Blown Head Gasket? And price to fix?

[johnk12845]

Hello all,
I just recently bought a 2g eclipse for $1500 and it is in good shape with 77k miles. The possible problem with it is a blown or cracked head gasket. The car runs smoothly(Only know this from driving it from the tags place to the mechanic shop). It did not have any sort of knock from what I could tell, the car sounds perfectly fine with no smoke, nothing. The guy I bought it from said that the mechanic he brought it to said it was a cracked head gasket and that oil was leaking into the coolant. But you wouldn't be able to tell that the head gasket was cracked from just a visual inspection would you?

What are the symptoms of a blown head gasket that I should look for myself? And also what would be the price of the repair at a mechanic shop since I could not do it myself? It is on the 420a motor and I heard that it is an easier repair since you only have to remove half of the motor to get to the gasket.

I have had the car at the shop since the 23rd when I bought it, and it has just been so suspenseful for me to figure out what is actually wrong with it. I guess I dropped it off at the worst time possible, due to the holidays, so it wont be done until next monday or tuesday at the latest. If you all could help me out here, and let me know whats up with it blown or not that would be great. And also I am not looking to spend over $1000 on repairs. Only that much because it has a lot of money into it in parts, so it will be perfect with a perfect running engine.

Thanks!

 

[rlacasse1]

One old trick is to take off your radiator cap and crank the car over and if it throws a bunch of coolant out then the headgasket is shot. You can take off the valve cover and look for white mud looking shit that will build up as a result of coolant entering the oil. And you can look for oil in the coolant as well.

You will save a lot of money if you do this yourself if you have the know how.

 

[johnk12845]

One old trick is to take off your radiator cap and crank the car over and if it throws a bunch of coolant out then the headgasket is shot. You can take off the valve cover and look for white mud looking shit that will build up as a result of coolant entering the oil. And you can look for oil in the coolant as well.

You will save a lot of money if you do this yourself if you have the know how.

Don't really have the know how =P How much would it cost me at a shop? I was told that it would give out a nasty white or blue smoke out of the exhaust if it was a leak into the pistons. But also I was told it could be a crack in between the coolant and oil chamber and they're mixing with each other? Which couldn't possibly be spotted in a visual inspection.

 

[rlacasse1]

Yeah you won't see a blown head gasket unless it is leaking at the very edge. And yeas smoke is a good indicator.

 

[talondave]

Put a boost leak tester on your throttle body and pump about 20psi in there, and see if there is any bubbles coming up out of your coolant..

Doing this doesn't always tell you that its a bad head gasket, but its worth a shot..

 

[johnk12845]

Would a car run smoothly with no knocks, no smoke, seem COMPLETELY fine with something wrong with the head gasket?

 

[GooeyGus]

Did you check the oil on the dipstick? If it looks like coffee with creamer, it's oil and coolant mixing.

If it does look like coffee, chances are it's the headgasket. I'm not sure if the 420a's have a wateril oil cooler, but that's worth looking at as well.

 

[talondave]

Would a car run smoothly with no knocks, no smoke, seem COMPLETELY fine with something wrong with the head gasket?

Very much can.. The gasket could be fine around the pistons, but not around the oil ports and coolant ports...

 

[johnk12845]

And one of my questions didn't get answered yet, how much would the average repair of the head gasket be? With this specific car in mind.

 

[talondave]

And one of my questions didn't get answered yet, how much would the average repair of the head gasket be? With this specific car in mind.

Id say around $400 if you do it your self.. $60 for a head gasket $130 for the timing belt kit, you might as well do the valve seals while the head is off, $30, the machine shop is going to be around $100, then you have coolant, oil, intake gasket and exhast gasket.. $400 might be high or it could be low, depends on what brand gaskets you get and what the machine shop will charge..

Now if you have a shop do it, it could cost from $800 to $1500 depends on where and who you have do it.

 

[constant_proj21]

I believe it's 6 hours shop time (don't quote me), plus parts, and labor. Check around on how much parts will be, and find out what your local shop charges, and you will have an idea. You could just call a shop, tell then your make/model/year, and they can give you an estimate.

 

[johnk12845]

Yea, the parts for it is only $100 if that. The expensive part is obviously the labor, and the more laborous part is apparently having the stuff sent to the machine shop to be fixed. I don't know if my headgasket messed up the head at all, I am really hoping it didn't!

 

[talondave]

Yea, the parts for it is only $100 if that. The expensive part is obviously the labor, and the more laborous part is apparently having the stuff sent to the machine shop to be fixed. I don't know if my headgasket messed up the head at all, I am really hoping it didn't!

$100??? Yea maybe for just the head gasket, Theres alot more then just the head gasket!! Like the timing belt! Are you going to reuse that???--(Not smart)

 

[johnk12845]

$100??? Yea maybe for just the head gasket, Theres alot more then just the head gasket!! Like the timing belt! Are you going to reuse that???--(Not smart)

I'm not exactly sure. I was told that a whole head gasket kit + a timing belt was somewhere around $100. If a head gasket is blown, does it pretty much always need head work?

 

[talondave]

I'm not exactly sure. I was told that a whole head gasket kit + a timing belt was somewhere around $100. If a head gasket is blown, does it pretty much always need head work?

No not always, I'v had head gaskets go bad with out having to get machine work done, but it doesn't hurt to get the head checked just incase.. They will check it for next to nothing, and tell you if its needed or not..

 

[92AWDHX40]

If its blown dont tear down the head just resurface it if it needs and then get a new gasket. Ive done them without doing any head work or even resurfacing and ive had no problems with thousands of miles after i changed it. Some heads may need to be taken apart to get the valves out to do a resurface.

 

[constant_proj21]

If I had to take a guess, at a normal shop including parts and labor, it's gonna run ya around $600. Depending on shop costs. I doubt you will need head work, and I highly doubt a headgasket, timing belt, accessory belts, and headstuds (if needed), are gonna be $100.

 

[BogusSVO]

the machine shop work would be close to this.... But this pricing is going to be in my areae, it may be mor or less in your area....

Keep in mind the machine shop will try to "upsell" you on some services....

at a min this should be done....

head cleaned and checked for warp...................$25.00

now they will probly want to do this also...
Pressure test the head for cracks....... $40.00
surface the head................................$40.00
Valve job...........................................$160.00

if you do have the head surfaced... be carful of what equipment they use..... if it is a belt surfacer... find another shop.....

 

[Beemer92]

I'm not exactly sure. I was told that a whole head gasket kit + a timing belt was somewhere around $100. If a head gasket is blown, does it pretty much always need head work?

Wow. Someone was BSing you on the price. I paid about $130 for a TB kit without a headgasket or new hydro tensioner on my 4G63T. And I still had to get a new hydro tensioner which was $75. On the headgasket problem, Drop the oil in the pan. If it looks like a runny chocolate milkshake, then you need a new headgasket. It's also gonna need a headgasket if it's smoking really bad. It also wouldn't hurt to have a different upper deck on standby. Aluminum can warp. If you can pull the head yourself, you can save a ton. May I also recommend the metal headgasket. The felt one isn't very good for high HP.

 

[johnk12845]

Yea I'm hoping that the repairs won't cost me too much and that the car will end up being reliable