How to Replace a Head Gasket | 1994 Honda Civic DX 

Changing a head gasket on my 2011 MX-5 was almost $3800 they wanted. So I literally spent 1 week on RU-vid and a weekend doing it myself. Took me about 6 hours and a friend for motivation. Really nothing too hard. Saved me $3700 because I wasn't lazy. Edit 2021 3 years later. To clarify, the $3800 was the Mazda dealership. They said they needed to flush the coolant, do a diagnostic check, clear the bla bla bla. I knew they were making it a big job. Still own the car and it now has a 2015 Ford Fusion engine. The

The belt was hard to come off because the tensioner was still on

Was just interested in what replacing the head gasket consists of. I feel like this is the only video I need to watch. Thanks for making it straight to the point. Sub!

Bro, this video sounds like you're trying to whisper in my ear on the dance floor at a rave.

PLEASE PLEASE DON'T WORK UNDERNEATH A CAR WITHOUT JACKSTANDS! Too many people have died because of hydraulic lift failure. A jackstand only costs €30. Your life is not for sale.

You're awesome man. Thank you for the time you've put into this video to help people out. Very detailed and great camera angles

I remember the trick my father did when he put the heads back on after a valve job. He sawed the hex of the bolts off, then sawed the bolts down the middle to make it a long screw. He screwed the bolts in, then used them as guide to place the head on. One by one he used a screwdriver to remove the old bolts and replace them with the new bolts that came with the gasket.

Yo thank you so much for this video man you really saved me some time and stress, this really went straight to the point and I couldn't be more than glad to have used this video as my guide for my LX

I've done this on numerous Honda's Civics, one thing I really like the you do is the use of copper coat. Anyway good video.

Thank you so much for making this video,...it helped me out so much!!! I appreciate you, and the hard work that you put into each one of your instructional videos. You're clear, concise, and to the point. I'm so glad that I found your channel! Thanks again,...peace and love to you from Phoenix AZ!!!💕

Great video man, simplest and easiest video to do the least amount of work and save time not needing to disconnect the unnecessary parts.

Thanks a ton ! I have a 94 lx civic an blew my head gasket , they said I would cost around 850$ to fix. I stored it away to do it myself an I'm also glad you left info where to order parts, keep it up man!

Well Chris I'm impressed such an intelligent young man.

Always always always!!! check the head with a legit steel ruler for head warpage and use a feeler gauge.

Thank you very much for this video. Simple and straight to the point you are a very intelligent man. Happy holidays and i hope you have an amazing new years!

Thank you! this helped me so much. I'm definitely not an experienced mechanic but you made the process easy to follow.

I appreciate this thank you:)

Never go under a car that is not supported by axel stands, please use axel stands at all times, also good practice to put the wheels under the car if you have taken them off, good video though👍👌😎

thank you for explaining so well and showing the bolt numbers on a paper!

Subbed just got my kit in today. Fixing the delsol tomorrow evening. video is very helpful.

Man, great video! but you are getting a few things wrong. The manifold next to the fuel injectors is the intake manifold, not the exhaust manifold. Also, at the beginning when you took off the engine valve cover, you called it a head. The torque procedure for the head bolts was correct, however when you are loosening the head bolts to remove the head, the procedure is the reverse of the installation procedure. Basically, to loosen you go from the outside in, and to tighten from the inside out like you did.

Yeah my friend Michael died about 5 years ago from jack failure he was pinned under the car and was actually alive until the car was pulled off of him. Sad.

Helped me a lot! Very clear explanation. Hope I can do this to my car by myself without any problems

Thanks for sharing this video man I’m going to a school for mechanic and this video helped me get an idea of what I have to remove

Please avoid putting such loud music it's very annoying

Nice Tutorial, I'm a student at an automotive programme, my upcoming test is removing and replacing a Head Gasket and this helped quite a lot, you may have mistaken the exhaust manifold for the intake manifold but hey, we all make mistakes and learn from it ! Keep up the great work 👍👍

This really helped me out thank you

extremely useful. if a seller tells me "head gasket replacement" i will move on (NOT buying it). thanks!

