Original post : https://www.reddit.com/r/accord/s/jzphJcMwu8
To summarize, I bought a 2018 Honda Accord LX 1.5t with 160,000 miles, which I learned afterwards has a reputation for head gasket issues. The third cylinder backfired and there was no coolant, so it overheated. I added coolant, drove it a couple days, then it overheated again. The radiator cap was off, so it either popped off or I didn’t put it on all the way.
I took it to a chain mechanic shop, who checked for leaks and said they’d guess it’s a head gasket based on the car’s reputation. I took it to another shop to get the repair, but they said it passed 3 combustion tests and pressure tests, suggested a thermostat change and go from there. Temperature was fine for 2-3 months after that.
Last week I was driving and noticed the temperature gauge climbed up an extra 2-3 bars. I shut it down, popped the hood, and on restart the temperature already dropped back to normal in that short amount of time. I drove it home with no issues, but when it cooled I checked the radiator which was low on coolant.
UPDATE: I took it to a third mechanic, who said he drove it for 10 minutes. After the drive, he left it running with the A/C on full blast for over 4 hours and said the temperature never spiked. Oil looked fine, no white smoke from the exhaust, and it didn’t drive weird at all. He said to keep an eye on it while driving, which is what I’ve been doing since I got the car.
Car people: should I just replace the head gasket anyway just to be safe? Or should I just keep an eye on the coolant and risk another overheat? 2 mechanics said it’s not the head gasket, friends and coworkers who are good with cars say it’s not the head gasket, but I have no other explanation. My friends say I’m overthinking it and paranoid, but I don’t want to total the engine on car I’ve only had for 3ish months.