[photobug]

I have a blown head gasket. My car has leaked fluid a couple of times in recent years and overheated, resulting in the blown gasket.

It has been about 60k miles since I bought the car at which time I had the timing belt and water pump done. Should I do it now when I do the head gasket?

What are the chances my head is warped? What would that cost to get repaired if so?

 

[S2K2K4]

To have a shop replace the gasket and requisite services, depends on your location. Where you are, an estimate of $700 wouldn't shock me. Since doing the head gasket requires removing the timing belt and all that jazz and you already have 60k since that service was done, then yes I would recommend doing the timing belt and water pump service as well. What can it hurt after all. As long as you shut the car off when it started to overheat then I would say that your head should be fine, but you can have it tested once its off the motor.

 

[photobug]

To have a shop replace the gasket and requisite services, depends on your location. Where you are, an estimate of $700 wouldn't shock me.

I was actually planning on doing it myself. I had a friend in town who is a mechanic, said it would be easy. But now he is out of town for who knows how long, so I may have to do it myself.

 

[92integ]

yeah i agree with S2K2K4, do the timing belt and water pump now since it has been 60k miles its getting close to time so why not do it. If your gonna do the head gasket yourself and you take the head to a machine shop to get the head checked for any warping, around my area it usually cost around $150-$190 to have the head hot tanked and resurfaced if its warped.

If you've never done timing before id be very cautious when attempting it, these ARE interference engines so if you get the timing off by anymore than 3-4 teeth your valves and pistons will hit each other and bend valves or possibly worse....

 

[photobug]

I remember from back when I bought it and had the timing belt done, it was possible to ruin your engine. Maybe I will wait for him to get back into town to try it out.

 

[C25A1guy]

If you're doing it yourself, go ahead and replace that timing belt. I would recommend shipping the head off to a machine shop so they can clean it up for ya (just be sure to pull all the sensors off, because you won't get them back). They'll hot tank it, check for warping and probably take a few thousandths off so you have a clean surface for the new gasket to mate to. You'll also want to check the block deck for warpage as well. This is just using a straight edge and a feeler gauge. Your buddy will know exactly what to do. While the engine is apart, it would also be a good idea to pick up a full engine gasket set (it'll come in 2 sets: head gasket set and block gasket set). It's a little extra expense, but well worth it since you got downtime waiting on the head from the machine shop.