Expert: Sean Halliday - 11/17/2006

Question
Hi Sean, last month the temp gauge in my 95 Honda Civix DX kept on shooting up into the red so I took it into an auto shop to have it looked at.  They told me good thing I brought it in when I did because the water pump was leaking and there was no coolant in the car and had I kept on driving the car it would have overheated.  They replaced the water pump as well as the timing belt and installed a new thermostat.  Two weeks later I notice the temp gauge is back in the red and the car is leaking again.  I promptly bring it back to the auto shop and they tell me nothing is wrong with the car.  Three weeks go by and my car overheated. Had the car towed back to the auto shop for repairs.  I asked them why the car overheated and they are telling me it overheated because the headgasket is leaking-essentially nothing they did or didn't do caused the overheating.  Isn't it true that overheating could cause the head gasket to leak?  Thanks.  Michelle

Answer
It is true the head gasket can go after the repairs are done.Even if the car runs fine for a couple of weeks since you got the water pump fixed.It is the overheating that weakens the gasket ,thats if the car is older and i have seen this happen.The car has a leak and it is fixed but the head gasket blows some time later.The guys in the shop wouldnt have seen the leaky head gasket because it probably wasnt leaking at that time.This is the trouble with the alloy engines and especially when the car has a few miles over 80 000 .If you let it get hot it causes problems.Theres nothing really you can do to prevent the water pump going.