How much for a new head gasket?

How much for a new head gasket?

Author
Discussion

pmanson

Original Poster:

13,387 posts

258 months

Friday 7th January 2005
quotequote all
Hi All.

I've got a '94 L 1.8CL Golf which is going through quite a bit of coolant at the moment.

Also on cold mornings i'm getting quite a bit of steam out of the back of the car when its warming up.

There is no white sludge in the oil cap and i'm planning to drain all the coolant out of the car at the weekend and refill it with fresh stuff to see if i've got a blockage somewhere.

If the worst happens and it is the head gasket what is the damage going to be?

(Going to see if I should get shot of it now before any problems rear their heads.)

Cheers,

Phill

edc

9,293 posts

256 months

Friday 7th January 2005
quotequote all
The damage is not going to be so bad if the head is not warped.

pmanson

Original Poster:

13,387 posts

258 months

Friday 7th January 2005
quotequote all
edc said:
The damage is not going to be so bad if the head is not warped.


I'm guessing i won't know that until they have the engine in bits though.

I thought i could just start putting some cash away (Poor student) so that if the worst happens i'll have most of the cash I need there to get it repaired.

iguana

7,047 posts

265 months

Friday 7th January 2005
quotequote all
Doing it your self or garage?

Self= about £20 for gasket, £20 for head bolts £10 for antifreeze & a plaster for those skimmed knuckes

Garage, hmm bit of a gestimate, but shoudlnt charge you more than say 3-5 hours work at whatever their labour rate is, doubtfull its mega warped & a head skim is not much dosh.

Check absoltely everywhere for coolant loss tho, all cars steam lots from the exhaust this time of year on those damp chilly days so its no great warning sign.

Its worth presuringing the system before the head gets whipped off- a garage will use sort of a bicycle pump that fits on the expension tank to pressureise the system.

pmanson

Original Poster:

13,387 posts

258 months

Friday 7th January 2005
quotequote all
iguana said:
Doing it your self or garage?

Self= about £20 for gasket, £20 for head bolts £10 for antifreeze & a plaster for those skimmed knuckes

Garage, hmm bit of a gestimate, but shoudlnt charge you more than say 3-5 hours work at whatever their labour rate is, doubtfull its mega warped & a head skim is not much dosh.

Check absoltely everywhere for coolant loss tho, all cars steam lots from the exhaust this time of year on those damp chilly days so its no great warning sign.

Its worth presuringing the system before the head gets whipped off- a garage will use sort of a bicycle pump that fits on the expension tank to pressureise the system.



Just been to Halfwits and got some antifreeze. I left my car in the car park and went with someone else. Just been down and topped up the antifreeze as far as I can see it hadn't lost any in the last 2 weeks. Topped it up slightly. (So fingers crossed I haven't acutally got a problem)

It just seems to get quite warm in traffic. If you stop for more than a moment the guage just seems to start creeping up. Could just be a normal trait though.

trooperiziz

9,457 posts

257 months

Friday 7th January 2005
quotequote all
iguana said:
Doing it your self or garage?

Self= about £20 for gasket, £20 for head bolts £10 for antifreeze & a plaster for those skimmed knuckes


It's a pretty easy job to DIY if you have any inclination. I did mine over the course of a weekend and I'm an idiot