Two weeks ago my car ran hot, CEL came on and radiator started smoking. Pulled over filled with water and made it home. Step dad put that radiator repair kit on and we thought everything was fine. My mom drove my car about twenty miles to my sister house and it ran hot again. We waited several hours filled it with water and drove home. Of course it ran hot again but we had to make it home so I was almost there and I hit the gas and a sound came out like a piece of sheet metal was scraping the ground. We got it home and five days later my uncle replaced the radiator. The car worked great for a day but then it started to turn over slowly. The next morning it wouldn't turn over at all. Sounds like its trying to but cant. My uncle pulled up the spark plugs and all but one had oil and water on them. He said I had a blown head gasket and soon I'd need a water pump and timing belt. I'm close to shedding tears and I have no idea how much this is gonna set me back with school starting next week. Does anyone have any idea if these are my only problems, can I handle the problems one at a time, and how much the average price is for each one?

 

How much of the work can you do yourself?
Figure $60 for head gasket, water pump another $60 and timing belt close to that (havent bought it yet)...
Labor, well thats a whole new story.

 

yeah the parts themseleves aren't all that expensive, but if you have to pay to have them installed you will get screwed anally with no lube!

 

I know im gonna get screwed. I have no idea how to do any of the work. My uncle is a mechanic and for some reason he doesn't wanna do the work. I think he's getting knid of old. Does any one know somebody near Birmingham, AL who could do it and be flexible on the labor price?

 

ha that's kind of ironic i'm in bham and everyone i know is gone now! they all just left for school out of state and i'm not mechanically inclined enough to offer my services on someone elses car, working on my car doesn't bother me cuz if i screw it up it's my fault. There is a shop in homewood that specializes in honda and acura's, but i have no clue how much they charge as far as labor is concerned...

 

Maybe you could pm me with the name or phone number WiseGuyOnCouch.

 

Why not just try and do it yourself there aint anything technical about changing your head gasket it will save you alot of money plus you will learn something new. It pretty hard to mess it up. All you will be doing is unplugging everything taking the head off. Might want to have it pressure tested. Cleaning everything up. Putting the head back on and torquing it and pluggin everything back in.I say jump in there head first LOL. Im sure there are plenty guys on the forum that will be able to help you out if you have a problem.

 

but jumping in head first may mess up my hair LOL! j/k but either way you're right it's not that complicated and sharp i'll hit ya up when i get back from work, it'll be later this afternoon!

also steven the head gasket doesn't make me shiver it's the water pump and timing belt that make me quiver slightly cuz those require a little more labor intensity!

 

Not to make you look bad or anything, but I'm sorry I would DEFINETELY have to disagree with you when u say that
"Why not just try and do it yourself there aint anything technical about changing your head gasket it will save you alot of money plus you will learn something new."
You may be able/mechanically inclined and may think that it is an easy process, and for the most part you are right, but u must remember that he is new to working on cars, so that's like telling him to
"Just take apart your motor, with no idea of what ur doing, and it will be ok"
That is DANGEROUSLY wrong!!
And when u say that "there aint anything technical..." what are u talking about?? Have u ever changed a head??
Besides, I'm not sure on SOHC's, but on DOHC's u gotta take apart entire valvetrain... If u still say it's not technical, then U are entirely too lost to be offering advice...If u have done it before, then at least offer some good advice, not "it's easy"...
Besides, I BET YOU his uncle won't work on it cause it's an import, and the tolerances and meticulous nature of imports, not to mention the smaller work areas, make it much harder to change a timing belt/water pump on a HONDA than on a SCHEVY (Shitty-CHEVY) LOL
As for Sharp006, at least you have some experience (uncle) to help u, even if he's not doing the actual work.
My advice is
DO NOT, I repeat DO NOT attempt to do the work yourself just because these guys on here say it's "easy"
It's easy only for someone who has done it/has enough experience to feel comfortable doing it...
Follow these rules n u will be fine, if not u could really screw yourself bad.
Later

 

i agree with mberndt I mean as I said I'd have no problems working on my car b/c I have an uncle also who is always there to help me, but working on someone elses car is something that I wont do. Now you don't have to take apart the entire valvetrain, but it's more complicated than steven also suggests! personally if I were you though I would just suck it up and pay to have it done b/c the old cliche goes "better to be safe than sorry!"