civicfan8

I have never taken my car in for a head gasket replacement. What is a fair price to pay? I have a 96 civic ex 4 dr.

The car is 40000 miles away from a timing belt replacement..should I have this /water pump replaced at the same time since the timing belt and all the other belts/intake will have to be removed anyway for the head gasket replacement? This will save me another big job for timing belt 40000 miles later?

I live in the Bay Area, California...

Thanks for your advice....

civicfan8

westcoaststyle

It's really up to you on the timing belt/water pump/tensioner. You're absolutely right that they have to be removed so... might as well imo.

Why do you need to get the head gasket replaced?

I know the gasket is ~$50, but not sure about labor. Ask hondatech, he's an actual honda/acura technitian.

honura

Yeah the price is pretty much based on where you live/place your and and go to . I would have all the other stuff changed as well .

theguy386

It shouldnt be that hard to do it yourself. Save your extra $$ and try it out.

westcoaststyle

:werd:

I'm a huge advocate of 'DIY'.

incublinkus

yeah, but keep in mind that DIY turn around time is usually a lot longer...

Andy

Depends on who's doing it and how much needs fixed/replaced. If you've overheated and engine and blown the headgasket, it's quite possible the head or the block itself has also warped. They may just needed milled to be made flat, they may even need replaced. Anytime you remove a timing belt, you'd might as well replace it and the water pump as well.

civicfan8

Thanks all...

It all started after i drove the car to the slopes (a 4 hour drive each way) here in the Sierra several months ago on an engine with 224,000 miles) and the car had slightly higher than normal temp. a few days later after I came back from the trip. I found the coolant reservoir was at its max, but the radiator was not, so I added more coolant to the rad when it has cooled off.

I thought all were well until several weeks later, the exact same problem happened and engine slightly overheats, coolant reservoir was full but not the rad, which is surely not sucking any coolant from the reservoir and I looked hard and didn't find any leaks in the cooling system. I added coolant to the rad and it was ok again. So, it seemed to have lost some 1/4-1/2 quart of coolant within several weeks.

I posted a question earlier here in this forum and some of you had suggested checking out the head gasket, which could be damaged but not to the extend that it shows obvious symptoms...and I think this makes sense too...it must have seeped thru a slightly damaged head gasket...do you all think this make sense?

As for DYI for replacing the head gasket....the turnaround time really matters, so I'll just take it to the dealer and have them do it (while I go to work ) and replace the timing belt as well, but I guess I don't know how much $$$ they will charge. The dealership charged $450 parts and labor for replacing the timing belt/tensioner/water pump 2 years ago, was this reasonable?

Thanks for all your advice...

civicfan8

civicfan8

Just called the dealer and they wanted $1300.00 for parts/labor alone for replacing the head gasket, and another $400. if the head needs to be machined....Sounds like time for a new car then....

Wonder how much would a regular shop charge?

SRT_Andy

Dude, you live in the Bay Area and are telling us that you don't know any import nuts that won't do it for $300 if you offered it to them? Of course you'd have to buy the parts and maybe a pizza or two....

Oh, about your "regular shop" question - you get what you pay for. Don't try to be cheap on everything because they headgasket is a VERY important part of the motor (as you now know), so don't screw around and get it done "cheaply".