Blown Head Gasket Help!!

[kiraly_75]

Okay my car has finally died in the .. at first i thought it was a leak becasue it wasn't really pointin to the signs of a blown head and about 20 mintues ago when i parked at my house i though i'd take a quick look to check up on it..

I was horrified the dip stick was watery and milky, coolant was blowning bubbles and the car started to sound like .

now would it be cheaper to just get a new gasket or a whole engine(if so how much), the car has done 247,000 km so im leaning to the engine please help....

[AU2PWR]

Might be Cheaper these days to find a Low K's AU Engine , some can be found for about 500 bucks ..

[ratter]

Price depends on how much you can do yourself, but you have to remember that these engines are very common for blowing headgaskets, so you may buy and fit a 2nd hand motor and then have a blown headgasket in a few months time and you'll be back to square 1.


If your motor appeared to be ok before blowing the gasket, you are better off replacing the gasket and maching the head and at least that way you should be ok for a while

[kiraly_75]

thanks for your help guys i found this on ebay just before...

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/Good-low-K-AU...QQcmdZViewItem

i rang around before aswell and to replace a head gasket would be any where between 700 - 1200 dollars

[RG]

Originally Posted by ratter

Price depends on how much you can do yourself, but you have to remember that these engines are very common for blowing headgaskets, so you may buy and fit a 2nd hand motor and then have a blown headgasket in a few months time and you'll be back to square 1.


If your motor appeared to be ok before blowing the gasket, you are better off replacing the gasket and maching the head and at least that way you should be ok for a while

AU common for blowing head gaskets? Unless it's an early AUI I haven't heard of any. Best off to get an engine from an AUII/III.

[Casper]

Originally Posted by RedXR347

AU common for blowing head gaskets? Unless it's an early AUI I haven't heard of any. Best off to get an engine from an AUII/III.

Agreed, this is the first AU head gasket I've ever heard of that has blown.

[Mr Hardware]

the AU has a steel head gasket and i've seen dozens of cabs cover hundreds of thousands of kilometres without need for a new head gasket

[FGII-XR6]

Originally Posted by kiraly_75

thanks for your help guys i found this on ebay just before...

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/Good-low-K-AU...QQcmdZViewItem

i rang around before aswell and to replace a head gasket would be any where between 700 - 1200 dollars

they sell a lot of engines and have had good reports they will also fit it for a reasonable cost too if you want. as for if the AUs blow head gasgets it's true they are reliable in this department provided you look after them but some people still think coolant is a plat to rip you off so if the last owner of your car was one of these the damage could have already have been done. good quality coolant is your friend

[StealthAu]

I think you'd find its much cheaper and easier to just replace the head gasket, with the right tools wont take more then a couple of hours. If you can't do it yourself I still think you'd get charged less for replacing a gasket then the whole motor. I'd be guessing labour wouldn't be much different either way but a gasket is alot cheaper then a decent motor.

[FGII-XR6]

Originally Posted by stockoau

I think you'd find its much cheaper and easier to just replace the head gasket, with the right tools wont take more then a couple of hours. If you can't do it yourself I still think you'd get charged less for replacing a gasket then the whole motor. I'd be guessing labour wouldn't be much different either way but a gasket is alot cheaper then a decent motor.

but remember you have to have the head machined too so really the cost would probably be clost to having a low K engine fitted and cheaper to fit an engine your self. not machining the head will see the job being done again in 12 months

[robbo_yobbo]

Originally Posted by kiraly_75

thanks for your help guys i found this on ebay just before...

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/Good-low-K-AU...QQcmdZViewItem

i rang around before aswell and to replace a head gasket would be any where between 700 - 1200 dollars

Thats daylight robbery!

The gasket itsellf is worth no more then a bag of potato chips (okay a little bit more) and installing it is more or less a matter of undoing a few bolts and then tightening them back up once its on.

Invest in a gregories manual and a set of sockets and do it yourself. just because its a big problem to have, doesnt make it an overly difficult (or expensive) one to fix. and for that sort of money, you can afford to take the whole week off work to do it (even though you'll probably just get it done on a saturday morning/arvo anyway - that leaves you the rest of the week to run a muck).
Those manuals pretty much describe everything well enough for a 3 year old to strip the whole motor down and rebuild it themselves

If there charging 700-1200 just to replace the gasket, imagine what they'll stab you for for the whole engine, so as stated above, unless the engines pretty dead other than the head gasket, just do the gasket!

Originally Posted by au3xr6

but remember you have to have the head machined too so really the cost would probably be clost to having a low K engine fitted and cheaper to fit an engine your self. not machining the head will see the job being done again in 12 months

Only if the head has warped, if its just the gasket, then its just the gasket.

[FGII-XR6]

Originally Posted by robbo_yobbo

Only if the head has warped, if its just the gasket, then its just the gasket.

No alloy heads must be machined as the warp slightly when you remove them ( the old cast iron didn't have this issue but were so heavy) if you don't get it machined you'll be doing it all again in 12 months or less. i've seen so many people think yea just bun on a new gasket and they don't listen when you say skim it none have gone more than a year. also if coolant hasn't been used for an extended period at any time you'll need repairs to the water jackets. it's actually an easier job to swap engines than do a head gasket

[AU2PWR]

A Reco 100k is AU motor is Cheap at 330bucks , I just bought the one off Ebay ..

[mik]

a change over head is another option if the valve gear is gettin tired, does any one how much a change over is?

[waggaclint]

well mate im a mechanic and if i was you i would go that motor of ebay....buy the time you get your head machined etc (if it is repairable maybe have a crack etc it) it will cost you more than the engine...and if you do get ya head fixed youl end up with i 240.000km eng with a new head...youd be better of going with the engine...id find out if they give warranty with engine but hey....just my 2cents anyway...hopefully it all works out for ya....

[FGII-XR6]

the mob on ebay at logan city give 3 months warranty