replacing head gasket

[Lesley Jones]

Can someone please tell me if a price in the region of £600 to £700 is a reasonable amount to expect to pay a garage to replace a head gasket to repair our car.
We have a P reg Astra 1.7 TDI with only about 65,000 miles on the clock and last night it died with a spectacular bang and a smoking exhaust. The garage towed it away this am to have a look at it and apparently it is the 'head gasket'. Once this is replaced the car will then have to be pressure tested? (sorry not at all mechanically minded). It seems a lot of money to me but possibly not a straightforward job.

 

[LeeJC]

Yeah it's about right, taking in to account all fluid replacements, time to remove, probably replacing timing belt. Head may or may not need skimming. Leak testing.

That's assuming there is nothing else wrong in the head, could be valve damage etc etc.

Wouldn't expect a head gasket going to cause a bang though, throwing a rod, turbo disintegrating and cam belt snapping maybe but not just a simple gasket failure.

 

[Kes]

It sounds very expensive to me. Is the engine a diesel? There may be more costs involved if it is.

My daughter's Punto had a replecement h/gasket fitted by an independent garage for around £300. My MGF (don't all shout at once) head gasket with head skimming, new water pump, new stretch bolts, was £485 at an MG specialists. Access to the MG is very limited so it isn't an easy job, you have to take half the suspension off to do it.

I would say that £450 for a standard engine was about right.

Rgds.

 

[Lesley Jones]

Thank you both for taking the time to reply. Having asked around a few friends it would appear that £600 or £700 is about right so hopefully we will get our car back next week fully functional.

 

[Nige F]

Hope it`s all ok now Mine got to 116k miles and then went but a mates was a right S.O.B....he had the repair done and it went again after about a year I might just think about getting shot of yours..........mine had a Full History and us as second owners But bought a van for less than engine repair cost and that`s got to 120k without blowing ....seems like a bit of a lottery to me . with those Vauxhall engines Both car and van are P reg as it happens

 

[tiggerpussy]

Hi,
For your information,

Firstly it is impossible to diagnose your engine fault accurately by post, but you should know that 1.7 tdi vauxhall engines are designed in such a way that the rockers should (I say SHOULD) snap to minimise damage to valves,
the majority of their petrol engines are "safe" that is the pistons do not hit the valves in the event of a timing belt failure,

However if the head gasket has blown £600 to £700 would not be too unreasonable for a garage to charge.

hope this helps.

 

[Hitachimad]

Id deffinatly air toward the lower side of that.
Youll be having new gasket, head bolts etc, skim the head....

When mine was done, cost me just under £400, at a main dealer (vw main dealer)

 

[Agile]

My MGF (don't all shout at once) head gasket with head skimming, new water pump, new stretch bolts, was £485 at an MG specialists. Access to the MG is very limited so it isn't an easy job, you have to take half the suspension off to do it.

Is that the newish MG?

I would have thought they had made them easy to access? Perhaps not!

Evidently not like my old MG Midget then!

Tony

 

[Softus]

Can someone please tell me if a price in the region of £600 to £700 is a reasonable amount to expect to pay a garage to replace a head gasket to repair our car.

If you live in Scotland it's ridiculously expensive. In London it would be cheap.

It's less than a day of not particularly skilled labour, plus parts - you can work out the cost yourself.

 

[Kes]

Is that the newish MG?

I would have thought they had made them easy to access? Perhaps not!

Evidently not like my old MG Midget then!

Tony

Yep, the latest model, although mine (ours?) is nine years old now. Behind the seats are the plastic fuel tank, the engine, and the boot. You get to the engine by pivoting the rear of the hood forwards and unbolting a plate on the rear parcel shelf. Then you can see all the sharp edges the designer made to rip your hands apart.

To replace/refit the cam belt, as you have to do in a head gasket change, you have to take off the r/h rear wheel and drop part of the hydrogas rear suspension.

I don't envy mechanics. Apart from the constant dirt and oil, it's a backbreaking job.

Up here in the Midlands (the North if you live in London, the South if you live in Scotland) £700 is extortionate for a run of the mill h/gasket change, but I guess it's all done now.

Rgds.

 

[tryingnottobeafool]

timing belts on vauxhall have been reduced several years ago to 60.000 miles not the old 120,000

i change mine at 50,000

dont muck about get it done and replace bearing/ tensioners/ idlers

or you get £700 bill