changing head gasket - Honda Prelude Forum

jonnylaw86 · 10-01-2003, 03:38 PM

Im going to be changing the head gasket this weekend on my h23, The question I have is their anything I should concider changing while I have the parts off. My car has 136K miles on it and here ore the things I have done recently:
Plugs, cap, rotor
Radiator hoses, thermostat
timing belt
ps and alt belt

Im going parts shopping this evening so any suggestions would be great.
Thanks,
John

19924ws · 10-01-2003, 04:44 PM

Cam seals and balancer shaft seal and crank seal, valve cover gasket, 4 spark plug hole grommets, cam plug (at the coil), intake manifold gasket, exhaust manifold gasket, oil and filter and crush washer, Hondabond.

Preyluder · 10-01-2003, 08:52 PM

Yeah, but 95% of those things mentioned most likely don't even need to be replaced. First inspect, THEN order. Don't fix anything that's not broken, it'd just be a waste of your money.

irishpilot · 10-01-2003, 09:04 PM

19924ws has got a good list.

why are you replacing the head gasket?
are you going to turbo the h23....

jonnylaw86 · 10-02-2003, 06:36 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by irishpilot
19924ws has got a good list.

why are you replacing the head gasket?
are you going to turbo the h23....

No, im blowing alot of white smoke and when I checked the coolant it had what looked to be a bit of oil in it.

19924ws · 10-02-2003, 07:13 AM

I work at Honda I guess I was trying to "sell" you some extra ****..... no I wasn't and yes I did. The stuff I mentioned is an extra 100. 100 is cheap for safety.

G_Loc · 10-02-2003, 07:32 AM

and since you're gonna be in there, might as well change out the stuff now than have to tear the engine apart again later

jonnylaw86 · 10-02-2003, 08:01 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by 19924ws
I work at Honda I guess I was trying to "sell" you some extra ****..... no I wasn't and yes I did. The stuff I mentioned is an extra 100. 100 is cheap for safety.

Thats was exactally what I was looking for, This is my only car and I have a 45 min driver to work every day and go to school so its not easy getting a ride, so any preventitive maintnance to keep my car down as little as possible is great.
Thanks again,
John

Preyluder · 10-02-2003, 09:18 AM

Hopefully you have a lot of experience workin on that Honda engine of yours. You better invest in a Helms manual, because if you're gonna be opening the block up, as well as the head, you better know EXACTLY what you're doing. Especially when you're torquing all the bolts back down. Be sure to get every seal, bearing, everything, PERFECT. Good luck.

19924ws · 10-02-2003, 09:41 AM

Is that to me or johnnylaw86? It's hard the first time, but after that you can do it by memory. Having a service manuel is definately a good idea. Any brand is better than nothing. I just stole the shop copy when I worked on mine. Returned of course.

Preyluder · 10-02-2003, 09:50 AM

No, I was talking to Johnny Law... if you work at Honda, I'd HOPE you know what you're doing.

jonnylaw86 · 10-02-2003, 11:03 AM

Well, I have a chilton manual its very vague but im pretty mechanically inclined so hopefully I wont run into any major snags.
John

19924ws · 10-02-2003, 09:01 PM

I built my own motor and it runs, and I work on other people cars for money

The Chilton is what I first used and it is ok, but yeah a little vague. The key is take your time

Preyluder · 10-03-2003, 08:17 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by 19924ws
The key is take your time

EXACTLY! Nothing's a race when you're working on cars. Take your time, and get everything right, like I said earlier.

tenzola · 10-03-2003, 09:22 AM

i agree.. take your time.. if it isn't too bad at the moment.. i would recomend doing this..

buy a used h23 head, get the thing machined at a shop (valve job) get the head gasket kit from "mikes95lude" <-- the po.com sponcer selling things.. he has a head gasket kit for $100 from stone.. i'm rebuilding my h23 and got the gasket set.. it has everything for the entire head.. seals and everything

after the head gets re-conditioned, take the car to the shop and just have them put the re-conditioned head onto the block

that way, you'll know that the thing will last you a while longer.. but then again.. maybe you're not looking to do all this...

welp.. just a thought

=)

blueludeWV · 10-04-2003, 10:00 PM

How about a waterpump...while your in there. Later.

Keith

Preyluder · 10-05-2003, 08:37 AM

If the water pump has never been changed, then YES, change it, although I believe it's recommended at the 90k tune up, so hopefully, it's been changed.