I have a few suggestion about the repair: 1. When loosening the head bolts, you need to start outwards and work your way in, and when tightening start in the middle and work your way out in a spiral pattern. You started from the middle at both loosening and tightening. 2. The head could be warped, so it must be measured with a feeler gauge (usually it must be within 0.05 mm). If warped head must be resurfaced (it can be done DIY). Same for the block. 3. The dowels that were stuck in the head needed to be taken out and put in the block for easier installation and also for gasket alignment, although this is a minor detail.

the reason your last bolt was tough was because your head was not seated properly... I would have stopped there undone the bolts and tried to re-seat the head again

Your hard work is appreciated🙏🏽

thank you for the video. you have convinced me I can do this myself. Just found out tonight my 99 V gasket blew.

Best video thus far

Great vid, Man. Concise and very helpful. And if the music is too loud, they are too old!! 😜😜

Thanks for a nice simple straight to the point video I’m doing my head gasket today

Thanks...im getting ready to do this and it really is important to note that it's just specific tools mechanics have and that its a 50/50 every single time because the parts may be damaged as was the case here. Youll obviously always doubt the efficacy of a mechanic because you dont know exactly whats wrong in every case. Theres really no room for doubt...only discovery of the problem. Thats important to remember. Find the problem and be ready for everything it has effected and be prepared for 1 to lead to 234- and so on. Its a machine...its going to be that way. Thanks for posting.

Great content man

nice viideo man

Thanks for your honesty!

Very helpful, thanks for the in-depth

Now I see why it takes my dad so long when he's taking off engine covers to do work.

Awesome video, I really enjoyed the music choice. The music didn't get in the way at all. I am trying to become a mechanic and it is people like you that get me one step closer. Great work!

great video man,short and simple to the point

He did learn from his mistakes and by doing this twice more power to him. That is how you learn by NOT being afraid of making mistakes. I also rather to fix my cars on my own using Manuals and all the tools needed and rather not to pay a mechanic because I love to buy new tools and equipment and get to learn more and more every time.

Check your head for square after you take it off and send it to machine shop for resurfacing so you don't have to do it twice.

That's a intake manifold not a exhaust manifold..

This was the best video I have a 5 speed 1994 honda civic

Wow. Great effort... like he said.. to some that's amazing..

Nice vid! this job is a little harder for those of us that are horizontally opposed....

Also when you do this, to avoid paying more money or doing it again, take a level and check to make sure your head is still 100% level. If it isn't, you will either need to use a mill and shave it down 10 thou depending on how bad it is, get a new head, or get a machinist to do so.

I love doing mechanic job 😍💫

I did this on my 94 Honda Civic DX as well. I don't remember it being so much work. That was way back though. I do remember that once I got it apart the gasket looked fine to me... not that I really knew what I was looking at...lol. I replaced it anyway. I think the mechanic that diagnosed it was trying to sell me on a fix I didn't need. I don't know much about cars and probably would have paid them. However, luckily our base had a good auto hobby shop. At military auto hobby shops you basically rent a bay by the hour and you get to use their tools, lifts, etc. They also have one or two mechanics on duty that run the place and will walk you through what you need to do to fix whatever you are working on. I remember it being both fun and yet a bit scary...lol. Btw, I held on to that vehicle for 21 years and put on a ton of miles (a few overseas even on the autobahn) before finally trading it in. I wanted a larger vehicle. It was an insanely reliable vehicle though for those 21 years.

I don’t own a civic but he did a great job!

I'v seen how engines ruin by the copper spray. Honda don't need that. Nice vid

Thanks man!! Good Video! Super Helpful!!

Bro I need some information on changing the compressor for the AC I need to know which tools to use to get the gas out and then in

AutoMotivate, excellent contribution brother, I only have a question about the use of copper spray on the cylinder head seal, until today, this civic has given problems related to cylinder head leaks? Thank you for your contribution, it is very useful at least for me at this delicate point. Thank you :)

Buy a machine finish flat edge metal ruler and a thousand inch gap tester, put the ruler on the cylinder head and the gsp tester shouldn't bd able to go under with the 2 thousands gap, if it does, the heads warped and needs resurfacing

Awesome job buddy, very brave! 👍

a good trick ive seen if you have new head bolts, take the old bolts and cut the bolt heads off making some nice alignment pin guides making it easier to reinstall the head

Way to too complicated I touched the hood with a wrench then ended up turning my Honda into razor kick scooter

Not sure if I missed it but did you resurface the head?

