Head Gasket…Temperature soaring…

Hi There,

I have a 1993 Honda Civic DX. Of late when I start the car the whole
body bumps and the engine temperature soars as indicated by the
temperature gauge. On the first occasion it gave thick white smoke
from the exhaust and the hood. There is a characteristic burning smell
too.

I bought the car 6 months ago when it had 93K miles on it. I had
replaced the timing belts then and as of this day it has 97K miles on
it.

The first time around my mechanic gave me the car back after keeping
it for 2 weeks and said that there is nothing wrong with the car.

The problem recurred.

This time around the mechanic says that the head gasket is
gone/blown/broken. He says it would cost a minimum of $500 to a
maximum of $1500.

Are the symptoms really indicative of a head gasket problem?. Would it
cost so much to fix it?.

Being a graduate student I really cannot afford to fix it spending so
much money and then later realize that the problem was something else.

The mechanic also says that when the head gasket is fixed one has to
replace the timing belts too. Is this necessary considering that I
just recently changed the belts.

Need advice. Thank you.

Pravin Nair.

 

Yeah, those are systems of a blown head gasket. it's an expensive repair,
the whole top of the engine has to be removed.
They don't have to replace the timing belt, but they will have to remove the
belt to get access to the head gasket. If the belt is really new, then they
can put the same belt back on AFAIK.
Don't keep driving the car unless you want it to completely die on you.

--Peter

 

It is a cool DIY if you know what you are doing.
Yes, you have to replace blown head gasket.
No, you don't need a new timing belt this time.
Plus, you most likely need to resurface cylinder head (head gasket surface).
After such temperature fluctuations + age of this vehicle = it is due for
the resurfacing. Under $100 at NAPA.
Something around $1000 for the whole job sounds definitely correct.
Again, you CAN do it yourself.

eraser

 

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Pravin,

You need to tell the group a WHOLE LOT MORE about what you've found,
like: Is there foam in the oil (on the dipstick after running), is the
plastic antifreeze reservoir always empty, even after you've filled it,
are you getting any 'check engine' lights (you are sure they work,
right?) Do the electric cooling fan(s) at the radiator run sometimes, or
only when air conditioning runs? Was the reservoir level checked when
you took the first oil change? (please tell us you've changed the oil
since you got it) That kind of stuff.....

P.S. Timing belt (read your owner's manual) is on the same end of the
engine as the belts you've changed, but INSIDE a cover, and must be
changed according to the schedule in the owner's manual. If it breaks,
your engine will be damaged very badly.

'Curly'

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