Head Gasket gone months after being replaced

DiscoPistol

Hi all,

Couple of quick questions regarding a vehicle I bought in January.

I bought the vehicle off ebay knowing that the prevous owner had had the Head Gasket replaced in November.

Used the vehicle sporadically until a couple of weeks ago, then did 1200 miles over 16 days.

Came to work yesterday and pulled over because it was over heating. Towed to garage who have (a) said the Head Gasket has gone and (b) said we should contact the previous garage as they should sort it out.

I'm going to phone the garage tomorrow and talk nicely to them but was wondering if they would indeed have any liability?

Thanks in advance.

anotherbaldrick

Head is warped , needs to be machined flat. Whoever replaced the head gasket should have checked for warping before fitting new gasket.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u4SzK_OjAkY

System

Did you buy it from a private seller or dealer?

PasturesNew

Ask him/Get him to prove if he skimmed the head when it last blew. You can't just whip the head off and stick a new gasket on .... should be skimmed ideally, then torqued down to the right pressure too.

Stoke

Sounds like either:

a. They didn't get the head skimmed as has already suggested and simply replaced the gasket. (Doomed to eventually fail).

b. They used a snake oil fix such as sodium silicate which can last anything from 6 months to 10 years but isn't really a proper fix. Your garage will be able to tell you if this is the case.

Did they provide you with a receipt?

DiscoPistol

!!!!!!, We bought the vehicle off a private seller.

AdrianC

It's entirely possible it's poor workmanship last time - not skimming or crack-testing the head or failing to correctly torque it down - but it might not be. If something else caused the HG to go in the first place. If it's lasted six months and a few thousand miles, it's probably not failure to skim or crack-test. It might be failure to correctly torque or not replacing stretch head bolts.

But, since it's coincided with the weather warming up (a bit...), it might be a partially blocked rad or failed fan. You say the temp gauge rose. It's likely that's the cause rather than a symptom.

DiscoPistol

Stoke wrote: »

Sounds like either:

a. They didn't get the head skimmed as has already suggested and simply replaced the gasket. (Doomed to eventually fail).

b. They used a snake oil fix such as sodium silicate which can last anything from 6 months to 10 years but isn't really a proper fix. Your garage will be able to tell you if this is the case.

Did they provide you with a receipt?

We have a receipt, although I don't have it to hand.

Geodark

What car is it? The head gasket could be a symptom rather than the cause. ie, the overheating has caused the HGF rather than the other way round. I have seen this on a few cars where the coolant has ran out due to either a small leak in the pipes or by the cap not sealing properly.

colino

If it's a private seller, you have no comeback so don't waste your energy on that route. If it's a Disco, work out its real value and consider selling as is, or if it's a decent model, get the head done yourself properly.

fivetide

If it is a Rover K series engine then it wasn't done right as the replacements effectively sort the issue out once and ofr all if done right.

Could well be a cheap fix and punt the car on which is a shame for you. You'd need the previous owner to take the car back to the garage though, I wouldn't think they'd continue any warranty to a new owner.