HELP Knackered Head Gasket???

[Michela]

Hi, i need some help. I have been to the Fiat garage and they have told me my head gasket is knackered. They want to charge me £500 to fix it.[V] Is this reasonable? Can it be fixed rather than replaced? Its not circulating the water its just spitting it out and then its got air bubbles in it. I dont know much about under the bonnet so i was kinda hoping someone could help [?]

Michela

 

[smurfhead]

Rip off. If you ask me. It is probably worth it though it it voids your warranty although some are not worth the paper they are written on.

It depends what car you have.
I have a Cinquecento SX (900cc). I had the whole engine reconditioned including both gaskets replaced and valve seats changes, de-coke etc, head skimmed, boreing etc... and that cost £280. If I just had the head gasket done they were going to charge £150. This is a good deal. She runs diamond now[8D]

Usually garages but a large labour charge on it because of the time length it takes to change a head gasket and the complexity of the task. Work it out, head gaskets only cost about a fiver at the most for the part[:0][xx(][8D]

Smurfhead

Cinq SX (1994)
NEXT PROJECT: Cheapo Sei-stylee 2tone jobby by replacing black parts with silver.

 

[Michela]

A FIVER??? I have a punto, just a basic one. I cant beive its so cheap. That means they wanted to charge me about £100 an hour for labour. Shocking. Ive had the car for about 3 years now so there isnt any warranty on it. You think i should go to an independant garage then???

Michela

 

[CentoEvo]

You can do a head gasket yourself if you think you are capable enough.
Basically its unbolting bits changing the gasket and bolting it back together.
You'll need a head gasket kit as you may need to take the inlet manifold off, head bolts and i would recommend changing the cambelt.

My Car is now for sale, A total one-off, head turning bargin!!!​

 

[dave]

A half decent mecanic should be able to do the job in 4 hours max. a head gasket set should be no more than £40 this was the higest price i got when i bought on recently ended up getting one for £24.99 with new bolts. i got the head skimed as a precaution for £30 a timeing belt kit with bearing £10. it took me an hour to strip and three hours to put back but i had about 30 tea brakes. this was on a punto 1.2.

 

[Michela]

Ok just thought i would update you all. Benn to an independant garage and they are adamant there is nothing wrong with my head gaskett. Arnold clark were going to take £500 for something that wasnt even damaged.
Turns out it was misfiring and needed filters cleaned out and a service.

Michela

 

[Digimods]

seal it up with batroom sealant and part exchange it!

Fiat Seicento SX - Clear indicators | Rockford Fosgate RFX 9120 HU | Sony Xplod 6x9s | Kenwood midrangers | BMW Mini tweeters |

 

[steveyensen]

This is terrible. We've probably all seen "Garages from Hell" on ITV but still some will try to get away with fleecing the unsuspecting motorist. I have used the Apple Car Clinic in the past, but they were exposed on TV fairly recently.

It's definately wise to choose an independent garage recommended by a friend and stick with it. Get the parts from the dealer, but get your chosen garage to fit them.

I've used one single garage over many many years for all the work I've been unable to do myself, which is 5 minutes walk from work, but unfortunately 8 miles from home and uneconomic to get them to collect the car. Hence the long drawn out episode with the gearbox!



STEVE - the almost geriatric, NOS guzzling Panda owner and beagle fanatic ...

I'm pink, therefore I'm SPAM

 

[CentoEvo]

I would go back to them and have a quite word with the manager you never know you might get something in return

It were proper Bo i tell thee!!​

 

[mad_colm]

got to establish what caused head gasket to blow too. why do all prices have a ? for first number?

99 Brava 100 HSX with not enough mods

 

[HP]

Head gaskets can go from lack of maintenance - if the antifreeze isn't changed regularly, the insides of the engine can corrode, including the gasket. Running them very low on oil or water and getting too hot can contribute too.

Personally, I never thrash my car until it's warmed up - can't help thinking it's bad for them to be flat out when stone cold.

Pete.
Cinq sporting 1242cc
Cinqs&Seis Yahoo group
Clubcento

 

[ChrisLusty]

had my head gasket changed for £130 from my local garage, fiat wanted £260, this on an m reg cinq!

Chris

 

[dave]

<blockquote id="quote"> face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by ChrisLusty
had my head gasket changed for £130 from my local garage, fiat wanted £260, this on an m reg cinq!

Chris
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">

Thats a fair price if they did it properly, put the name of garage up other members may be near and wan't to use them also.
thanks

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