Honda Passport

My brother-in-law has a 94 or 95 Honda Passport with the V-6 and it has a
blown head gasket.

What experience has anyone had with these after repairing the head gasket?

My understanding is that Isuzu 4 cylinders of that erra were known for that
problem and my brother had one of those trucks and I believe he replaced 2
head gaskets in it. I'm just curious if this is something worth paying
someone to fix or if they should just sell it as is and move on. The
passport has a little over 100,000 miles.

Thanks

 

Can't "repair" it, only replace.

Just about ALL cars made around 1995 had a problem with premature head
gasket failure. The only exceptions were those Hondas that used the
steel/Teflon sandwich gaskets.

Just before 1995, the US federal government outlawed asbestos for use in
gaskets, but stupidly did not allow the auto manufacturers enough time to
properly develop an alternative composition. Years later, people yelled at
the automakers, not the Feds, when their head gaskets blew.

Having said that, head gaskets all fail eventually, with failure being
greatly accelerated by neglect of the coolant.

TWO head gaskets in 100K miles? Holy crap. I hope you mean one per bank.

Depends on the car's maintenance regimen. If the coolant has been changed
every two years, you're likely OK with just the $600 or so to replace the
gasket(s). If it's been neglected, you could have corrosion at the cylinder
tops, which may make repair either unwarrantable, or uneconomic.

 

I don't know how many miles were on my brother's truck, but it was a 4
cylinder, so yes, 2 blown head gaskets, two different times. I'm sure when
he finally sold that truck there was less than 125k on it and he is the type
who maintains his vehicles.

As for my brother-in-law, he has a 6 cylinder and that's what the issue is
this time. He had someone offer him $1500 for his passport as is and I told
him to jump on it, but now he's backing out of that suggestion and he's
taken it to the shop, where I'm sure he'll pay to have it fixed. I guess I
hope for the best, I just don't see where doing the job right it'll be under
$1k. After all at 100,000 to 115,000 miles, I'm sure he should be looking
at a new timing chain (or belt, don't know what the passports used) as it'll
be due soon enough.

And NO, my brother-in-law isn't the type to keep a close eye on maintenance.
He might get the oil changed regularly, but that's probably about it.

Thanks for your post, at least I know know why so many of those vehicles had
issues back then....