A Honda Civic owner said their car had its head gasket replaced, only for it to start overheating again five days later. The dealership then quoted them $16,000 to replace the cylinder head.
The owner shared their experience on the subreddit r/AskMechanics and included the repair timeline along with supporting documents in their post.
The 2020 Honda Civic began overheating on Aug. 4, according to the owner. They took it to two repair shops, both of which diagnosed a blown head gasket leaking coolant into cylinder three. The shops quoted around $4,000 for the repair.
On Aug. 26, the owner learned that Honda had announced an extended warranty campaign for the head gasket issue and brought the Civic to a dealership instead.
Head Gasket Replaced
My engine overheated 5 days after a Honda extended warranty recall fix for the same issue. Now the dealer wants $16k to replace it and Honda Corp won’t cover it. Need guidance.
by
u/CookUsed745 in
AskMechanics
The owner said it took about a week and a half before work finally began on the vehicle. The head gasket was replaced, but the vehicle reportedly went into limp mode.
The spark plugs had to be replaced and paid for by the owner. On Sept. 15, a dealership manager said the vehicle was being reassembled and that everything had been a challenge.
The vehicle was finally picked up on Sept. 18, and it drove well at first. It also passed a state emissions test that weekend, according to the owner.
Five Days Later
On Sept. 24, the owner said the vehicle started overheating again while they were driving on the highway. They pulled over before the dashboard warning light came on, waited an hour, and added coolant before driving back to the dealership.
The dealership called the owner on Sept. 30 and informed them that another major repair was required, costing roughly $16,000. The owner’s boyfriend then contacted Honda Corporate, which assigned them a case manager.
Honda Corporate later denied the owner’s request for goodwill assistance, leaving the dispute between the owner and the dealership.
The owner picked up the vehicle along with its paperwork and scanned it with an OBD reader. The scan revealed the same P0303 code, indicating a misfire in cylinder three.
Contacting the Dealership
The owner called the dealership to ask questions about the misfire. During the 45-minute call, they questioned whether the initial repair had been performed correctly and asked whether the engine block and cylinder head had been checked for cracks and warping.
According to the owner, the manager said two technicians had measured the components and that the tests would have detected any existing cracks. The manager also suggested the overheating on Aug. 4 could have weakened the component, potentially leading to the crack after the subsequent overheating incident.
However, the owner said the manager did not explain what caused the Civic to overheat again after the repair.
The owner said that they purchased the vehicle on Oct. 31, 2025, and still owe $10,294.28 on it.
With the cause of the second overheating incident still unclear, the owner is seeking answers about what went wrong and whether the original repair contributed to the problem.