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General Head Gasket replacement

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General Head Gasket replacement

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cnewton

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Hi all

My 2007 1.2 Punto has been losing water and garage has identified that the head gasket is leaking.

They have quoted around £300 for new one.

Does this sound reasonable? I dont really know enough about cars to know if this is the going rate or not?

Many Thanks

Chris
 
You'd get another engine,maybe car for that price imho.
Why not use something like 'steelseal'...my brother used it on an older punto and it worked,giving another 2 years motoring before he scrapped the car..Im not saying buy this from ebay ..its available everywhere,ie you may well get it locally quicker..


https://i.ebayimg.com/images/m/mMBEIR1R429uklKU4IHppuw/s-l200.jpg
 
Last edited:
cnewton said:
Hi all

My 2007 1.2 Punto has been losing water and garage has identified that the head gasket is leaking.

They have quoted around £300 for new one.

Does this sound reasonable? I dont really know enough about cars to know if this is the going rate or not?

Many Thanks

Chris
Click to expand...
If this is for part and labour it certainly sounds reasonable
 
A head gasket set might set you back about £50 - £75 at a guess these days.
There could be a number of gaskets that need replacing as part of the head strip down, including the possibility of the head bolts.
The work involved is at least 4 hours.
£300 for that sort of work sounds reasonable to me.
You might get it a tad cheaper if you shopped around and found a local mechanic who works from his home garage, but not by much.


Chris's suggestion for another engine, i guess depends where you go.
You could take the risk of buying a second hand engine maybe for around £150, but theres a full days work to swap it out, so expect another £200 for labour.

Plus you run the risk of putting in an engine which may not be any better than the one you have already.

How many miles as the car done ?
 
keat63 said:
A head gasket set might set you back about £50 - £75 at a guess these days.
There could be a number of gaskets that need replacing as part of the head strip down, including the possibility of the head bolts.
The work involved is at least 4 hours.
£300 for that sort of work sounds reasonable to me.
You might get it a tad cheaper if you shopped around and found a local mechanic who works from his home garage, but not by much.


Chris's suggestion for another engine, i guess depends where you go.
You could take the risk of buying a second hand engine maybe for around £150, but theres a full days work to swap it out, so expect another £200 for labour.

Plus you run the risk of putting in an engine which may not be any better than the one you have already.

How many miles as the car done ?
Click to expand...

the car has done 89000 miles
 
I suppose 89k is getting towards it's pensioner years, but could still be good for another 40k if looked after and serviced well.


If you spend £300 on a head gasket, and lets assume that it's back in good health, then its a cheap (ish) fix.
It is quite an involved and major job with half the engine in bits job, so not a simple task.

In the scheme of things, £300 to get another years running out of isn't bad.
Break that down and its about 80p day
 
keat63 said:
I suppose 89k is getting towards it's pensioner years, but could still be good for another 40k if looked after and serviced well.


If you spend £300 on a head gasket, and lets assume that it's back in good health, then its a cheap (ish) fix.
It is quite an involved and major job with half the engine in bits job, so not a simple task.

In the scheme of things, £300 to get another years running out of isn't bad.
Break that down and its about 80p day
Click to expand...

Thanks so much for your help
 
The head gasket replacement quote is correct for the parts and work hours involved, BUT be aware of potential "extras" that the mechanic may ask for when the head is removed...
If it's only water to outside leak, I'd give Steel Seal,or similar, a chance. You'd either lose £30 or save 270 ...

BRs, Bernie

If someone here helped You fix -or better, understand- your issue, hit the thanks icon @ bottom right corner, it's free and makes us feel helpy ;-)
 
Personally, i'd steer clear of steel seal and similar.
You're just papering over the cracks.

I'm aware that some people have had effective results, but I also know folks who havn't.

In fact my son in law used it, it lasted a few hundred miles before leaving him stranded on the motorway.
 
keat63 said:
I'm aware that some people have had effective results,
Click to expand...

... so I believe it's worth spending 30€ for a trial ...

Have seen other products tested (on the web) with mitigated results, the most convincing was MAX seal or something like this and this one requested the engine to be drained and let dry for 24h after initial treatment, which seemingly is a good indication that it 'would' do the job. Perhaps.

Cheers, Bernie
 
I think if head gasket is really leaking, just replace head gasket :) 300 for new gasket + 10 new head bolts + work appr. 6-8 hours is OK. You'll have also visual inspection of cylinders and valves and that is also great information for you...for future...
 
If it is going the way of gasket replacement, then it should be done the right way. That means including valve job, head re-planning, and while you're there distribution belt and water pump(if distribution belt powered). I really doubt anyone would do that for 300 ...

BRs, Bernie
 
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