Head gasket - should I bother?

kdouglas

Hey guys, just looking for opinions on this...

I've a 98 1.1L Peugeot 106 Zest 3 (electric windows, sun roof, cd player, power steering, drivers airbag etc...), It's got about 115k miles on it now with a good service history and is quite clean except.....it needs a new head gasket, currently im considering the following as my options:

1) New head gasket (probably cheapest, ive been told about 500-600 by my mechanic, but unknown if big end/something else might go in a few months)

2) New/Reconditioned engine (haven't looked up price yet but id say about twice the cost of a new head gasket at least)

3) Sell it off and get a new car (ideally i could sell it to someone who would obviously then replace the head gasket and sell it on or keep it for themselves, reckon its worth maybe 2000 in fully working condition, so id be looking for about 900-1000 for it as it is hopefully)

Realistically I only need a car on the road until next summer when I finish college as I should be getting a company car then....

JohnCleary

Ill take it off your hands if your looking to get rid of it

chicken_food

Fix it yourself you big wuss!! go to www.106parts.com and get the right head gasket kit + headbolts (about 40sterling incl shipping) Then borrow a torque wrench. If your worried about what to do then buy a haynes for a fiver off ebay. It will give you many more months of motoring. Let me know if you need any more advice.

Owen

chicken_food wrote:

Fix it yourself you big wuss!! go to www.106parts.com and get the right head gasket kit + headbolts (about 40sterling incl shipping) Then borrow a torque wrench. If your worried about what to do then buy a haynes for a fiver off ebay. It will give you many more months of motoring. Let me know if you need any more advice.

Worst advice ever. If a Head Gasket goes, yes you can stick in a new Gasket and Torque it up, but the Head itself may have warped, and will probably need to be skimmed/pressure tested for reliability. That's why Mechanics charge this amount of money, they usually send it out to be done.

chicken_food

Easy there ned! He said he only wants it for a few months. If he wants it to last longer then obviously he should get the head skimmed. Its only 50e or so, believe its out by blanchardstown. Cant remember exactly,a quick search on these boards for headgasket should bring it up. Still theres no reason why you should pay 400-500 for a job that might cost you 150 max.

JohnCleary

Why did it go in the first place? That issue also needs to be resolved...

Could have been a water pump which you should replace with the timing belt anyhow. BUT, it could be many more things, inlet manifold gasket etc...

Owen

chicken_food wrote:

Easy there ned! He said he only wants it for a few months. If he wants it to last longer then obviously he should get the head skimmed. Its only 50e or so, believe its out by blanchardstown. Cant remember exactly,a quick search on these boards for headgasket should bring it up. Still theres no reason why you should pay 400-500 for a job that might cost you 150 max.

... the mind boggles. With that type of hamfisted amateur mechanical cure, he'd get days from it, not months.

kdouglas

chicken_food: im a computer programmer, not a mechanic i dont know my way around an engine well enough to do the job, and id still rather pay the extra to have it done properly than do it cheap

JohnCleary: not sure what caused it tbh, but the engine is otherwise fine. you looking to take it off my hands for nothing or you willing to buy?

kdouglas

i now have this up for sale on adverts.ie if anyone is/was interested :
http://www.adverts.ie/showproduct.php?product=11014

JHMEG

JohnCleary wrote:

Why did it go in the first place? That issue also needs to be resolved...

Many cars just 'eat' their head gaskets as a matter of course: Rovers, 1.4 Astras etc. Doesn't mean there's anything wrong, just bad design.

JohnCleary

JHMEG wrote:

Many cars just 'eat' their head gaskets as a matter of course: Rovers, 1.4 Astras etc. Doesn't mean there's anything wrong, just bad design.

Rover (K-Series) engines *generally* go because of another problem, ie. water pump failure of coolant leak. There was the odd one that just 'went' like you said, LandRover have since released a new head gasket for the K-Series engines

old boy

chicken food is correct, 1 of the reasons garage prices are so high is no 1 does diy, even the garages will not make do, into the stores for a new part, ask any old time mechanic, no wonder jesus wept.

JohnCleary

old boy wrote:

chicken food is correct, 1 of the reasons garage prices are so high is no 1 does diy, even the garages will not make do, into the stores for a new part, ask any old time mechanic, no wonder jesus wept.

I've done nothing except DIY on all my car related things, apart from spraying (That's a no brainer really if you want a decent finish)

Done the head gasket, changed suspension, fuel pump, etc... in my drive-way. Timing belt will be done the next time the sun decides to show it's face

I'm no mechanic either, quite the opposite... Computing student. Just im not afraid to have a stab at something, if I mess up bigtime, THEN i bring it to a mechanic

Owen

old boy wrote:

chicken food is correct, 1 of the reasons garage prices are so high is no 1 does diy.

The real reason garage prices for labour are so high are ....

Insurance
Huge Parts Departments full of stock that has to be bought
Lots of Staff Wages
Staff Training (At about 500 Euro per day per person)
Special Tools on top of ordinary tools charged at whatever the manufacturer wants to charge.
IT costs
Diagnostic Equipment (Each of our machines is about 20 grand, and we've 7 of those)
Ramps (9 of those, at about 4 grand each)
A tracking KDS machine (Oh, about 80 grand for that one)
Valeting costs (Each car gets washed afterwards)
Taxis to and from town
Coffee, Cakes, Sandwiches

So out of our 110 Euro per hour labour charge, about 50 Euro is actually labour. The other 60 Euro pays for the correct equipment, training, and the confidence to be able to work on a car and complete it. The investment in equiment is phenomenal, and literally takes years to pay back. A backyard garage can charge 50 per hour, because it's usually 1 guy and a set of ordinary tools

JohnCleary

"A man is nothing without his tools" -

Anyone that doesn't believe that quote, try loosening a Hex screw with your finger!

Gurgle

kdouglas wrote:

it needs a new head gasket

before you do anything, how do you know it needs a new head gasket?

kdouglas

ive had two independent mechanics look at it and tell me so...

ive been wanting a new car for a while now and was going to leave it until next summer when i finish college, but decided id change the car now if i can find a buyer for the 106