Fity

and from what ive heard, the HG is a sonababish to get to. has anyone done there own HG job before. how long will it take? i need my car for everything... cant live without it.

 

Fity

well its kinda bad now. as long as i drive without traffic, car doesnt overheat. as soon as i get a red light or trafffic, it starts to overheat. and i get traffic everyday after work.

mktng

get that mofo hg replaced b4 it gets really costly to fix !!!

search for the BHG DIY

__________________
KA7 & Inspire

Fity

will do MKTNG. ill start today after work. thanks a billion

letitride

So is it better to mark it where it is or set it at tdc?

Billyjack187

Good to see this forum still supplies lies and legends as tech tips. You can check for a bad head gasket without pulling apart the whole upper half of the motor. Check your ECT sensor,make sure you have fluid in the system and purge the air out...the little bleeder port at the neck of the upper radiator hose on the motor.A bad tstat will mess up your temps, but the easier ways to see if you have a bhg, when you ride is cooled open up the radiator cap and see if your coolant is bubbling like hell....that is bad if it is...or drain your oil and take a look.Other than that...take it to a real wrench and pay the bill+ for a diag.

Searchin4acoupe

I have never seen a Honda H2O pump go bad. Good luck with that BHG

__________________

redwar2477

Mine was bhg also. i was losing coolant from my exhaust. 950.00 and it was like new again. Before that I replaced almost every hose and thermostat plus the cap.

pro_foundac91

from what ur saying it definitely sounds like u got a BHG/SHG now. when u do get the HG replaced be sure to use OEM gaskets, thermo,wp,tb, and coolant. ALSO, PLEASE STOP DRIVING IT BEFORE U RUIN THE ENGINE ENTIRELY. GOOD LUCK

__________________

Fity

i cant stop. its the only car i currently have. wish i could. i will see if i can get it replaced asap. i will need to call around to see how much it will cost. dont have the tools to do it myself. i might just do a quick fix till i have enough to get it replaced. thanks guys.

gsridah

you believe people that have not seen your car over your gut instinct that it is only the wp????

look i bought two legends with "BHG".
The first one I put 20K on without doing anything to it. They guy thought it had a BHG and he sold me a black on black gs for 900. I put another 100 into random things and it ran...i drove it to florida and back to pa.

the second one i just bought a 6mt 93 coupe for 800. Same thing this idiot thought it had a BHG. It had nothing wrong with it once I added water. I just drove it to VA and back this weekend. (By the way I got 29.7 MPGs --i dirve slow) And yes I add water in the summer time...

Both cases i just added water while it was running so the engine sucks water down...then i add while i bleed the system...with the hot air on...

worked for me try it before you spend 1k

reboticon

How do you know your car is actually overheating? The gauge tells you? Believe me when i say thats not a good enough reason to take apart your topend. Could be your thermostat or your Coolant temp sensor.

Honda H2o pumps do go bad, but they will start pouring water out the weep hole when they do. The bearing on mine locked up after my BHG due to a little residual oil.
To whomever said that your engine just won't start if your timing is off, thats wrong. If your one tooth off it will still start. If your more than 15 degrees off, you are going to bend your valves.

If you have no oil in your coolant, no coolant in your oil, and everything else checks out okay, you probably have a tiny headgaset leak between an exhaust valve and the water jacket. Exhaust gas is seeping into the water jacket.

If thats the case, for a TEMPORARY fix, remove your thermostat. It won't fix the problem at all, but it will stop your car from overheating until you get it fixed.

The Legend head gaskets are going to be pretty difficult for someone without at least some mechanical experience. If you don't already have a good set of tools, you are going to have to buy some. A full set of metric 12 point and 6 point impact sockets, shallow and deep, full metric wrench set, prybar set, Long breaker bar, some lengths of pipe or huge sockets for camseals, an electric drill with attachments for cleaning surfaces, wet/dry vac is real handy,A good Torque wrench, and some impact swivel sockets really help avoid a headache, but technically aren't necesary.

