Well My wonder boy,, decided to convert his honda into an air cooled engine.

Knowing he had a leak and knowing that he should not let the car run out of water.   He drives it all night

We got bubbles in the radiator every 3 seconds and the engine stumbles,  then revs up, bubbles, then stumbles.

Any one every done a Head gasket on a 96 accord?    I'm gonna waste 10 bucks on head leak fixer in a can,  but I dont expect any luck.


ANyone got any good ideas?   How much you think a shop will charge?

I've never done a head gasket on a Honda . . . A Mazda, a couple of Mitsubishis, some Chrysler products and a Buick; but never a Honda.  It's been my experiance that Head gaskets aren't bad to install on most engines, but if it ran hot enough to blow and the head is aluminum, a gasket may not fix the problem.  Aluminum heads like to warp and crack if they get too hot.  I'd have the head checked out by a good shop before going to the trouble to re-install it.

It might be easier and cheaper to get a new engine . . . if you don't mind the adventure of plundering through a junk yard and pulling it yourself, Pull-A-Part in Atlanta might be a good source for an engine.  If you can find you a good one there, it will set you back less than $150 even if you don't have a core and you pay the extra $$ for a 30 day warranty.  Take the kid with you and make him do all the manual labor . . . he'll put water in it next time!

You could try Rick at R&M Automotive on Highway 58, maybe he'd take pity on you.

I'm with Zin on the junkyard motor. I'll bet these are plentiful. Many many years ago I had a blown head gasket replaced on an early Honda ('78 Civic CVCC) and it never did run right again. I don't think the guy got the timing right and it suffered and died. I went in First (?) Foreign Auto Parts on Rossville Blvd and asked for a repair manual for a Honda Civic. They actually laughed at me and one guy said: "We sell car parts, not motorcycle parts". I remember thinking maybe the Honda car might not make it in this country.

SC,
I KNOW hondas, you have warped the head and it'll need to be "worked".
IF you can find a Junk yard head, it may or may not be good.  Go take yours to a machine shop and have them look it over for a crack BEFORE they plane it flat again.  Hondas are not real sturdy in the head department.  
And by the way, my last Honda WAS aircooled... (600 cc.)

Your son's Honda probably has a d-15a or b in it, ALOT of the Rice racers chunk the d series engines for a V-tech b series, so there are alot of "running when parked" d series out there.  Call me on monday at ex. 33073 at plant SI and I'll get more specific with you.
Good Luck,
KC

I told you wrong on the price of the motor at Pull-A-Part.  Their prices have gone up a little.  It's $164.51 + tax for a 4 cylinder engine ($113.15 for the engine) if you don't have a core (add $20.30) and you want a 30 day warranty (add $31.06).

Several years ago I spent over $350 fixing my mother-in-law's Mercury Tracer (built by Mazada) when the head gasket blew.  The gasket set alone was $105 after I finally found a place I could get it from.  I had the head reworked at Dover Cylinder Head and replaced the rings and rod bearings while I had the head off since it was approaching 100,000 miles.  It ran hot again and blew the head gasket at close to 200,000.  It sat for a couple of years until I ran across a rebuilt head for it.  By this time the engine was locked up 'cause water was sitting in the cylinders.  I finally got the rings broke loose from the cylinder walls and cleaned up the rust pitting as best I could and threw it back together.  It ran great but smoked like crazy.

I was at Pull-A-Part with Kyle one day and we happened across a Mazda 323 with same engine as the Tracer.  The car had right at 100,000 miles on it but had obviously been taken care of (paint and interior were orginal, but still looked new).  Other than the damage from being hit hard on the driver's side, it looked great.  The engine turned over smooth and seemed to have great compression on all 4 cylinders.

I didn't have a core with me, so I had to pay the core charge, but I figured I wouldn't have it installed in 30 days so I opted to not pay for a warranty.  Tax and all was about $130.  2 years later it's still running great and the Tracer is still on the road.  I bought a cherry picker to remove and install the engine and still came out cheaper than when I replaced the head gasket 15 years earlier.  Plus, now I have a core if I ever want to get another engine from them.

Check 'em out at http://www.pullapart.com . . . they've got a 3 lots around Atlanta and all of them have a bunch of Hondas.

Don't put the stop leak in, it does not work and tends to make a mess of things when you do the correct repair

For the love of god, listen to this other dude... and i repeat... do NOT use stop leak in the car or your headaches will increase ten fold.

Just get the car fixed by somebody qualified to do it.

I am finished here....

This is a big moment, s.c...  The godfather sends his approval on your decision to have the car fixed by qualified help... :lol: