Head gasket/s

[Roadrunner]

Just been told one of the head gaskets on my car has gone - anyone know what sort of cost I can expect to get it fixed? Will replace both, and the work will be done by a non-franchise garage, so really just looking for info on the cost of parts and an idea of man-hours to do the job.

Thanks in advance,
Brian

[Kieran]

If dave's post is anything to go by, you get a Gasket kit - which contains more gaskets than you need.

The thread with prices is below. Gawd knows how long it'd take to do it though...

http://www.clubvr4.com/forum/showthread.php?t=4029

[enigma]

In addition to this I would expect about 5-6 hours labour PLUS the time it takes to figure out why it went in the first place. No point just replacing it and not knowing the cause........it may just 'go' again! You could be in to head skimming which will mean more hours stripping the heads etc etc.

While you are at it it may be an idea to change the cambelt (it has to come off anyway) the tensioner and the water pump. Will only add £150 to the bill and its worth the peace of mind!

Will be interested to know why it went, you are not running stupid boost are you? I have, and the gasket seemed to cope ok......

Good luck!

[Roadrunner]

Will be interested to know why it went

Good point, Dave.

Thanks guys. I'm waiting for the quote for the work, but it doesn't sound like it'll be too harsh by what you've said so far.

The engine's standard, apart from the BDA de-cat. It's done 86k (pretty much trouble-free) miles, had all the belts replaced at the 81k service (because that was 54k after they were done before), and just had the oil & filter changed last Saturday. It was the technician who did the oil change who alerted me to the car losing water and the guy who does most of the work on my car identified the head gasket problem with a pressure test this morning. That initial investigation suggests a break between the water jacket and the exhaust because he reports a smell of antifreeze.

I guess it'll need the heads off to work out what's happened. I'll keep you posted.

Cheers,
Brian

[jerryd_33]

think they will get the HEAD GASKET from Mitsubishi Dealers. I am saying this because after having my sparkplug cover off, saw an un-used tab of my cars head gasket and it appears to be metalic. That makes me think that our cars come standard with METAL HEAD GASKETS.
That might be pointless, but watch out for how much they charge you for PARTS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[jerryd_33]

Me again, would help you more if you got prices from Mitsubishi Dealer and another independant Trader for parst needed.

[wirdy]

As I remember it - Some time ago Brian got the head gasket work done.

I'm sure he'll elaborate more if you need any more info.

[Roadrunner]

Yep, the head gaskets were done at the end of July last year. Got the heads skimmed 0.008" as a precaution. Did the valve-stem oil seals at the same time, and another timing belt. 24 hours labour in total and all for a very reasonable £1200. And I had a TT Supra as a courtesy car for the week )