Blown Head Gasket 02 Honda Accord

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It pains me to say that my 2002 Honda Accord V6 that had 268K miles on it.... The Head Gasket blew..... I was driving and I put the heat on and I heard like a clinging sound through the engine...
Then the engine over heated IN THE RED... I pulled over and let it cool down..( About 15 Minutes )... then I drove a few miles and then it started to over heat again. I had to repeat this till I got home When I made it home.... I let the car cool and in the morning I then opened the radiator cap and it was full of broken pieces of worm shaped worms It looked like CEMENT. I took the thermostat out and there was calcium worms like particles that were hard as STONE. I was told that it was calcium deposits in the heater core and when i put the heat on it caused the problem... I took the thermostat and put in boiling water to make sure it opened and it opened and closed perfect.....

When I started the car with the radiator cap off each compression stroke coolant would just blow right out of the radiator.... The guy next door saw it and said the same thing happend to his 2000 Honda Odyssey and his had 240K miles when his blew.. He had asked me if I had ever changed the head bolts and I said NO.. He said it was common on the 3.0 3.5 Honda V6 . He said it was Compression leak to coolant.. It was to big of a job for me and the mechanic I use said it would of cost 100$ per head to get resurfaced and he wanted 800$ labor the parts new head gasket and new head bolts would of been nearly 200$ so total $1200.00 plus.. He said also a oil change... So there would of been some more $.. So told me with that many miles it was not worth it.. He said he was cutting his own foot off by telling me this b/c he makes $. However with so many miles and I just put new struts front and back and new tires front and back and new radiator and new throttle body and new silicone radiator hoses.. I meant he engine really looked good if anyone had ever seen my posts where I showed pictures of the engine. So he said David if you spend more $ on this car and lets just say the A/C goes out and you fix that and you know that transmission can blow anytime. If you keep fixing that car you will have 5000$ into a car thats not worth it.. Anyways he told me to try fiberlock head-gasket sealant and I tried it and followed the directions by the letter and it didn't work.. I even tried the blue devil stuff the one where you have to take the thermostat out and run it the engine... Let me just say that didn't work.

So I drove to the dealer and they gave me 500$ on trade in... Even the salesmen at the dealer ** That I all know b/c they come into my work ** were impressed when they saw the ENGINE... They all said WOW.. Im sure it was scrapped out for parts to one of the mechanics there b/c when I had to get some stuff outta the trunk there were 5 people that were mechanics looking at the struts and engine and I could hear them say I have dibs on this and I have dibs on that... Plus I know all them also b/c I sell parts to them at work.... They were even telling me that it sucked...... I even have customers at work asking me .. Hey were is your Accord ? Then I have to tell them what happend.. Matter of fact I still have a brand new BOSCH Starter that I never got to put in.. Plus a whole new front end set that never got to put in... Upper control arm with ball joint and lower ball joint and lower control arm and inner and outer tie rods and sway bar links.. It was a kit from Detroit Axle... I never got time to put it in .. Plus a Transmission selenoid that you can only get to when you change the starter.. The one with the black wire harnes attachment... So I have to see if I can sell that stuff to someone I know b/c shipping costs are probably high .. Also a new Bando Power Steering belt that I never had a chance to put on also...

Anways.. I got a 2015 Acura ILX with 50K miles... I already changed the ATF filter that was under the Air filter box and did drain and fill on the ATF and the cabin filter was very dirty....

Anyways.... life goes o n....
 
Driven overheated it's a real crap-shoot on repair-- very likely you will need a new engine (and time / money you spent trying to repair the old one is wasted). So yeah you're likely ahead to walk away trade the car in or sell it as is.
 
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That sucks but you got 17 years and almost 300k out of it so that's a success in my eyes.
 
The Accord gave you your money' s worth. It owed you no more.

We are all [censored] at the last $500 we spend on a vehicle before we dump it or scrap it. Join the club.
 
A couple of years ago a coworker had the head gasket blow on the identical car to yours, same year, same engine, and about the same mileage.

He had a salesman from the Honda dealer pick him up where the car left him stranded and take him back to the dealer. He bought another used Accord at the dealer, a few years newer and with low miles that afternoon, and had them tow in his old car for a trade.

I told him it would be hard to negotiate a good deal like that, but he said he did well. He keeps his cars many years until they die anyway, so was more concerned about condition than price.
 
Originally Posted by David1
Im sure it was scrapped out for parts to one of the mechanics there b/c when I had to get some stuff outta the trunk there were 5 people that were mechanics looking at the struts and engine and I could hear them say I have dibs on this and I have dibs on that...


Dealer mechanics make good money, what would they be doing with an 18 year old car or that they couldn't buy parts at cost from the parts department?
 
Originally Posted by atikovi
Originally Posted by David1
Im sure it was scrapped out for parts to one of the mechanics there b/c when I had to get some stuff outta the trunk there were 5 people that were mechanics looking at the struts and engine and I could hear them say I have dibs on this and I have dibs on that...


Dealer mechanics make good money, what would they be doing with an 18 year old car or that they couldn't buy parts at cost from the parts department?

Maybe they were the minimum-wage lube techs.
 
You're lucky you made it home and it didn't hydrolock on ya.

Not worth the cost of repair..RIP '02 Accord.
 
Yup someone will park it under a shaddy tree and change the head gasket for cheap. Then have the AC tranny or you name it other factory original part go out a few oil changes later.

Time to put that ole girl out to pasture. They cant last forever.
 
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JMO you probably had a slow HG leak for a while that kept blowing the radiators up on this car. It finally gave up the ghost.
 
Originally Posted by atikovi
Originally Posted by Mad_Hatter
Not worth the cost of repair..RIP '02 Accord.


$50 for a bottle of Blue Devil.


He tried blue devil as well as some other sealer, both failed to stop the leak.
 
Originally Posted by buster
That sucks but you got 17 years and almost 300k out of it so that's a success in my eyes.


^This.^
 
@David1

I always consider cars like this as "part of the family" when they go as inanimate as they are, it's like a death in the family.
frown.gif
 
Originally Posted by AC1DD
@David1

I always consider cars like this as "part of the family" when they go as inanimate as they are, it's like a death in the family.
frown.gif


As weird as it sounds I know what ya mean....
 
At 200k+ my expectation of any vehicle is major failure, I have Lyft and Uber loaded and $100 in cash in case my 07 MDX 200k rolls to side of road. No plans for maintenance besides oil changes.
 
Originally Posted by buster
That sucks but you got 17 years and almost 300k out of it so that's a success in my eyes.


I agree....
 
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