needing engine advice/opinions please
maybe a dumb post but i want your guys opinions. i got my lil 2003 civic ex auto (192k) its my first car and i LOVEEE her. everything i’ve learned ab cars has been bc of her. that being said, i believe my head gasket is bad, along with piston rings and valves.
i’ve had coolant flow issues forever but haven’t wanted to face it being the headgasket, then past month or so i’ve had misfire issues mainly with cyl 2. i replaced spark plugs other small stuff and i’ve finally ran my ass around 3 mechanics. 1st said valve adjustment, 2nd said engine is fucked (he only compression tested the one cylinder came out to 60, i did it afterwards and think all were 140-155 cold engine), last place went in with a bore scope and said valves and piston rings are bad, engine needs replaced. none of them went in super detail which is a bit disappointing, but now i’m debating on what to do.
i’ve never dug into the engine past the valve lash so it’s all pretty new to me but i have been learning a lot lately. i have more or less 3k to spend with this, don’t know what the best course of action is. i’m thinking for this car, i wanna clean her up have light mods, some slight boost but nothing insane yet. k swap crossed my mind but i don’t know how viable it is for me currently.
she drives pretty good, haven’t noticed sluggish acceleration or anything like that. idle is shaky uneven and bad(esp at startup) and you can hear/see “spitting” thru the exhaust but no smoke. check engine light randomly has turned off 3 times.
should i just open the head up and see where i’m at? repair if it is repairable but replace if not? if so should i stick with d17 or swap to another? i’m just kinda hesitant about swapping bc this engine has done worlds for me even in just 2 years.
apologies for the rant, just wanted to make sure there’s background info and really wanna get back to driving. i’ve drove very little with this misfire and miss feeling confident behind the wheel. ANYTHING at all helps, much much appreciated 🙏🏻