Head Gaskets gone :(

[Emma&Al]

Worse news from the garage today - the head gaskets gone.
What are my options guys?
They are quoting me a very rough 600 pounds so far.

[Emma&Al]

Do I have permission to cry yet?

[rod_laranjo]

You should be happy. My whole engine was gone. Spending more than the double of your quote...

[ermie571]

Permission to cry granted.

in fact, I'll grant permission for full blown sobbing


If you get it done for £600 I'll be gobsmacked - we are talking WBX, and not diesel?

Em
x

[R0B]

Head gasket on a WBX ? Are you sure your mechanic knows these engines.It's a 2.1 petrol Em.

[Emma&Al]

I thought 600 pounds was a little low. I have a good relationship with the main mechanic, who will be back to work on Monday, as he's not around at the moment. They will give me a call back on Monday and try to give me a more realistic and concrete quote.
Its a petrol Em

[Emma&Al]

Im thinking that the options are:

1. Get it fixed - keep van
2. Get it fixed - sell van
3. Get another engine put in ? (is that completely unrealistic?
4. Diesel engine (is that possible and are they less complex?)
5. Other... (please fill in this space!!!)

[R0B]

5.Get a mechanic who knows a WBX does not have a head gasket.

[Emma&Al]

Hi Rob, but it must have - I have receipts from the last owner (who are my friends), showing that the head gasket had blown and was fixed, twice in the last 4 years...? I'm confused now.

[Emma&Al]

The mechanic who was looking at the van told me he wanted to wait until the owner (the actual mechanic that I know well) comes back on Monday - he admitted that he'd not worked on these vans before, and wanted to make sure that I could get a clearer idea of the sort of work needed with a price.
Could it be that he's misdiagnosed? Still doesn't account for the fact that I have receipts showing that the vans head gasket blew twice in the last few years....odd.

[itchyfeet]

Still doesn't account for the fact that I have receipts showing that the vans head gasket blew twice in the last few years....odd.

Perhaps another issue causing the failure.
Such as a blocked cooling system or if you have used the same mechanic, perhaps an incompetant mechanic?

[Emma&Al]

Hi itchyfeet, the receipts are from a VW specialist. This is another mechanic...the mystery continues!

[itchyfeet]

Well a head gasket should last many years if done properly, what will make it fail is overheating.

Overheating can happen from a blocked or faulty cooling system or lean burn of engine, maybe some other things that I have not thought of.

Perhaps the mechanics have been fixing the symptoms and not the cause.

[Emma&Al]

Thanks Itchyfeet. The reason I took it to the garage is that i noticed fluid dripping onto a driveway that Id parked up on. On touching it, it seemed to be water. It happened again when I got home and at the time the van was full of moving house stuff, so I couldn't get to the engine. I then noticed the expansion tank was empty, so filled that up. I drove away and the light started flashing at me - when I got home again, I checked the water level and the actual water coolant tank was almost completely empty.
I don't know if that makes any sense to instantly diagnose the failure of the head gasket? Im not knowledgable enough.

[CovKid]

Tis possible to drive like that for a good while (mine a year so far) providing you top up regularly. Depends how much its losing. Often it won't lose any at all when its hot.