Head Gasket :(

choness2004

Torque Junkie
Points
67
Location
Waterlooville, Hampshire,
Car
Honda Civic EG
Well the inevatable has happened, the head gasket has gone on my little Saxo :( I have been looking around for quotes and it seems like it will cost me around £500!

The cheapest I got is £320, but that means driving to Gatwick from Portsmouth, which is something I really dont want to do. My only other option is to get an engine conversion done on her. I have found a Saxo VTR that I have have for £200, and it was in a rear end smash, written off but the engine and gearbox work fine.

I have been looking at quotes for getting it done, so anything less than £300 for the conversion and it will be done. Does anyone know what sort of places I should be looking at for an engine conversion to be done? And how much people think it would roughly cost?

Cheers.
 
Nooo! Sorry to hear that. Did it overheat or did it just go on you?

To be brutally practical you have to ask yourself what the car will be worth when the work is done? Would it be cheaper to put the good parts from your car onto another Saxo?

It's times like this you need a mate who is a mechanic to help you out.
 
I only found out as I was topping up the screen wash, was a lot of oil every where, none left in the engine, very low amount of engine coolant and the brown-mayo type stuff where the oil should be. Just added it all up tbh.

Ive spoken to a few people, and they think I would be better off either trying to sell for for around £400-£500 and getting something new. That or sticking a whole new engine in, as the car is too good to scrap.

Will have to see how it goes over the next few days though :(
 
Sorry to hear the bad news! If the car is generally reliable and you like it, then I see no reason not to put another engine in it. ;)

Good luck!
 
I work as a mechanic and I find those prices shocking. They're a pretty simple engine and I can't understand why the garage is quoting so much. If I was doing one I'd charge £50 for labour and a gasket would be £30 give or take a few quid. That's as long as there was no damage to the head or the block. To swap an engine over, I'd charge £150, have the car in and out of the garage the same day.

I think you're getting a good deal on the VTR for breaking. When you take the engine out the shell will still weigh around 650kg and you can weigh it in for around £100.
 
My concern would be why has the gasket gone? They don't normally go unless womething has moved out of line. Overheating will probably result in something warping. Changing the gasket is simple but may not solve the problem. Best to get the head and block faces checked for trueness before possibly wasting money on just replacing the gasket,
 
I work as a mechanic and I find those prices shocking. They're a pretty simple engine and I can't understand why the garage is quoting so much. If I was doing one I'd charge £50 for labour and a gasket would be £30 give or take a few quid. That's as long as there was no damage to the head or the block. To swap an engine over, I'd charge £150, have the car in and out of the garage the same day.

I think you're getting a good deal on the VTR for breaking. When you take the engine out the shell will still weigh around 650kg and you can weigh it in for around £100.


should get more than that for a scrap shell at the moment!
the recycling yard in Ivor is paying the most near me at the moment!
and if you charge that little for that work i want to know where you are based!
how much to do a mk2 mondeo 1.8 clutch? lol
sorry, didn't mean to thread jack!!!

if you could get it up to mine to do the work, i'd just do it to help you out. would give me something to do for a day!
 
I work as a mechanic and I find those prices shocking. They're a pretty simple engine and I can't understand why the garage is quoting so much. If I was doing one I'd charge £50 for labour and a gasket would be £30 give or take a few quid. That's as long as there was no damage to the head or the block. To swap an engine over, I'd charge £150, have the car in and out of the garage the same day.

I think you're getting a good deal on the VTR for breaking. When you take the engine out the shell will still weigh around 650kg and you can weigh it in for around £100.


i to am a mechanic and my my garage would charge about that as you have to cover for everything cambelt water pump stat gaskets
and also the fact it might not be simple job have done one of them in a hour before but then other times has taken me all day due to snapped bolts ect

and if you are charging that much on pj's i would put your prices up lol
i would not even think about doing it for that little i would want 100 quid min for it

or maybe its cos i dont really like doing them so they have to be worth my time doing them

but back to the topic i would just put it on ebay some mechanic will buy it know i would if i was closer and had less cars
 
Cheers fot that guys, have me alot to think about! A quick update now though, the engine I was going to be buying is no longer for sale as the seller has decided he wants to keep it. I cant find a good local one that cheap so the Saxo is up for sale and is on eBay finishing later today. On the plus side of things, there is another Saxo on the Isle Of Wight that I might buy. Is a white VTR, black alloys, coilovers and a scorpion exhaust already. Sounds good to me tbh :)
 

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