Questions and Answers

Civic Head Gasket Q. 1991 Honda Civic DX, all manual, with 147,000 miles. The antifreeze overflow tank would go empty every other day and the engineer who services my vehicle could not detect any leak. A few days ago, he discovered that the head gasket has blown causing antifreeze to enter the cylinders and get combusted (which explains white smoke from the exhaust).

The engineer has quoted $600.00 to $1,200.00 for repairs, depending on the magnitude of damage.

I bought the car only 4 months ago for $2,000.00 and was wondering whether spending the money is worth it or better to just get rid of the car or continue running it as it is till it breaks down completely.

The car is very smooth, was maintained well by the previous owner (complete maintenance history has been given to me), and does not have any other apparent problems. I depend on it quite a bit and do approximately 1,500 to 2,000 miles a month.

If the engine is opened up, can it assembled as well as the OEM had?

I generally am pretty fussy about maintenance and take good care of the car. If I do get it fixed and continue appropriate maintenance will it run for another 20,000 to 30,000 miles without much trouble or extra expense?

Please advice.

A. It's difficult for me to say whether a car is worth fixing or not. That's something that, ultimately, the owner has to decide.

Honda has an excellent engine, they are well built and very reliable. I wouldn't expect any undue problems with replacing the head gasket even with the milage on the car. It is a relatively simple and straightforward repair. Of course you'll probably run into the "might as wells" as the job goes along.

If the car has been well maintained and the body and undercarriage are in good shape, there is no reason not to expect to get at least another 30,000 to 50,000 miles out of it. Many Hondas go well in excess of 200,000 miles.

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