Leak in a headgasket?

Question

My mechanic said that my headgasket is leaking and that he temporarilly fixed it. How long does that last? A week? Maybe 2 weeks? I'm looking for a new car right now.

A few more details. This is an old car '97 Saturn with 212,000 miles on it. I had taken the car into the shop for a broken motor mount. My mechanic fixed it but found the leaking headgasket. It has never leaked before and the car hasn't been in an accident. It's just old.

Answer 1

Got news for you. There is no temporary fix for a head gasket. You are welcome to try all of those snake-oil remedies, but I can tell you that you are going to be back to a shop having the job done again.

If you want this done correctly, you are going to have to bite the bullet, and do it right.

If also sounds like this particular car is a repeat offender in the Head Gasket Department. If this is the case, it means either the cylinder head is warpped or the block is warpped. This can happen if the engine has been severly overheated. Yes its possible to warp the block from overheating. It will deform enough to cause the cylinder head and the block to not mate properly when they are torqued together.

If the mechanic had doe the job correctly the first time, he should have checked both the block and the cylinder head for cracks and warpage. Then told you about either and how to correct this. In any event, my personal opinion is that the last mechanic who may have repaired this for you actually did you a dis-service by not informing you of what you really needed to repair.

At this point to get the repeat offender to quit popping head gaskets, you are going to need to have the cylinder block and head broached to return them back to "flat".

This is going to be a fairly expensive repair, and may indeed sway you to purchase a new or newer vehicle. Keep in mind though that the money that you are going to put out on a repair of this type, it would be a good idea to have the engine overhauled at this point. Nevertheless its still going to be cheaper than a new car that you will have to make payments on.

More than likely, plan on the job running about $2000.00+ to have the job done correctly. The other option is to locate an engine from a wrecking yard and have it installed into your vehicle. As long as the vehicle was not in a front-end collision, more than likely, then engine will be OK as a replacement for your car. Just be sure to have a qualified mechanic doing the work for you.

Sorry about the bad news, but I thought you had better know the truth about those "Nuts and Bolts in a Can" remedies.

Good Luck!

Answer 2

I have a solution for you, that will permanent fix you head gasket leaks..go online and buy a chemical called STEEL SEAL..yahoo search will direct you to the website where to buy..
If you have a 4 cylinder car..buy 1 bottle
6 cylinder buy 1 1/1 bottle
8 cylinder buy 2 botltes
Follow the direction that they will sent you with the bottle and make sure you follow their direction carefully otherwise it will not work..
It works for me many times and save alots of $$$$ and time..
If you are not sure, contact me for further direction

Answer 3

I "temporarily" fixed my head gasket on my car last winter.

I`m still good with 220 miles a week on the car.

1986 Plymouth reliant.

Answer 4

Tekkaman Saber they didn't say if it was taken apart or not just done a temporary fix.
could last longer than the car

Answer 5

Some temporary repairs will outlast the rest of the vehical. Your mechanic can't predict, so he 's being cautious

Answer 6

with engine running spray a liquid solution around the heaad gasket see if you notice any bubbles. if so you need to replace your head gasket.