problem with 91 civic dx!

[iponnet]

ok I bought this car about 6months ago and now I believe my head gasket has gone bad, there is water in the oil and it over heats very often now. it has about 140k on it so I figure it would be worth trying to fix this problem, but I havent done head gasket replacements before, I am good with mechanics and and work on cars but this will be very new to me. was wondering what should I look for and how should I start about doing this. I read somewhere to look for wraped bolts and heads? what do they mean by wraped? and should I get the head machined or just clean it with low grit sand paper, what about the block part how do I get that machined? and last but not least do I need any special tools I need to purchase? any advice is greatly appreciated. thanks

[doug294]

It's not really that hard. Personally I would take the head and get it machined just to be safe. Should only be 20-30$.

It's kinda a straight forward thing, just unplug and unbolt the obvious things.

[1990civicdxhb]

if you really plan on doing it yourself and its very new to you,
make sure you have a haynes manual beside you at all times,
theres certain ways to take the head bolts off & timing & more stuff & just be careful!

[jeef]

first off, buy a torque wrench before you even think about doing this, and also a helms is essential.

New head bolts are needed as well as a head gasket, and most likey, specially if you shave the head, intake and exhaust manifold gaskets.

You will also want to check the block for warpage, get a straight edge and run it diagonally across as well as parallel with it, if it is uneven at all it needs to be decked also. That is unless you really like changing gaskets.

[doug294]

[quote=jeef]New head bolts are needed as well as a head gasket, and most likey, specially if you shave the head, intake and exhaust manifold gaskets.
QUOTE]

I kinda left that out hoping the obvious would come to him. Now that I think about it it's a good thing you added it. I could see someone doing a replacement the first time and trying to reuse crap.

[iponnet]

thanks alot for all the replies, what brand of head gasket should I use (felpar?) , also if the block is warped how do I get that machined? is it very difficult to take it out the car? thanks in advance

[doug294]

I have a SCE gasket for sale if your interested. I bought it and realized that wasn't my problem.

[iponnet]

ok here is an update I took off valve cover and it is a mess I got chocolate milk everywhere, is there a solution I should use to wash all this stuff off, should I use water! is that gona go well with the valve springs and ruber bushings,,, anyway I have marked all the position of the distributor and the timing belt and taken them off. bought a chilton manual(very helpful) and will take the head off probably tomorrow should I leave all the valves and camshaft intact or shoudl I take those off too before I take it to the machine shop? btw any ballpark estimates for how much a machine job would cost? will keep you guys updated, thanks again

[doug294]

Just leave the cam and valves in. Should only be 20-30$

[vorked1260]

it not to hard to do just follow the book an it will be fine when i did mine i took the raditor out to makeit easier....most book do mention that.....after ur done u may want to do a goood oil change after filling it up run for a while then drain and put new in again...i did this and now she rund perfect...besdies putting new clutch in a week later

[doug294]

Why did you take the radiator out to get to the head?

[V-K]

Originally Posted by doug294

Why did you take the radiator out to get to the head?

I took mine out when I did my head gasket. Made it easier to get at the exhaust manifold bolts with my 18 mile long socket extension since I couldn't find any reasonable sized extension in my garage.

[doug294]

hrmm....I had no probelms with mine with just a wrench, oh well.

[iponnet]

alright I am back, I was unable to do work for like 2weeks cause of namonia(or some bad ass flue) but anyways I got everything out 3days ago, went ahead and got the head resurfaced and got the special head gasket(mulitlayered steel) that is for when you are replacing a burned head gasket, got new head bolts (freaking $8 a peace) have put the head back on adjusted the valves now need to put all the other crap back on there but tell me this, when I took the head out on the bottom part there was alot of gasket residue on the engine block I got some gasket remover and dish scrubbers and a blade and went to work on the sobs, but at the end I could still see them(much less of them) but its surface was smooth and even (measured by the blade!) and then I put the gasket and head on there,,,am I screwed here? how long will I have before I notice if I messed up or not? will the special gasket save me? it was like 4layers of metal,,seriously doubt it would brake...have you guys had any experienced like this? thanks in advance

[civickiller]

did you spray the hg down with copper spray?