Im sorry but you should get more likes than this! You did that!! congratulations man for completing something like that i think its because you have to lift the vehicle up and disconnect almost everything but if you take your time and dont rush and have all the tools needed and dont do it on a bad weather day, you can get it done.... Thanks for this

informative. thanks for the vid!

That one bolt wouldn't tighten correctly Probably because the head was warped from overheating

How long did this whole job take ?

Good vid. made it look easy.

TheDeDecker brilliant video!!!!! Thank you!

Good Video bro but where are the Jack Stands

i hope u got that head resurfaced and a valve job too

Great video man. Keep it up

Nice hard work💞

Aren’t the bolts supposed to come off 10 - 1, then put on 1 - 10??

you were supposed to remove the head bolts backwards starting at 10 going to 9 and so on

Good work and SOHC D series very good and simple engine and set up for a DIY'er to practice on. After many years of doing this, I would say its not worth skimping on parts that are laborious to remove so I would shop for an OEM or Felpro HG for a job like this but I don't want to be in anyone's pockets, just my .02. Otherwise chapeau on your efforts young man. I just watched to the end and don't want to be a keyboard technician but was thinking as I watched you that a straight edge would be recommended to check block and head as these long blocks generally don't blow head gaskets unless severely overheated and the head gets warped. I think the factory spec is a minimum .04 mm of clearance with a quality straight edge.

Great video thanks man. 👌🏼

Dont use that set get tell to i got that set and gaskets were bad I had to do the job again....get felpro

1st: EVERYONE, please use jackstands! I should have but didn’t. 2nd: I recommend everyone to send their head to the local machine shop. Remove all the hard ware and let them shave down the head. It was only $60 and an extra hour of work. TOOLS FOR THE JOB. Head gasket kit: amzn.to/2sO4Sxx Torque Wrench: amzn.to/2JGTN7Z Copper Spray: amzn.to/2l4xUEM

Hope the head was true when you put it back together. I have a 1982 Honda Accord , when I did my head made sure everything was true. I used copper gasket spray with a felpro gasket. 6 years down the road still running strong.

Great job, nice channel

never use razor blade on head or block ever.

Get rid of the music. I want to hear YOU telling me what to do. Not have my eardrums blasted.

Finally i found how to replace a head gasket ;) thx

Thanks man. Life saver.

What size of a wrench did you use to take off the intake manifold bolts?

I love this guy 💕

Yo my man u got any videos of the timing for this same engine?

Very informative thank you

What about having a machine shop take off the warpage, is tbere enough material to work with? Id think it would.increase compression a little too.

Went to do the head gasket today and had to stop those 3-4 hoses in the back where a pain to get off and the clips. I took everything that was attached to the head and then when I went to get the exhaust bolts off on the header they were all rusted and because of that all of them were stripped I even sprayed them all. Any tips to get it off?

Thank you. You are an amazing help

I slipped the belt on, wasn’t easy. Moved the power steering pump out of the way, got the teeth on from the intake side first, then used a pick tool to leverage the rest of the teeth on. Could have done it in 3 minutes if I new this. The tension on the tensioner was pretty tight. Also the middle but on the intake is killer to get on and off if you’ve never done it before, get your self a ratcheting wrench in its size which I think is 12mm... makes life easy. And to put it back on, one finger ever so carefully sliding it down the very small pathway. Everything else is just wrenching away. Took me about 6-7 hours. Do it in the shade with plenty of water or split it into a weekend job if you can.

Great job my friend 👍

Thanks for the video!

Good video. Wish my head bolts were that easy... Mine been on for 30yrs probably 😆

I defiantly learned a lot of stuff off this video

Since I am doing maintenance while I replace my head gasket, I took a lot more off than you did here. I removed the intake and exhaust manifolds, timing belt and pulled the cam from the head. I had my head decked to make sure it was flat, and replacing most of the gaskets. I have a 1992 Honda Civic DX sedan with 275,000 miles on it now... she needs some love. I am doing a quick refresh on a few things while I have the parts and time, but in the future, I will be rebuilding a B-series for it from the ground up. Forged internals, high compression. I love her as she is, but this engine is tired, and if I am going to spend money on a full rebuild, I am going all out. Just no turbo, rather turbo an Integra.

Your bad ass dude... waiting for u to make a toyota head gasket... thanks!!

i have a small head gasket leak. sometimes it burns coolant. sometimes it doesnt. thanks for the video. ill use yours for reference if i need to

good video thanks