08-26-2004, 09:00 AM | #21 |
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Join Date: May 21, 2004
Location: Hiram\'s lap
Age: 55
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Okay...now my face is REALLY red. But only because I've even heard *men* refer to the valve cover gasket as the "head gasket", so it's not entirely my fault.
I was not aware they were *supposed* to be two different things. And yes, *I* was thinking it was the same when giving my advice. So henceforth, I shall withhold my advice on these matters lest I give more support to the idea that women know nothing about cars or engines. *sigh* |
08-26-2004, 11:12 AM | #22 |
The Magister
Join Date: September 2, 2001
Location: Perth, Western Australia
Age: 39
Posts: 104
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Lots of good points in here, especially from Animal IMHO.
Couple of things i reckon need to be stressed however: There must have been a reason for the gasket to blow in the first place. Use new head bolts! You dont want the new gasket to blow again straight away! To answer you directly Intrepid, prices for head gasket replacement are something like $1500-2000 Australian... And i would be pretty skeptical about buying a car, however cheap, with a blown head gasket, as there must have been a reason for it to blow in the first place What sort of car/engine is it?
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08-26-2004, 11:45 AM | #23 |
40th Level Warrior
Join Date: October 29, 2001
Location: Western Wilds of Michigan
Posts: 11,752
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No worries, Lady Sedai. The first time I took my 72 Nova in to get the head gasket changed, the mechanic looked at me funny and asked me to show him what I wanted replaced. Then he educated me [img]smile.gif[/img]
As you can see, I learned a little bit from that. And now, you are ready to go humiliate those nancy-boy men who think they know more about cars than you do [img]smile.gif[/img] BTW, by the time I got to the fourth head gasket replacement, I learned another lesson. A "head gasket kit" came with the three (or four) needed gasket and a new set of valves (I think). If I just bought the gaskets, the price dropped from $33 to $12. Although I did have quite a nice collection of brand new Datsun 310 valves... Brought in a different friend to help me with that one...
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08-26-2004, 01:44 PM | #24 |
Symbol of Cyric
Join Date: March 28, 2003
Location: Australia
Age: 37
Posts: 1,124
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1990 Mitsubishi Magna Elite TP, 2.6L fuel injected, overhead cam, 4 cylinder.
226,000 km I bought it for $300 AUD, and it is fine, i took it to a friend mechanic and he said if in fact it was the head gasket it wasn't a major leak, he suggested i leave it for a thorough check up though, anyway he offered the head gasket job for $700 if nessicary. It's just i'd rather not pay more in repairs than i did for the car, so i might just leave it if it isn't critical, i mean the car does blow a little damp, white smoke, but as long as i keep a regular eye on the temp, oil and coolant level it should be ok. |
08-26-2004, 02:42 PM | #25 |
Manshoon
Join Date: September 28, 2001
Location: The Netherlands
Age: 39
Posts: 209
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man, we got some engineers here!
when you let it replace the repair costs are alway greater then the costs of the parts!
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08-26-2004, 02:59 PM | #26 |
Fzoul Chembryl
Join Date: August 30, 2001
Location: somewhere
Age: 54
Posts: 1,785
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I would not. A blown head gasket is the equivalent of a heart attack for cars. It bespeaks an engine that's had it's time. One that's dying. Most head gaskets fail due to some form of overheating damage. Overheating usually occurs over time from low coolant usually caused by a slow leak. Temperature gauges are notoriously inaccurate if the coolant is low, but not critical. Warped/cracked heads are just the most visible damage. The main and throw bearings could be well out of specs now. Loose bearings cause low oil pressure and/or leaks which in turn unduly wears the engine and causes excess heat from friction.
I unknowingly bought a used car that had suffered a blown gasket from overheating and poor maintenance. Luckily, I got a warranty and watched the oil pressure. They had to replace every crankshaft bearing and the piston rings before the oil pressure was back in the green. I helped one kid replace a blown head gasket and he threw a rod less than four months later. A lack of regular maintenance was the culprit for the engines poor condition.
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08-26-2004, 04:33 PM | #27 |
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Join Date: January 6, 2003
Location: NJ, USA
Age: 25
Posts: 550
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Back in college, I helped a friend build down his girlfriend's 4-cylander GM engine to the block to change the head gasket. It took days. And then when we built it back up, it had zero compression (bad). So we built it back down again. And again. And again. And again. Finally, hwen we built it down the last time, we took a ruler out to see if the block was affected. The ruler could not be laid flat on the block (She had Warped the surface of the Block!!! It was a Solid Steel block. Do you have any idea how much punishment you have to put a Solid Steel block through to warp its surface? Its equivolent to a tank's Armor Plate).
I stopped, put my ratchet down and said to him in my calmest voice, "Mark, you're going to need a new engine. And maybe some driving lessons for your girlfriend."
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08-26-2004, 05:12 PM | #28 |
Unicorn
Join Date: October 4, 2001
Location: Kingdom of the West,..P.o. Cynagus
Posts: 4,212
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Oh you're talking about cars...I thought you were talking about those paper thingies in the 'head'.
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08-27-2004, 05:16 PM | #29 | |
Gold Dragon
Join Date: March 29, 2002
Location: Canada
Age: 52
Posts: 2,534
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Quote:
And YES, even a small leak will cause big problems. There's a reason why the oil and coolant are seperate!
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