i have just been told my head gasket is blown on my 1.6 petrol 1991 golf driver but quote from people have been in the hundereds. i have various website from vw parts saying gasket sets can be bought for 30ish so whats the deal with the expensive quotes? is it just all labour costs? what would it involve a garage doing? is there any other way to get my car running without overheating and blowing steam everywhere. its not even worth 200 itself so i wont be paying that to fix it.
2007-06-23 08:30:45 · 20 answers · asked by simlane 1 in Cars & Transportation ➔ Maintenance & Repairs
Replacing a head gasket is a tedious job. It entails great skill, extra care, and right knowledge. Doing it otherwise will cost you more than 100 times the gasket itself. The gasket is really not expensive but the labor to replace your old and put a new one is really a big deal. The mechanic will perform a lot of task before he can get to your old head gasket. He will have to remove a lot of stuffs in your engine like the valve cover, spark plugs, intake and exhaust manifold, drive belts, timing belt cover, timing belt, pull out the cylinder head, scrape the old head gasket, clean the surface, put a new one in, bolt the head cylinder back on at a correct sequence and torque properly, reset the valve timing and put back all that was removed previously and etc etc... A blown head gasket may be remedied with an additive you add to your oil to stop the leak between water and oil, but that is absolutely temporary...
Mechanics who do this kind of laborious job should deserved to be paid more than what they can do unlike lawyers who are paid just to get consulted and doing nothing... he he he enjoy your car.
2007-06-23 13:17:41 · answer #1 · answered by jsc_ny 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
changing the head gasket is the best part of a days labour which accounts for the charges. around £30 is about right for a gasket but most of the cost is labour. There isnt any other way round it really, if you keep using it with a blown head gasket youll get water in the oil and an overheated engine which will cost even more to fix!!
2007-06-23 22:02:47 · answer #2 · answered by vdv_desantnik 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
First a garage does not buy its bits at Internet prices. Second, motor fitters earn good money Most garages charge £100 an hour for labour,half for the fitter and half for the firm ! So a job estimated to take 2 hours would be £200 plus parts plus VAT.,Which would probably end up with a nearly £300 bill.Either get a pal to do the job for say a £100 plus your parts off the net, or scrap the Golf and use the money as a deposit on something newer.
2007-06-23 08:50:01 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
To be honest, if your car isn't worth £200 then you're best off looking to scrap the one you have and getting another.
The head gasket is the seal between the top of the engine block (which contains the crank and pistons) and the cylinder head (which contains the valves to get the air/fuel mixture in and exhaust out of the engine). It is a relatively cheap piece of material to purchase, but the time it takes to fit is the problem.
Have a look on ebay or autotrader for a replacement car. For £2-300 you'll get a perfectly servicable car, then just run that until it collapses.
Failing that, if you've got a mate who's "good with cars" then he/she might give you a hand to fix it at a much cheaper price.
2007-06-23 08:45:49 · answer #4 · answered by cm_carey 3 · 3⤊ 0⤋
Hi, the fluctuation in price will be a mixture of quality of gasket and high priced retailers.
You can buy a product call ceel-it (not 100% on the spelling) which acts as a cement and fills the gap in the head gasket. This method is in no way guaranteed to work but it might get you another 3-6 months of use out of the car.
2007-06-23 08:50:55 · answer #5 · answered by mazopops 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The labour involved in removing the head, replacing the gasket, re-fitting the head, and then setting everything up again (especially now that most cars have overhead camshafts) is quite considerable.
£200 is reasonable if it includes the parts, and a warranty on the workmanship.
If you want to run a car on the cheap, you have to learn how to repair it for yourself, and invest in a decent set of workshop tools and a workshop manual.
2007-06-24 21:53:35 · answer #6 · answered by Neil 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
The head gasket itself is cheap. On the other hand, it takes a few hours and it will cost you in labour. But having said that, if you need ahead gasket replacement, you should do it now unless you plan on buying a new engine soon.
2016-05-18 03:42:39 · answer #7 · answered by ? 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
you already know your solution. buy another car. it's not worth investing all that money into a repair that will exceed the cost of the car. anyways, most times your engine has to be removed from the vehicle to perform the fix. if you can find a used 1.6 engine to replace the defective one, it may be cheaper than a head gasket repair, but you'll still have to pay for labor costs. the bulk of a head gasket repair quote is labor.
2007-06-23 14:28:29 · answer #8 · answered by Guy 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
That is a good price. The head gasket sits between the engine block and the cylinder head and as it resists the forces of the combusion engine it is a pretty robust peice of kit. It is very important to get a quality gasket so I suggest £30 is a good rate.
2007-06-23 08:35:40 · answer #9 · answered by kunt 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Well consider the fact that they will have to remove the whole top half of your engine - possibly have the cylinder head skimmed to make sure it is straight and hasn't warped due to overheating - then they have to rebuild the whole thing again.
You are looking at about £200 - £250 labour costs (depends on car) + gasket + Timing belt (possibly) + VAT.
2007-06-23 08:38:00 · answer #10 · answered by jamand 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