General Head Gasket has gone

[Most Easterly Pandas]

Well finally had dad's Selecta checked today. Head has gone, hence the loosing of water.

Its going in next week.

£250 will see it all done by our mechanic with the head skimed. Not sure if that is a good price or not. Would have liked to have attempted it myselp but haven't the time at the mo

The joys of a 21000 miles Panda, lol.

Jon.

 

[jangcy]

Sad to hear...my gone with about 44k (it was still OK but I decided to fix before will be worse)
I don't know how much skimming cost in UK...
It's very easy job...you can DIY and pay about 25 (gasket set + bolts)
good to replace timing belt (10pounds) if old, bearing (not sure right name)if you want you can replace water pump...will cost about 50 with all parts...
....with 21k maybe you don't need to skimm head...I hadn't....it was good....never overheated...

 

[beau]

if its not over heating i wouldnt skim the head personally, but obviously still inspect it.

id do it for less than £250 but it depends what that includes? if that is head kit, cambelt, water pump, tensioner and new head bolts with skim its not bad.

though despite all the 'worry' of dont reuse belts, dont re-use tensioners, always skim heads, iv not done all that without a problem

 

[panda1408]

....with 21k maybe you don't need to skimm head...I hadn't....it was good....never overheated...

:yeahthat:

I thought mine had gone when I first bought it. There was a lot of moisture coming from the exhaust, it isnt loosing any water though I dont think so its ok at the moment. Its one problem with low mileage, my car is only on 21k aswell.

 

[Most Easterly Pandas]

beau, what do you mean by overheating? As it mildly over heats due to using water, but never hits red.

Going to get head skimmed as its good practise, but timing belt was done back in April at 18k, so don't see much of a point in re-doing it again.

Jon.

 

[beau]

beau, what do you mean by overheating? As it mildly over heats due to using water, but never hits red.

Going to get head skimmed as its good practise, but timing belt was done back in April at 18k, so don't see much of a point in re-doing it again.

Jon.

well over heating as in temp light coming on, if not then should be ok.

 

[Plug]

Well finally had dad's Selecta checked today. Head has gone, hence the loosing of water.

Its going in next week.

£250 will see it all done by our mechanic with the head skimed. Not sure if that is a good price or not. Would have liked to have attempted it myselp but haven't the time at the mo

The joys of a 21000 miles Panda, lol.

Jon.

I feel for you.. ours went at around 24K. The bill, in the end, was the wrong side of £400

Cheers,

Plug

 

[Most Easterly Pandas]

well over heating as in temp light coming on, if not then should be ok.

No light on the Panda's, but I personally would say yes its been over heating, as its been getting hotter than it should have been.

I feel for you.. ours went at around 24K. The bill, in the end, was the wrong side of £400

Cheers,

Plug

How / Why

 

[VmanC]

Don't forget to include an oil and filter change incase water has entered the sump. For £250 I would expect this to be in the price, and fresh antifreeze of course.

 

[Most Easterly Pandas]

I highly doubt water in oil as no mayo what so ever

Oil was changed by myself about 900-1200miles ago and no mayo or water in oil then and like I say, doesn't appear to be any now luckily.

 

[dave]

iv not done all that without a problem

but you sell yours before the problem will come back

2 thou off is best way to get a nice clean head for an nice seal, and leaves plenty of meat left for another day

 

[beau]

but you sell yours before the problem will come back

your the one who told me its ok

 

[arc]

I highly doubt water in oil as no mayo what so ever

Oil was changed by myself about 900-1200miles ago and no mayo or water in oil then and like I say, doesn't appear to be any now luckily.

expect it to all mix when the head comes off though.

 

[jangcy]

So you don't need to change timing belt I think....
if on head there is no rusted pit(holes etc) and it's flat because there was no high temp it should be OK....of course it's better to skim it to make sure...but it cost...and if you use car from time to time it may go again in 2 years

 

[Most Easterly Pandas]

Just spoken to dad who's confirmed it includes new bolts, oil/oil filter change, timing belt (even though not long ago done), skimmed head and a few other bits and bobs as mentioned above

 

[lightweightmick]

Must be the time of year...
Had mine crack tested and skimmed (took .006" off mine!) - this is only 98% accurate I was told as they can't pressurise it as much as the engine does... as I remember he said they go up to 40mbar with their test. Cost was £60 quid though, but I tend to think Rick was right in the end (cheers Rick!) Haven't had the bill yet from the garage that removed and replaced head though... £££?
Got coolant flush in it at present (caustic) as was advised to do this - just dropped oil and flushed with diesel/oil mix before new oil and filter, which I'll do again after a few hundred miles.
Need to drain and flush cooling system and fit a new thermostat... as it didn't open on 1st test after replacing head! So far all seems okay though but running cool - as to be expected without stat.
The extra tension on the timing belt made my tension roller complain a bit this morning though so I'll need to get that changed...
cheers

 

[Giacosa]

Must be the time of year...

Prob is. Doesn't a downward trend in temperatures tend to see off a lot of headgaskets.