blown head gasket

[Robotnik123]

Today I took my car into the main dealer to have them look at what I thought was a minor coolant system leak. I was having to top up the radiator every 2-3 weeks.

So they did a pressure test and found no leaks. Then they did a teekay test which apparently tests for the presence of hydrocarbons in the coolant system.

Anyway this test indicates that the car probably has a blown head gasket.

They said they'll have to take the head off to fix it and repairs will probably start at $2500 and could go up to $4000 even, they reckoned.

Can a teekay test give a wrong result? I have never seen any white stuff on the oil dipstick, white smoke out the tailpipe, misfires, a loss of power or anything. I told them this, but they say it must be in the early stages of the leak and fixing it is still going to cost a load of dough. I had a compression test done when I bought the car in Nov 05 too, and that was Ok

They also recommend a replacement waterpump, cambelt and such while the head is off.


Sadly the car has only done 75,000km and is otherwise in a perfect state - not a single ding at the moment. What do you guys reckon? I can pick up a new legnum off trademe for ~$7000-$8000 probably. Should I keep the car and get the repair done or dispose of it?

[BraindG]

Bummer

Could you not do the work yourself?, or is that to scary?

[Robotnik123]

Bummer

Could you not do the work yourself?, or is that to scary?

No, I don't think I could do it myself. I ain't much of a mechanic. I took the head off a morris minor once, but on a modern car, I doubt I could do it.

Does anyone know a cheaper-than-the-dealer mechanic who could do it? I live in Wellington, but could run it up to Auckland if necessary.

[Robotnik123]

Maybe I'll just buy an EVO.

[Gly]

evos are for boy racers,

TBO i would either just try the water pump and belts,

my water pump had a very minor leak and i had to top it up every now and then,

or get another running motor and have it fitted,
they can be had pretty cheap off Trademe when there on there,

kenneth got one just befor his crash for about $500,
he may have no use for it now??

[You See]

But if you want to stick with a VR4, for the right offer...you could have mine!
...and it has been known to beat evos

[Robotnik123]

This is very annoying really. The car is perfectly drivable, but the problem will probably get worse over time.

I can afford the repair, but is it worth it to have it done? I suppose I should've got some sort of mechanical warranty, but I didn't.

[richy rich]

id get a second opinion on this before forking out for a repair.

[Wouter]

Surely if it was the head gasket the water would contaminate the oil...

Is your oil the colour of mayonaise??

[Robotnik123]

Surely if it was the head gasket the water would contaminate the oil...

Is your oil the colour of mayonaise??

That's the thing, it isn't. All I know is they did a teekay test and the service technician has told me he is certain there is a blown head gasket.

I will have to get a 2nd opinion. I have always been a bit suspect about main dealers.

[Wouter]

I have always been a bit suspect about main dealers.

Thats why WRD was born!

[Robotnik123]

Thats why WRD was born!

Well I wish I was in Blighty, but I am not.

I am new to Mitsubishi and do not know any trustworthy Mitsi mechanics in my area. If it was a BMW, then no probs - having owned many BMWs. Sadly these diamond cars are a bit of an unknown quantity to me. I'd better find a deceent Mitsi mechanic for my second opinion. Any people here from Wellington, NZ that can recommend a good shop?

[Wouter]

It may be worth your while to shell out a bit and find a well known, respected performance garage that works on Evo's and GTO's. They will have worked hard for their rep and are more likely to give you a proper answer.

[Robotnik123]

It may be worth your while to shell out a bit and find a well known, respected performance garage that works on Evo's and GTO's. They will have worked hard for their rep and are more likely to give you a proper answer.

Yeah, there must be such a shop around here someplace. VR-4's, Evos and what not are everywhere on the street,

[Nutter_John]

You could always fly Rich out to you - prob being cheaper on the labor side

[Robotnik123]

You could always fly Rich out to you - prob being cheaper on the labor side

Yeah right. The UKP is like 3x the NZD. Haha. They'd charge me like a wounded bull if they billed in UKP!

[Robotnik123]

My mistrust of dealers is probably well founded I think. One time on my E34 525i BMW, the dealer told me I needed to overhaul the automatic transmission due to some error code the ECU threw up - a very expensive repair for sure - $2000+. Anyway 5 years later the transmission was still shifting perfectly... This sort of thing has made me wonder...

[agilroy]

You cant trust dealerships, I have seen and heard of some shocking stuff.
Its usually due to big ones being broken into teams, some of these teams have useless techs in them aswell as a useless service advisor / team leader which overall results in a generally useless team.

If I was you, I would get a cylinder leak down test performed. If there is a leak, the air pressure you fire into the cylinder will either cause bubbles to appear in the coolant system (radiator cap off for the test) or if its bad, coolant will shoot out like that Taupo gyser thingee.....

You dont always get Mayo with a blown head gasket, espec if its a real slight one as the coolant seeping in joins the combustion process and it may not have blown into one of the oil returns from the head back down to the block.

Cylinder leakage test is the only sure way to determine blown heads....

IMHO ofcourse.... my 2c

[bradc]

At 75k you are coming up to the recommended cambelt and water pump change anyway which should be done at about 80k. Why don't you do that first as you will need to do it anyway and see what happens then.

At the same time it can't hurt to take it somewhere else and see what they think about it.

[Robotnik123]

At the same time it can't hurt to take it somewhere else and see what they think about it.

Yeah I reckon I will. I'll have to ask on nzmmc.co.nz about a good mechanic- there are many welly guys there.