Thats just assuming you are going to have the heads worked at a machine shop. Otherwise you are going to need several other specialty tools for the valve stem seals.

For getting it done at a "reputable" shop it will cost you at least 1500. Thats assuming you don't get a new waterpump or new belts and hoses. Also doing the waterpump is the only thing that should cost you any additional labor. The rest are included with the heads, but you can do the heads without removing the lower front cover, which you must remove for timing belt/h20 pump.

__________________

Fixing legends is easier than fixing lolcats, but the parts are way more expensive..

92drls

Uh... Not a good idea to just keep adding water to a leaky head gasket. Fyi water doesn't like to be compressed so if any amounts are leaking into the engine, NOT good. But hey, I did it to make it home but I would NEVER suggest it to a fellow owner.. Just my .02

__________________

Dethred

@ Thread starter.

1.) ***Cost: Free*** Run the car and check for leaks below the water pump. All three cars () on which I've repaired the water pump, each had leaks either coming from the gasket area of from the pulley shaft. In my experience the waterpump will go about halfway between your first scheduled timing belt change and your second (100-140k miles). My Mazda's waterpump began leaking at 122k miles, but luckily was cheap and *relatively* easy to fix. The Legend's happened at about 130k miles. Some water pumps will make a strange sound when the seal is failing around the pulley shaft.

-The easiest way to check is to place a bunch of paper towels beneath the middle-front of the motor, and run the engine till warm. Obviously make sure to have someone keep their eyes on the temperature gauge. If you are losing antifreeze with nothing coming out of the water pump, then it is likely not the issue.

2.) ***Cost: Free*** Check your radiator cap to ensure that is is sealing the lip of the fill port tightly. Check for scratches or cracks that could open the seal that the cap once created. I've had steam pour out of the radiator cap like a kettle full of boiling tea.

3.) ***Cost: Free*** Remove the thermostat, fill system, bleed system, check for overheating. If you are still overheating at idle with no thermostat, you are in trouble. If you really want to get technical, you can get a pot of water, submerge the thermostat in the water, and heat to boiling. If the thermostat does not open thats your problem, if it does: reach into the water and grab it as tightly as possible, because the next step will hurt worse than 2nd degree burns from the a fore mentioned action.

-You need to take your thermostat to an Acura Dealership and compare it to OEM. If your thermostat looks ANY different from OEM, buy the OEM one and try it out (only if running no thermostat fixed the overheating).

4.) ***Cost: $50-$75***Before taking the last step you want to get a hydrocarbon test completed at an equipped shop. Shops will recommend compression tests and a bunch of other inefficient methods of diagnosing a possible head gasket problem, DON'T LISTEN TO THEM. Trust me, compression will look normal, and you'll test positive for Hydrocarbons. A shop that goes by standard methods to diagnose your problem will have you spending thousands before slamming you with the bill and the real diagnosis.

-I recommend simply calling around to local shops and asking if they are able to complete a Hydrocarbon test. Don't tell them why on the phone or when you bring your car in. Almost certainly they'll know what its for, but its better for you to appear to just want a "yes" or "no" on the test than a diagnosis on a repair that could mean about 50-80 work hours for their shop. If you go in asking if you have a BHG, they'll probably say yes just to get your business.

-If you do have a bad head gasket, consider either getting it fixed via mechanic ($1500-$2300). Another option is buying a JDM or low mileage motor from a donor car (~$1000 shipped, plus installation), or simply sell the car for a sum that will buy you and your significant other a few dinners.

This is not a DIY job for anyone inexperienced with automotive work. I have torn down and reinstalled just about everything on the Legend and the first time I did the HG job, I spent about 80 work hours on it. If I had to do it again, I'd pull the motor and do it in 15 tops, but its not easy either way.

Dethred

If the head is warped or the gasket is broken to the point where the amount of vapor entering the cylinder can cause a bent rod, the motor is going to be screwed anyways. Cracked head or warped block is going to be about the only way to bend a rod or hydrolock the motor, at which point a throwing a rod won't matter much.