Hello,

My friend has a 4 cly, 95 Automatic and hes getting air into his cooling system and is overheating. He had the head gasket replaced about a year ago for the same problem. Im thinking Ill replace it for him. Ive done one on a Camaro before, so Im familiar with the steps; however, this will be my first honda. I found a head gasket kit with all the goodies for about 185. Looks like it comes with a bunch of stuff. IS all of that necessary, or would I be better off just getting a head gasket, valve cover gasket, and intake/exhaust manifold gasket. Last question... anyone know the going rate for this repair? weve been quoted anywhere from $750-850.

Thanks!

 

The head should be checked for warpage. You will need head gasket, intake, exhaust gasket and manifold to exhaust pipe, valve cover, distributor O ring and more. If this is your first timing belt job it takes some patience and research (there are post on here to look at). I did my 1995 last year and it needed a valve job and the head milled. I changed the timing belt and water pump along with other wearing items you encounter and with both jobs I spent about $1000 on parts. This included the Radiator which was the cause of the overheating that took out the head gasket.

 

I would get the gasket kit. By the time you buy all the gaskets you need, you'll be glad you bought the kit. I had several O-rings and gaskets left over, but I think that's because I didn't disassemble the air intake assembly. But I used the intake, head, exhaust, o-rings for spark plugs under the rocket arm, o-rings for the spark plugs between the top of the rocker assembly and valve cover, the exhaust pipe metal ring between the exhaust manifold and down pipe, and the cam oil seal.

I would get a factory service manual before you started. I think there are links on this forum to download a copy.

(Hi Kris, we've got about 200 miles on our valve job and no issues. If you want to read a funny story regarding my son, check here ->
https://www.hondaaccordforum.com/for...ad.php?t=29836)

 

Does the reservoir overflow a lot while the engine's running?

There's other ways to get air into the cooling system, like a bad radiator cap. Make sure you really need a headgasket before you do all that work.