They tell me the car had no coolant - even though that had been checked within the past 45 days - and that the head gasket blew. They hadn't done any diagnostics. I finally gave up the ghost of this car and got some cash for it from the Honda dealer. They paid a good price considering the condition of the car (all the other breakdowns, holes, peeling paint, broken this and that in the car and the electrical problems in the dash) and a lot higher than the other dealer that I went to buy a Not-Honda was offering for a trade in. I'm relieved to be done with this car.

I had strange intermittent overheating problems for months. Coolant magically disappearing, sometimes I'd see it on the ground - couldn't find a leak, replaced all the hoses, radiator cap, radiator, thermostat for kicks thinking might be a small leak. Reservoir tank was not draining. Got worse and worse over time. Finally when I couldn't see any magically disappearing coolant and was loosing about a quart every 50 miles I pulled the head. Took it to the machine shop - machine shop told me all 4 cylinders without a doubt were blown and probably had slow leaks that got worse with time. Said its fairly common in aluminum blocks - shop manager said he sees about 2-3 Civics a week.

Cost me $130 in parts - $100 to have head machined - and 2 days of my time. Honda dealership quoted me $2100 to do the work. I bought this car thinking I'd get alot of mileage without needing to pull the head. 160K is alot - but not enough for a major engine issue IMHO. Luckily I'm a backyard mechanic who was able to do it myself -if I wasn't it'd be time to trade POS in - wish I never bought it though - won't buy a Honda again.

Has anyone else experienced Head Gasket failure on the Civic, 2002, EX, AT, 150,000 miles? I was told today the cost to replace the gasket at an independent garage is about $1100.00 could be more if there is damage to the head and it was suggested while the engine is apart to do some valve work at $500.00 I am furious the head gasket went on the Honda. I bought the Civic because of its reliability. Here is the kicker; the AC compressor is also shot at a cost of $1000.00 and I recently had to replace the Catalytic Converter. About 10 years ago I replaced the Head Gasket on a 1987 Plymouth Voyager with 2.6 at a cost of $800.00. I also own a 1998 Ford Crown Victoria with 162,000 miles on it. The Crown Victoria; so far No Head Gasket Replacement, No Timing Belt Replacement, No Water Pump Replacement and No Catalytic Converter replacement. I did have to replace the AC in this car but at at a cost of only $650.00 at a Ford Dealer. For those who say foreign cars are better: WRONG!