I spend $3200 for the car and I'm also looking at another $1000 for repairs alone?


hmm....

[i_a_n112784]

Yeah, or you can use this the amount it will cost to fix to haggle with the guy, if you are interested in the car.

Oh, and dont forget, that it could be bad piston rings causing smoke, which is more money. I doubt you can tell, at least easily tell, where oil is leaking, if that is what it is burning.

[Jay eS Iye]

Originally Posted by BLU CIVIC

Yeah And Headgaskets Usually Run $100

whoa where do you buy your gaskets? i get mine from autozone and the head gasket is only 25 bucks, maybe add the valve cover gasket which is like another 10.

[Sean Price]

Originally Posted by Jay eS Iye

whoa where do you buy your gaskets? i get mine from autozone and the head gasket is only 25 bucks, maybe add the valve cover gasket which is like another 10.

so what I am looking at for repairs on this? Any estimates? as this will help me out in regards to my offer? I still don't know about buying it yet, the kid said that the total cost of repairs is under $400?


any other feed back?

thanks all

one

now I jus gotta cough up another $1000 for shipping it up here....

[amy@af]

i dunno. i once let a shop repair my blown head gasket. it blew again shortly after. sent the gasket off to be inspected (shop blamed a faulty gasket) report came back that they
a) over torqued
b) used a wire brush on my block!!!

head gasket can be an easy or hard thing. it comes down to the person doing the work.

another thing. if it has a blown head gasket...the block and/or head could be warped. it depends on how badly the gasket blew and how much it was driven on.

if it was the head gasket then (as mentioned above) it would be losing coolant. it would also be running hot. the fact that the current owner only says it blows smoke...i would lean more towards rings than head gasket.

either way, i dunno if you want to be getting into all of that.

i supposed you could say screw trying to figure it out and get another b16 block

i dunno...what i would do and what you would do are most likely 2 different things. i understand not everybody has tools, knowledge, or cares to get dirty. paying someone to fix the car vs. fixing it yourself i think makes the difference with the crx....if it's "worth it"

edit: i would also like to add, i'm a firm believer in you should see the car before you buy it. that is a lot of money to drop on a car you have never seen or test drove. there could be hidden issues. we buy and sell a lot of civics'. speaking from experience...there are always hidden issues