200E headgasket

cantdecide

a mate has a '90 mercedes 200E with a blown headgasket. anyone know how hard it would be to change the headgasket?
it's really clean and straight and before the headgasket went, it was a joy to drive. he has also spent a mint on it. he has bought a new car but he really likes the merc but his mechanic (a merc indie who has done all the work to it) advised him to scrap it. it would be such a shame to scrap such a good car and his dad is thining of taking it to earn a NCB as he's always had company cars.
he's thinking about taking on the job himself under the watchful eye of a non-practising mechanic friend of the family. i'm told the head doesn't necessarily have to be skimmed in the mercs, which might save a little money and access and equipment are no problem.
anyone have any thoughts on the subject.

i do have two contingency sub questions. how much could the car make in the paper if sold as is? it has issues but it's not a wrecker.
anyone know a mechanic in cork who might be interested in a foxer???

maidhc

Rigneys in Dungourney might be interested in it.

I know they bought a field of old Granadas recently just to get the headgaskets!

mike65

A 1990 e200 is worth (at best) 1500 euro, the cost of a head skim and associated works will be about 700 euro I'd say. I really don't think just whaking on a new gasket would be wise.

If advertised as "1990 merc e200 needs new head gasket" it won't sell unless dirt cheap for parts, which is why he would be wiser to break it himself if he has the space.

Mike.

cantdecide

rigneys think outside the box, that's for sure.:cool:

the merc headgasket always went in the same place apparently and now the replacements have a little re-inforcing on that spot.

space is only an issue if it won't run again so scrapping himself is out i'm afraid. if it can be got running, it will be kept. big sean "exports" the ones he gets. i don't know where to or why but that's what he does.

tbh, there's a little curiosity involved with doing the job himself. he's not a novice but hasn't done this before and is prepared to give it a try. if he fails he'll be no worse off really as it's probably only worth €150 now anyway.

personally i think the foxer could be the way to go if he can find someone.

MercMad

I would suggest he gives it a go ! Its not rocket science and he could buy a Haynes manual and take it step by step.

I've done a few, no big deal. They always go at the front left side but I would advise that you DO get the head skimmed. There is usually some pitting from poor coolant, and it shouldn't be too expensive to get a machine shop to do the skimming !

I did one on a C200 a few months back, cost me €150 for gaskets, oil, coolant, a few pipes and clips and they charged me €25 for the head skim. I had totally stripped the head myself, left the valves in, and I have the geyser cleaning station so did that myself !

What is there to loose ?

cantdecide

that's what we're thinking

IrishRover

Sure of course why not go for it if the alternative is to scrap it - you've nothing to lose so.

Even though the car mightn't be worth much, if it's got good bodywork and a nice interior then it's worth doing. Just for the experience anyway it will be worth it and a big sense of achievement if you get it all back together and going again.

It sounds perfect that you'll have someone to watch over your work. A few spanners, couple of torque wrenches, some wet and dry sandpaper and a lot of patience and attention to detail are the main things you'll need.

As to how the headgasket has "blown" will determine whether the head needs to be skimmed in my opinion. If the engine never overheated, then it shoudn't need to be skimmed. Instead if you just give the mating surfaces on the block and the head a thorough cleaning and make sure that there are no small bits of grit or debris that get caught between the surfaces and the gasket when putting the head back down, this will be fine.

Because you're doing the job yourself, you can afford the time to make sure things are prepped and cleaned properly, which is something that most garages don't bother doing. That's why all garages will get the head skimmed even when it's not necessary - because they couldn't be bothered to spend the time cleaning and preparing the surfaces.

After you've got everything back together and torqued down to the specific torque settings and in the set order, go over every pipe and jubilee clip in the coolant system. Check the condition of the radiator and replace the thermostat if it's in doubt. Flush and clean the coolant system out and put in fresh coolant mix. I recommend this stuff from Halfords for cleaning coolant systems.


Again, it takes time, but that's something else a garage won't bother to do. All this will prevent the gasket "going" again and rash decisions being made about getting rid of an "unreliable" car, just because the job wasn't done properly in the first place (ie enough care and attention) or the root cause of the problem was never looked for.

Not that I'm particularly familiar with headgasket changes.

unkel

IrishRover wrote:

Not that I'm particularly familiar with headgasket changes.

LOL

I'll PM you for best place to go when the HG blows in the 75

IrishRover

Haha
Are you driving a 75 these days? What engine is it?
Have you still got the 7 series? (740?)

unkel

IrishRover wrote:

Haha
Are you driving a 75 these days? What engine is it?
Have you still got the 7 series? (740?)

Still have the 735 myself, but upgraded Mrs unkel's car from a '99 Fiesta to a '01 75 1.8 Club

Like it myself and regularly drive it. Incredible car for the money

Sorry for O/T