1996 Honda Accord 4-cylinder Head gasket repair or used engine?

Question

My 96 Honda accord has a blown head gasket, and 215,000 miles. What should it cost to replace, what should I do to know a good job was done, or should I just get a lower mileage used engine?

Answer 1

if you bought the car new and all the services haqve been kept up there may still be lots of life left in the engine [many of my honda customers have way over 300k miles and the engines still run strong and don't smoke or make any bad noises.]
figure 6 hours at your local labor rate [my fastest time for this job was3 hrs] plus pressure testing for cracks and resurfacing. you may as well have a valve job done and replace the stem seals at this mileage. and plan on a new timingbelt /tensioner and water pump. typicaly these jobs bill out at approx 1200 dollars in my area. this is still cheaper than a used replacement engine of uncertain quality. [ at least you know your engine]
good luck i hope your trusted shop is reasonable.

Answer 2

I would opt for a used engine.
There are some nice engine swaps that work if you want to up-grade to a higher performance level also.
But Honda is not my forta, maybe someone else who sees this will give you some nice idea's.

Answer 3

what hobbabob said.