Head Gasket Blown- Corsa C

arcon5

Skimming is not optional if you want the engine fixed properly and for more than a month. It would have warped when overheating.

It's not by far a small job doing the HG - labour will completely outweigh anything.

When the HG went on my TDCi Mondeo I was quoted £750. So it seems excessive for them to want to charge £1k on a Corsa and their breakdown looks odd to me.

But it DOES make sense to change the water pump whilst down there imo.

I'm surprised though somebody has said to DIY it without knowing anybody about your level of knowledge or skill and with it being a big job.

Then there is also the cause of the failure to think about - why did the engine overheat? This seems fixing - unless the thermostat failed and that's why the garage wants to change it..

Always stop driving the car if it overheats or oil pressure warning lamp comes on.

Get quotes elsewhere.

Wig

I said to do it himself, when he implied in post #1 that the warranty co. was not going to pay out and it was going to cost him £1000.

If that was my option, I would consider £1000.00 a waste of money on a car so old, I would have a go, and scrap it if didn't work out.

Now what he is saying is that the warranty co. is going to pay for the lot but won't be paying for any of the extras... they are charging £1000 for all the extras ontop of what they are charging the warranty co for the headgasket. I consider that to be outrageous.... and I would take the car elsewhere if that was an option. It seems they are charging overall about £1,500 - £1,600 for the whole job........ Is this a vauxhall dealership?

I can do headgaskets, I've done my own a few times, and skimming is not an absolute "must" It only needs doing if it is warped, where did he say he drove it for a month overheating? Of course cleaning it, inplace of skimming it is "a must" and would they clean it as much and dedicatedly as I would?

I also said to him to do it with a knowledgeable friend, or if he lived near me, I would help him myself., If he did this himself it would be a great learning experience.

Of course now he has clarified that the warranty company will pay for the headgasket to be done, and the garage is wanting to charge him for all the little extras, in this scenario, tell them to do job on the warranty and pay for a new waterpump and possibly a skim depending if you trust them to do it properly (without a skim). And if you trust them to actually take it for a skim ! These cowboys are charging £200 for a pressure check for F#@$ sake!

PaulMc81

Have you got any more quotes? £1000 sounds excessive. Lot of work in replacing a HG, as others have said - mostly labour - when you consider the gasket itself costs about £15-£20.

Another option could be asking the garage to source and fit another engine & do a straight swap which may work out cheaper. Seem to be quite a lot of them on ebay ranging from about £100 to £500. You'd want to see and hear it running though...

skivenov

Ppelsb wrote: »

After not hearing from the garage for 4 days, I phoned up, and now they are quoting me over a thousand pounds for a new water pump, timing belt, skimming, spark plugs, oil change etc, aswell as £200 for a 'pressure check'?!

The garage is !!!!!!!!ting you. If the head needs skimming, this should be part of the repair process. The engineer I use for skims pressure checks any head they've skimmed as a matter of course. Get them to write you an itemised quote out.

colino

Frankly the quote is ridiculous for such a common engine. Ask the garage what they would charge you if a warranty company wasn't involved.
What the garage are doing is presenting themselves as imbecilic fitters, with no basic training in checking before replacing. It is very easy to check if a head and block need skimming, scrapping or no further action without any major equipment. Equally water pumps and thermostats can be checked, but then the labour costs overtake the costs of simply junking them and replacing them for new as the engine is being worked on anyway.
Whatever the final quote, and I mean quote, not sucking through teeth guesstimate, you have to weigh up if you want to spend the money on this car. Maybe the Haynes, spoiled weekend route is one to consider, likewise, throwing a warranted replacement engine in from your local scrappy.
The economics of your first option are like having a new panel fitted to a broken TV for £1000, when you could have bought a whole new TV for £500.

[Deleted User]

It was going to cost less than £400 (had 3 quotes) to redo the head gasket on a 1.4 206 after it was blown. £1000 for a Corsa is way excessive.

roswell

Couple of points, if your going to get it done I agree with timing chain, water pumps and also do the alternator belt and tensioner that way everything that's likely to fail is new 9does rule out it failing due to being a duff part but its minimizing risk).

be carefull with getting the head skimmed on the corsa C there is stories of it causing bigger problems than just replacing the gasket.

but all things considered you can get another corsa c rather cheap is it really worth the time and effort ?

Wig

PLEASE EVERYONE UNDERSTAND

The garage is charging the warranty co. £400 plus head gasket set
And charging the customer an additional £1000 for replacing frivoluos extras.

OP, the skim - if it needs it, should be included in the warranty cover you should not have to pay for that.

arcon5

Sounds like the garage don't want the job op

deanos

3 month's from buying the car, shouldn't the dealer be responsible ?

Cant the OP peruse the dealer instead of the warranty co ?