Head Gasket Replacement on '91 Honda Civic

Step 8 Install new Gasket and Reassemble

1) Before putting on the new gasket, you'll have to remove those old pieces of gasket that have welded themselves to the flange surfaces. I used a new razor blade and carefully scraped away the material without scratching or scraping away the soft aluminum (easy). See video.

2) Put the new gasket on the bottom of the valve assembly. Unless your gasket specifically requires it, do not use any gasket sealer.

3) Place it carefully, and slowly, back onto the head taking great pains to not ding the gasket!

4) Inspect and clean your bolts....remove corrosion and rust. If they show cracks or strips, replace them!

5) A dab of oil is all that's needed to lubricate the threads before inserting them back into the valve assembly.

6) Tighten the bolts as specified in the manual....It's three step process: Finger tight, torqued in a crossed-x pattern to 22ft-lbs, and then again to 49 ft-lbs. Follow the diagram! (easy). See video.

7) Carefully reassemble in reverse order...(pay attention, and don't end up with loose parts!)

IMPORTANT NOTE:As for re-installing the timing belt, loosen the tensioning pulley by accessing the bolt through the lower timing belt cover access port. I did not know that I could do this, and as a result, ripped the timing belt and spent an additional half-day having to uncouple the front engine mount, loosening the alternator, pulling off the belts, pulling off the crankcase pulley, removing the lower timing belt cover, and so on and so on. What a pain!

8) After reassembly, I successfully re-started the car with no problems. However, you may, as I did, end up with a "Check Engine" light. There are a few instructables showing you how to diagnose engine codes. In my case, I had two codes of which one went away after re-setting by completely disconnecting the battery. The other codes was the result of a missed connection; I reconnected the harness and the red LED code went away (Thanks Instructables!)

Good Luck! I hope you learned from my experience!

Comments

[cararta]

Am going to give it a try. Will let you know in a week or so how I did! Best info I have found, good clear instructions. Wish me luck!

[Fort Mental]

Good Luck to you! Make sure that you have a good torque wrench specific to the range that you need. You can use them for free from places like Auto-Zone, with a sizable deposit. Also keep in mind that your bolts are OLD! And where they are subject to high heat....like the exhaust manifold, they may have softened a bit. I broke one of these manifold bolts inside the head during re-assembly when I used a swivel adapter on the socket. I might have exceeded the rated torque a little but just enough to bust it.... so, be careful. Since my head gasket replacement the engine has worked flawlessly!

[leighm]

I recently purchased a 1990 Honda Civic hatchback with a blown headgasket and will be using this tutorial to help me through. I appreciate the posting and will follow up with comments on how it goes. I was just wondering if on page one you could provide a parts list of the bolts/gaskets/seals you replaced and recommend replacing while taking the head off, if any?

[Fort Mental]

First thing I would do, if I were you, is look at the last the emissions report for this car. This should tell you if the car has been burning oil. A good mechanic or at the very least, Google, should be able to tell you if your pistons need new rings or if there's some other piston/cylinder related problem. You don't want to have to go through all of the work of replacing a head gasket, only to find that the car won't pass an emissions test and needs new rings or re-bored cylinders. Assuming you don't need rings, great, look at the parts list associated with replacing the timing belt and replace them all. Generic brands will work fine....besides, Honda may not even make such parts any longer. Also look at the parts list for a head gasket replacement; you'll find this information in the service manual. I believe that all that was required was the gasket itself. I mistakenly bought gasket sealer/surface treatment, but I didn't even use it because the gasket instructions recommended against using sealers or any other treatments. I urge you to get a manual if you don't already have one. E-bay might have original Honda service manuals for your year for very little cost. Good luck with your project! Please post anything useful that should be added to this site.

[leighm]

Interestingly enough, Canada does not have any emissions regulations so I don't have any previous history of the vehicle. It's pretty much a shot in the dark but the previous owner had a mechanic shop look at the vehicle and came to the conclusion that it needed a new head gasket. He didn't want to go through the trouble so I took on the project. I started working on the car today and have the intake manifold left to remove. I should be able to take a look at the block tomorrow and will take some pictures. I will also check out eBay and see if I can find a manual as I know they are a great help!