Please help a student out! Possible head gasket blown on a 2002 Honda Civic
Asked by Andrew Oct 16, 2017 at 02:23 PM about the 2002 Honda Civic Coupe LX
Question type: Maintenance & Repair
Hello everyone,
As I was driving yesterday for aprox. 30 miles the power to my to my gas pedal
was lost, and I pulled over to the side of the road. When I would turn the key I
would get an ugly sound. Then around 30 minutes later I turned the key on and
it started. I began to drive it for three miles without noticing that the temp was
on H. At that point a white fog started coming from my hood and I then lost
power to the gas pedal and went to the side of the road and opened up the
hood right away to allow cooling.
I brought it into the mechanic for a diagnostic today and he said that I cracked
my radiator and potentially blew my head gasket. The only problem is that in
order to find out if the head gasket is blown he needs to first replace the
radiator (450 dollars). I purchased the car for 1900 last year with 149k miles, so
its not worth it to do the job if the gasket is blown.
So the million dollar question is, do you think the head gasket is blown based
off of the events listed?
Thank you so so much for anyone who has any input for me!
12 Answers
There is a chance that the head gasket is blown or that there is other engine damage. If you can do the work yourself a new radiator should not be much more than a hundred dollars online. Check your engine oil to see if it has coolant in it. If it does the oil may look like brown mud.
I would not spend the $450. There is a very good chance your engine is ruined. Maybe your mechanic can do a compression test which should not cost much if anything.
Thank you very much for your reply and expertise. Unfortunately I cannot do the work myself due to lack of experience. However, the mechanic said that in order to do a compression test he would first need to do replace the radiator. Is this true?
No. He is BSing you. A compression test means you remove the sparkplugs and turn the engine over to measure how much compression is in each cylinder. If one or more is really low you know there is a problem. A pressure test of the cooling system would need a new radiator. Replacing a radiator is a very simple job. Maybe you can buy a used radiator and have a friend or relative help you out.
New radiator for $52 at Amazon ------- https://www.amazon.com/Denso-221-3220- Radiator/dp/B0096BAUCM/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1508179493&sr=8- 3&keywords=2002+honda+civic+radiator
Wow thank you so much for helping me out and saving me the money and time God bless you
Yeah you are getting hosed by that mechanic, get it out of there ASAP! Without a proper diagnosis we can't say it's a blown engine, but you sure have all the signs of one. For a $1900 vehicle with 150K miles on it, I don't think you have anything worth putting more money into.
Yes, I just called the towing company to remove the car from the garage. Thanks again for the help!
enginecreator answered 6 years ago
Yea if you can take a few bolts loose and take a few hose clamps off you can change the radiator yourself. You can also rent a compression tool at auto-parts stores and test yourself, pull each spark plug one at a time thread in the tool and turn it over, look at the gauge, write down the number the gauge is on undo go to the next same thing until all cylinders tested. Even if you went to local auto parts store you can buy a radiator and install it for about $100 or so. You can rent any tool you need and watch youtube for instructions and/or repair books.
enginecreator answered 6 years ago
People with no auto-mechanic knowledge can install a radiator, it is 2-3 stars on a difficulty range chart that goes to 10 stars. Very simple. That shop would likely of wanted $2000 to fix head gasket. Now you will need a shop to fix the gasket if blown, I mean I know people that could do it first time but you need to read up and either way if you get if fixed use a machine shop to get the head ready for you. Have it checked for warp if warped buy a new or if a used head is bought (junk Yard) have checked for warp first then pressure tested and take it back if it fails either pressure test or warp test until one passes good, have it resurfaced, rebuilt, use new top end gasket set, as machine shop will need some of those pieces to finish head. Use new head bolts. test radiator fans, temp sensor, fan relay and replace thermostat, and any hose including heater hoses that are bad, weak, spongy, dry-rotted, too easy to squeeze, have cracks ect.
enginecreator answered 6 years ago
O.k signing off my blue/grey Russian fury green eyed kitty is awake and wants to play fetch. He is highly trained or I am highly trained I think. He is still growing, the Doc said when he got his yearly checkup, man he is a biggin. He is 6months old in that picture.
Wow thank you for your response. I will look at some videos online regarding replacing the radiator. It doesn’t seem to difficult to do based on how you described it!
