yellow ox11 said:

1.2 16V HLX (Y reg) 80,000 miles


I have just been quoted £630 minimum for a Cylinder Head Gasket replacement.

First question is : Is that quote reasonable?

Second question is : What happens when the Cylinder Head Gasket goes? The car stalled and there was a very brief smell. Have I answered my own question? I thought it would be a bit more dramatic than that. The recovery driver thought it would only be a water pump or thermostat failure.
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Quote reasonablness (if thats a word) depends on where in the world you are. Seems expensive to me, I am in Burpleland, would expect less than £400 including lapping and setting all 16 valves.

Ask the question of your garage. What does 'gone' mean? A headgasket can go in one of three ways. Also ask what else they are going to change.

Cheers

SPD

That seems very steep to me. In Warwickshire, I paid only £350 including skimming, new gasket, new water pump, new cambelt kit, oil, filter, coolant, bolts and fitting. Proper job, no trouble since and covered nearly 25,000 miles since then. Was an 8 valve though.

A few tips for keeping the head gasket in good shape. The first is to make sure that you always top up the cooling system with the correct water/coolant concentrate mixture. The second is to always let the engine warm to operating temperature before gunning it. Fiat engines typically like a lot of revs, but not from cold.

Good advice for any engine.
I ride a 90bhp bike with a 9000rpm red line but never thrash it when cold. Its done 57000 (very lots for a bike) and still going like stink. Treat em right and they look after you. ;-)

Run them with dodgy service history and unknown things like timing belts and they bite. Ask me how I know.