Technical Seicento Head Gasket

[Owl09]

Hi All,
My G/F's 2002 Seicento Sporting has been mis-firing lately also The oil light also comes on intermittently. Last night I noticed the oil looks like a browny sort of coffee coloured mix. She has taken it to a local garage for an oil change but he's come back and said it needs a new head gasket and started talking about ~£400. He's going ahead with the oil change but we've held off the gasket because the car is probably not worth that much!

A few questions for you all;
Could those symptoms be anything else?
Does £400 for a head gasket sound about right?
Can it be patched up cheaper (we only use it for an urban run around, not longer journeys)? If we could order something from eBay perhaps?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

[GrumpyOldMan]

Replacing the oil is a waste of time and money as the problem will still be there and your new oil will be ruined almost as soon as you start the engine. The problem is water getting into the oil and it is likely the head gasket has gone. Taking the head off is the best way to confirm this. I think £400 for a Sei gasket job sounds excessive myself. It's not the hardest job to do yourself but it has to be done right and the head will need skimming. I recently (June) replaced a gasket (non Fiat) without skimming and I'm now in the process of taking it off again!
Your emissions will probably be high until you fix the problem as well so will likely prevent you getting through an MOT.

You could try K-Seal but if your oil is like coffee I think it will be too late for that. Others will disagree strongly but I have had good success with K-Seal though it should only be regarded as a very temporary measure.

Ian.

 

[Owl09]

Hi - That's the thing it's just passed an M.O.T last week an A N Other Garage so I'm suspicious at the diagnosis. I might try the K-Seal option. We only need a temporary fix. Failing that I'll shop around because we certainly ain't paying £400. I have no mechanical knowledge so doing it myself is out of the question but thanks for the advice.
PS: One thing I didn't mention it's a Schumacher Model so does that make any difference?

 

[Chrisoleil]

say you're location and y'never know a local member may offer help.

They are helpful lot these folk!!

 

[Pep0]

you need to either do a compression test or try a second garage.

and where are you located?

 

[fingers99]

As Pep says.

Assuming you do not live in Chelsea, £400 is too much.

 

[Owl09]

Thanks for the replies everyone. We're in The East Riding of Yorkshire. However i think we are going to try and sell it and cut our losses. Having just spent over £200 to get it throught its M.O.T this has pushed us over the edge. It was a good little car while it lasted.

 

[fingers99]

You could easily DIY it for well under £100. Where are you going to get a new car for that?

 

[Owl09]

I'm afraid you are grossly over estimating my mechanical abilities. I realise I'm mingling with some serious petrol heads on this forum. Just came on here for a bit of advice regarding the quote and any other possible causes. It would definitely be a garage job, the labour cost alone would be self defeating.

 

[fingers99]

A 12 year old could do it with the Haynes manual!

 

[Owl09]

Well I'm only 11 & 3/4, I don't have a Haynes Manual and have no tools. Goodbye!

 

[Pep0]

Well I'm only 11 & 3/4, I don't have a Haynes Manual and have no tools. Goodbye!

Nooooooo you can't get away that easy
you need either
to try another garage and them give them 200 and try and sell for 500 say
to try and sell it as is for 300 hehehe or lol
or borrow some tools from neighbors and spend 100 for parts and machine shop and sell for 500
there is a buy and sell section on forum some people even might offer more than 500 with headgasket fixed
then you needs a replacement auto so you buy the auto you just 'sold' for 1200
note only the 200 and 100 are close to truth the others may be worse...

 

[GrumpyOldMan]

If you're going to sell it DON'T put K-Seal in. It will be spotted straight away and people will think you are trying to sell them a duffer.

Ian.