Head Gasket blown/'leaking'

B

Bob_K

Salut,

Following a radiator replacement last week I experienced rising temperatures on journeys of about an hour, and significant water/coolant loss.

I thought it has a duff radiator but it now appears to be a head and or gasket issue. Exhaust was detected in the coolant.

All three garages I approached quoted a minimum £600 for an engine rebuild. They all insisted that the chain would need to be replaced, and head skimmed amongst other things, in addition to the gasket change.

Can you guys confirm this is the case?

My options as I see them:

1) Rebuild the engine myself - If so, what should I expect to pay for skimming and anything else that should be replaced in the process.

2) Replace the engine. I'm interested only in a swap which dosen't require modifications to the chassis. This means a direct 998cc replacement, and or 1.3???

3)Scrap it! ... But I don't want to. Plus had all the sills welded over the last 18months so there is years left in the bodywork.

I am a novice, so either of these are likely to be big jobs for me but I'm hoping to try. In any case, can any gents (or ladies??) give me any practical advise, or direct me to step by step walk-throughs?

Oh! Which of the 2 procedures is easier?? I assume the engine replacement (assuming a fully functionally replacement?).
Engine hoists on ebay are about £120. Good enough quality-wise?

Any help appreciated.
 
I was given a 1.3GX 5 years ago because it had a blown head gasket (no.1 cylinder to coolant) - I replaced the head gasket myself, didn't skim the head, didn't replace the cam chain (either of them - they have 2...).
I have done this sort of thing before, however never on a DOHC 16V engine - I followed the instructions in the Haynes manual and 3 hours later had a working MOTable car.
You will need a good socket set, torque wrench and a quality head gasket set [inc. exhaust, inlet etc....].
Give it a go !
 
I did mine 3 weeks ago.
No way do you need the chain replacing. That advice is complete bs. They should last the life of the engine.
A new head gasket off eBay was £18 and a bottle of anti freeze was £5
If needed a head skim is about £40 but you won't know for sure if it's needed until you remove it.
It's not a bad job tbh but tricky if you don't know what your doing
 
HI all,

Thanks for your responses. I think I will give the gasket replacement a go, especially as if you say, the chain is not an issue. I was also told previously that these chains basically last the life of the engine, and in any case, there is no rattling from the chain at present so I assume it is not overly stretched. This engine has done 133k miles tho ..... any thoughts on that?

Can someone (on many-ones) confirm the circumstances underwhich the head/block would need skimming? Corrosion?

Also, on the off-chance that the block is actually warped, can it be salvaged by a skim? Might a new gasket negate any warping (and if so is it safe)? Or by any other method? Or is a warped block just well and truly 'borked'?

re: engine cranes - I have seen offers for hire (private individuals) at only a tenner a day, but the canes on ebay are only £120 brand spanking new. Given my current engine repair rebuild abilities I could well spend a couple weeks or more with the engine out so it seems a purchase would be worthwhile. BUT are the ebay hoists/cranes any good? I have no indication that they shouldn't be but frankly I expected hoists, in general, to cost more ... for no reason other than ignorance perhaps. So a £120 hoist won't simply crumble under the weight of an engine? Anyway, this might be moot if gasket change is successful!

I'm going to do a preliminary ebay check for gasket kits. Please do let me know of good/inexpensive/recommended kits.

Thanks all
 
Hi Bob. You don't need an engine hoist to do a head gasket :)
Also I do have an upper can chain sitting in my shed from a 65k engine so you could swap it whilst the head is off???
I have just remembered about a product that you add to the coolent that fixes head gasket failures 99% of the time or your money back!!!!! I will find a link for you :)
 
wehey said:
Here you go
http://www.steelseal.co.uk
Well worth a try imo as you have nothing to lose :)
Click to expand...


Thanks Wehey.

Hmmm! I've had a look online. There seems to be more success than failure with this product but I'm unsure.

I'd quite like to give it a go a temp fix so I can keep driving whilst I prepare for a gasket change but not if it will prevent said gasket replacement by gluing the engine block shut or otherwise damaging the engine which may yet be reparable.

Any views on this and similar products?
 
If you do try it shop around .. Its £29 odd on Amazon .... might be cheaper elsewhere :)

But having read many reports from Amazon customers I would advise to not use it.
Many state that not only didnt it work, it also blocked the radiator and heater matrix .....
 
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I got my engine crane from sgs engineering. Very well made, and then I resold it on ebay. It ended up cheaper than hiring one and I wasn't under any time constraints.
 
Agent_Sm1th said:
I got my engine crane from sgs engineering. Very well made, and then I resold it on ebay. It ended up cheaper than hiring one and I wasn't under any time constraints.
Click to expand...
^ Very much this. I bought a £120 eBay crane about 5 years ago on the basis that I could use it, resell it and save money on hiring. Since then its done at least a dozen Mr2 engine swaps and been used to lift cars of all sorts.

oxhqkus


But as has been said already, you don't need a crane to do a head gasket swap.

My advice would be to get the head off and inspect the head and block faces. If you've got exhaust gasses confirmed in the coolant, its probably going to be a gasket fail. If its failed. You're going to see track lines and possible corrosion.

Clean up the block, get the head skimmed (£40 would be my budget) and rebuild. If you're not convinced of the issue from inspecting the gasket, maybe get it crack tested too. If the problem persists, buy a crane and swap the the engine for a known good one.

Head gasket swaps are relatively straight forward, engine rebuilds are slightly more work, and if you're talking about getting the block decked etc, you're starting to pour money into an engine that could potentially have more issues. Swapping out for a known good engine would be a shorter / easier / prob cheaper path.

Or at least that's what I would do. :)

Chris.
 
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