Technical Life expectancy for head gaskets

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Technical Life expectancy for head gaskets

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Hi All

I am off to the County Court to argue the merits with a trader over a Doblo Cargo Diesel whose cylinder head gasket went within 4 years and at 35,000 miles.

A full service history and one owner vehicle meant to me that I had bought the right vehicle and so had expected to get many years trouble free life from the engine.

For the court the Judge is going to need something / someone to say that the failure is not through fair wear and tear therefore letting the trader off the hook.

I know that it is not fair wear and tear and I am sure every other right thinking person does but I am struggling to find something that will suitably help the Court in their decision - anyone got any inspirational thoughts please that might help?

thanx in advance
 
does the service history have a coolant change in it, could then argue that they must have not bled system correctly. would be better if history said new water pump rad or thermostat, you could then say it must have over heated when that broke causing head gasket to go.
but to be honest Head gaskets going prematurely is more common than you might think, and not just on fiats
 
dave said:
Head gaskets going prematurely is more common than you might think, and not just on fiats

Thanks for the prompt response Dave. To answer the first part of yours there is no record anywhere to show it has had a problem - just servicing at the relevant times in accordance with Fiat directions.

I am surprised at your comment about head gasket failure being - more common. :eek: After more years on this earth than I am prepared to admit to it is something I have not experienced in all the vehicles I have owned / driven etc . :confused:

Can you enlighten me further with what sort of life should reasonably be expected from such please? I am thinking of speaking to the RAC to see what they might offer unless anyone has a better thought.

Grateful for any and all contributions so keep em coming please.:worship:
 
I am equally surpised at the statement about HG failure. I can only recall one in 40 years of driving, and that was a well hammered company car!
The best apporach could be to claim that the failure must have been caused by a fault caused in the original build, but to succeed with that one you would need a report by an independent engineer.
 
Surely a cylinder head gasket has a limited life & would only have a warranty of three years at the most.
I must admit though that in 33 years of driving I've never had a head gasket failure even on cars that have done 250,000 miles+ or that are over 10 years old.
 
Why? If you put a thin layer of sealant between two perfectly plane surfaces, torque the bolts down to the correct pressure, it should never fail. If it does something is out of spec.
 
doblo said:
Surely a cylinder head gasket has a limited life & would only have a warranty of three years at the most.

Doblo

The sale of goods act says most things must have a life of 6 years 'if it is reasonable for the goods to have lasted that long'.

As engines are designed for a longer life than 6 years it seems to me that an integral part within it should also last longer.

My monies with 'Obadiah' at present but would still like to hear from others.:cool:
 
Despite a FSH this car could have been mistreated, abused, ragged etc basically not looked after by its previous owner, in spite of going for a service at its intervals.

There may have been a problem at the fiat end, but also it could have been due to the last owner for this premature failure. I would have thought that will be considered also. Obviously the work carried out and general look, overall condition of the vehicle when gettign a service can tell you a lot about its previous owner

Im gathering that this vehicle, when purchased was examined and inspected properly by yourself, as there are telltale signs of a HG on the way out.

I agree with Dave, it is becoming a lot more common HG failure on lower milegae models
 
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AppleSei said:
Despite a FSH this car could have been mistreated, abused, ragged etc basically not looked after by its previous owner, in spite of going for a service at its intervals.
ragging it it less likely to cause them to go, more likely its had lots of short trips in traffic, where engine wont always get up to running temperature, and if it does wont be able to cool nicely because its stuck behind another car.
end of the day its only a gasket, its not like the head has cracked or nothing bad.
 
I get the impression that Fiats are prone to head gasket failure. If you look for threads on this you will find them in the Punto and other forums. Mine went at about 70,000 miles on my Doblo but I have no service history with the car, having been conned by a local dealer.
 
fido said:
I get the impression that Fiats are prone to head gasket failure. If you look for threads on this you will find them in the Punto and other forums. Mine went at about 70,000 miles on my Doblo but I have no service history with the car, having been conned by a local dealer.
its not just fiats, this is a fiat forum so you wont see the other makes posted up :bang:
and the thousands of fiat owners who havent had one brake are not going to join the forum just to say they have had no problems :( :confused:
 
Yeah, lots of cars suffer head gasket failures, not just fiats, and some with little mileage too! If found early enough serious damage can be avoided. Head gaskets are supposed to last the life of the car to all extremes but this doesn't always happen. There can be a number of reasons for head gasket failure, including wrong fuelling, bad engine coolant, basically anything that can come into contact with a head gasket. Doblo's will go on forever, ask Niall_G whose car has done over 160,000 miles in just 2 years!
 
dave said:
ragging
lots of short trips in traffic, where engine wont always get up to running temperature,
and if it does wont be able to cool nicely because its stuck behind another car.
QUOTE]

Three points listed that I am keen to understand better. My understanding is that as the gasket is not a 'moving part' provided everything else is correct i.e. coolant maintained, driven properly i.e. no excessive use of low gears, correct fuel used - there should not be a problem. I understand that the in the Rover K series engine it is now accepted that they have a 'head problem' but I am very surprised that head gaskets appear to be going without some form of abuse.

Grateful for any further thoughts please.
 
I would agree that a head gasket should last the life of the engine but possibly they are disintergrating for some reason (incorrect material or to old) or the edge distance of some of holes in the gasket is to small causing a premature failure. I can't see how "abusing" an engine can cause a head gasket failure. The gasket is a seal designed to absorb expansion of hot/cold engines.
 
I don't know about the diesel versions but the petrol Doblo head gasket seems to be pretty basic, without a lot of the metal reinforcing collars you get round the various holes or the moulded in O rings you see on some gaskets. I suppose the Doblo is built down to a price so they economise on these hidden details.
 
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