Blown Head Gasket

wag2610

Hi please could i get some advice???
I have been quoted £600 to fix my vauxhall Astra diesel 54 plate. I have been told that the head gasket has blown.
Just a quick run down on the story behind this... Have had a slight water leak for some time but just kept topping this up(i know i have kicked myself a thousand times for not fixing this) the car then overheated on a motarway and was recovered by RAC who said straight away Head Gasket.
The oil has been checked and has no water in and also visa versa no oil in water.
The car will not start at all trys to turn over but doesnt start.
I have had this into a garage who have qouted the above price for head gasket repair, timing belt and head skimming also to replace bust pipe.
The mechanic hasnt yet stripped down the head and has said that it could also has busted pistons and i would then need a new engine!!!!!
car has just under 100000 miles but was running fine.
How likey is it that there is piston damage and would he not need to take the head off to confirm head gasket???
Any advice greatly appreciated before i part with my hard earned cash.
Thanks
Wendy

Retrogamer

It's a gamble with these types of things.

Overheating the engine so badly it causes the head gasket to fail stresses other components badly as well. Hence the term "cooked engine"

The mechanic probably done a compression test to confirm the head gasket has failed. Although other things can cause compression readings to be low such as cracked head / block, problems with the valves and or piston rings.

Only by removing the cylinder head will a better inspection of what else might be damaged will be possible.

wag2610

Thanks, i have spoken to mechanic who has said he will strip the engine down tomorrow for me and will then ring me to say if there is any other damage hopefully it will only be head gasket etc !!! Do you think 600 is a reasonable price for the repair? I think that i will cut my losses if it has more damage than just the head gasket

mattyprice4004

There won't be any more damage unless you ran it until it stopped.

Did you notice the temperature going up, or did you keep going until it lost power? If it's the second you could have done some real damage.

spacey2012

At 100,000 it has just about shot its bolt for a vauxhall.
The days where diesels go on and on are over.
They are almost disposable units now, the DMF unless re-built will be on it's last legs and so will be the diesel pump.
If it can be fixed, get shut once its running.
Taking the head off that block, well the biggest job is removing the bonnet, 2 hours should see it off for inspection if they have plenty of tea breaks.

wag2610

mattyprice4004 wrote: »

There won't be any more damage unless you ran it until it stopped.

Did you notice the temperature going up, or did you keep going until it lost power? If it's the second you could have done some real damage.

Oh dear i think i could be in real trouble here then !! yes i did run it till it lost power!!! But before it cut out on motorway the car wasnt showing any signs of engine trouble or failure just the water leak i mentioned which i did top up every couple of days.
Whats you opinion on a full repair then should i just scrap it if there is more damage than head?

Thanks
Wendy

wag2610

spacey2012 wrote: »

At 100,000 it has just about shot its bolt for a vauxhall.
The days where diesels go on and on are over.
They are almost disposable units now, the DMF unless re-built will be on it's last legs and so will be the diesel pump.
If it can be fixed, get shut once its running.
Taking the head off that block, well the biggest job is removing the bonnet, 2 hours should see it off for inspection if they have plenty of tea breaks.

:eek:DMF you will have to tell me what that stands for !!!

spacey2012

It is the Dual mass flywheel, rumours that if you made 100,000 miles an the same one they gave you a gold plated car are only an urban myth.
But the cdti engine has a self destruct mechanism at 70,000 miles so you must have driven like a nun to get as far as you have.
But in short it means, once you start, something else is never far behind, so bodge fix and drop kick it.

mattyprice4004

spacey2012 wrote: »

It is the Dual mass flywheel, rumours that if you made 100,000 miles an the same one they gave you a gold plated car are only an urban myth.
But the cdti engine has a self destruct mechanism at 70,000 miles so you must have driven like a nun to get as far as you have.
But in short it means, once you start, something else is never far behind, so bodge fix and drop kick it.

My car is on 153,000 miles on it's original DMF and clutch system. It's never had a major fault, all injectors are original and it runs lovely.

Rover 75 CDTI with the BMW M47 diesel engine.

mattyprice4004

wag2610 wrote: »

Oh dear i think i could be in real trouble here then !! yes i did run it till it lost power!!! But before it cut out on motorway the car wasnt showing any signs of engine trouble or failure just the water leak i mentioned which i did top up every couple of days.
Whats you opinion on a full repair then should i just scrap it if there is more damage than head?

Thanks
Wendy

Keep an eye on your temperature in future - must have been sky-high if it got hot enough to lose power!

You're likely looking at a new cylinder head (well, 2nd hand will be OK, or yours may be skim-able) and head gasket. Hopefully that's it.

Retrogamer

wag2610 wrote: »

yes i did run it till it lost power!!! But before it cut out on motorway the car wasnt showing any signs of engine trouble or failure

If it failed due to overheating from a coolant leak then didn't the temp gauge start rising and go into the red prior to the failure?