Head Gasket gone.....I think...advice please!

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goodfella
Posts: 98
Joined: Mon May 09, 2005 4:56 pm
Location: Birmingham

Head Gasket gone.....I think...advice please!

Post by goodfella »

Hi,

The car overheated a few times last month whilst being driven by my father, thought the system may have been suffering from an airlock etc but I had a sniff-test performed and it came back with gases detected....meaning of course head gasket failure.

Ive been reading around posts from the past and many people have said not to trust the sniff test as a definite method therefore meaning it might not be my head gasket etc. Theres no mayo to be found but Im stuck as to what to do now.

I love my car but I dont have the time, money (especially at the moment) or general means, due parking my car on the road near London, Im not mechanically gifted really, although I love to have a crack at trying to do most things myself.....this however seems beyond my abilities.
Overall though, what do people recommend I do in first def confirming it is the head gasket, let alone go about fixing it. I read someone said its easier to fit a new engine??.....has anyone had good experience of doing this? Sounds far fetched to me but Ive been told its cheaper.

Other advice was to sell the car as is....like I said Im not really in the financial position given Ive been told the bill from a garage could be £500+ and the cars only prob worth £1200 maybe, I love my MR2 and its mint all over so perhaps this is best, im torn.

Any advice or thoughts are welcome.

Thanks.
PW@Woodsport
Posts: 7642
Joined: Tue Dec 14, 2004 6:40 pm
Location: durham
Contact:

Re: Head Gasket gone.....I think...advice please!

Post by PW@Woodsport »

If you trailer it to me (durham), i will perform a leakdown/coolant inspection test for free to put you on the right road, sorry i cannot offer a repair because we don't do that, but it will be 100% conclusive if it helps you out. All other tests have margin for error and are not accurate at HG diagnosis.
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dylbie
Posts: 195
Joined: Thu Nov 01, 2007 10:15 am
Location: Bath, UK

Re: Head Gasket gone.....I think...advice please!

Post by dylbie »

Is the car overheating when you drive it and is it still doing it now? It may be ok temporarily.

My headgasket blew up in a big way last summer. Although my car was overheating for a good few thousand miles before that. I think I had a minor leak as it just seemed to loose water very slowly and when it ran out it overheated. I just used to carry a couple of bottles of water and keep it topped up. Then I decided it would be a good idea to try and keep up with a BMW M5 and it 'let go' in a big way. The engine was actually pumping water out of the cooling system.

If you do decide to change the headgasket its a fairly straightforward job if you have a haynes manual and correct tools. If you take it to a garage, it's probably easier to buy and engine from ebay or someone here and have the garage fit it.[/i]
goodfella
Posts: 98
Joined: Mon May 09, 2005 4:56 pm
Location: Birmingham

Re: Head Gasket gone.....I think...advice please!

Post by goodfella »

Thats very kind Paul, il asses the situation at this end, being in London and only owning 1 car may make this difficult for me but il def consider it if I can get to you.

I remember you helped me out with my cambelt slip some time ago now, I really appreciated your help there, thanks again!

Rich.
PW@Woodsport
Posts: 7642
Joined: Tue Dec 14, 2004 6:40 pm
Location: durham
Contact:

Re: Head Gasket gone.....I think...advice please!

Post by PW@Woodsport »

Not a problem, the offer is there :thumleft:
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