Head Gasket....whats a good price

[94mattda]

As you may knowmy engine is in need of a littel tlc.....

I have been quoted £800 approx for the head gasket by a Mercedes Specialst,

I also asked whilst the head was off may as well have the valve seals etc repalced adn it went up too £1100 approx.....

My question is what should i get done whilst the head is being done.....should i have the valves repalced as well....timing chaine etc etc?

 

[Mudster]

I'm a great believer in whilst you've got it all in bits do as much as possible..

It would seem a little churlish not to do a top end overhaul whilst having the head gasket done, it would save duplicated dismantling and reassembly at a later date.

Of course this assumes you intend to keep and enjoy the car for some period of time.

 

[94mattda]

I'm a great believer in whilst you've got it all in bits do as much as possible..

It would seem a little churlish not to do a top end overhaul whilst having the head gasket done, it would save duplicated dismantling and reassembly at a later date.

Of course this assumes you intend to keep and enjoy the car for some period of time.

Yes indeed......i do want to keep it and get her all sorted......was just a little daunting the amount i am going to have to spend on it but i think it is a car well woth the effort....

 

[Roger Jones]

If £800 includes a skim and VAT it is not unreasonable in the light of my experience getting two M103s done. I think it's reckoned to be an 8-hour job, which would of course be £1150 for labour alone at many/any MB dealers.

For what it's worth, my mechanic has done plenty of them and says he has never found one that didn't need skimming.

As others say, don't waste the opportunity: get checked and fixed anything else that needs doing or is likely to need doing while the head is off and everything is that much more accessible. If you suspect your indy of making working for himself, check back here and ask whether it's reasonable to expect failure of this or that at whatever mileage is applicable.

Think of the cost as being spread over the number of years you expect to keep the car and it looks much more reasonable on a per annum basis. That's how I rationalize costs that others won't contemplate.

 

[grober]

Another £300 for just the valve stem seals seems a little steep if the head is off already? but if they are talking about refacing the valve seats/ valve guides then that's more understandable. I would seriously consider renewing the timing chain tensioner and guides while you are in there if they are showing signs of wear. The duplex chain and sprockets themselves should still be fine but depends on the mileage and how well the engine's been looked after??

 

[94mattda]

Thanks guys....i dont know much when it comes to engines and like you say i dont want the garage to rip me off saying this that and the other need doing too..... Going to go down tomorrow armed with some of the comments on here and get a written quote for exactly what he is going to do for the money and will get back and see what you think...

 

[94mattda]

Another idea was a recon engine which can be fitted for £1500 and i get a 5 year 60k warranty.......What do people think about that idea?

 

[Will]

Hi Matt,

The major cost associated with replacing the cylinder head gasket is the labour involved.

The cost of the parts (gasket set, head bolts, seals etc) is quite low - probably £100-200ish. A skim/facing the head would probably only be about £50 if neccessary.

If you have another car to use (ie, not in a rush to get this one fixed) you could DIY this quite easily, learn plenty in the process and save yourself several hundred quid.

Not really all that many specialist tools required - I'm sure you could borrow a torque wrench and perhaps the spline-head socket used on the head bolts if you don't wish to buy them.

If you're on a budget it could be a good option. I'm sure there's plenty of people on here who'd help with any questions or advice you might need.

Will

 

[grober]

Another idea was a recon engine which can be fitted for £1500 and i get a 5 year 60k warranty.......What do people think about that idea?

If the sums are £1500 versus £1100 and you intend to keep the car long term sounds a good deal to me -especially the warranty! One thing to check is whether the warranty is transferable since that would be a good selling point if and when you should decide to move on. Balance the sums carefully against the current value of the car.

 

[Smiley]

hmm a re-con engine for £1500? or is that just a second hand engine with the word re-con written on the invoice - and a "warranty" that turns out to have a limit per claim of £500?
Call me a cynic but it is not possible to re-con this motor and then sell it for £1500.
You are far better to have the HG done properly on your car if the rest has been looked after and you have a SH with the car.

 

[94mattda]

Merc Psecialist called back today.....

Just the head gasket £1050 + Vat

Head gasket, timing chain and tensioners..... £1350 + vat

thought please.....Ok price? a little higher than originally quoted....or can a normal mechanic do this job ok....my merc specialist said the timing is very special???? on these engines....

 

[lynall]

I did the head gasket on wifes old e320 which i am assuming is same engine as yours m104?

Gasket set was approx £60, skim was £40 cash to a very nice man

Plus eerm oh yeh thats it, did have fun with the variable timing cam gear setting it up, convinced i had it wrong but no it was fine.

I actually did this on the drive at home, not hard just a lot of bits.

So i think £1k plus is taking the pee big style, after all it is just a gasket on a large engine easy to work on plenty of room for access.



Lynall

 

[Buggerlugs]

Wot Smiley said.............Recon engine, fitted, 5 year warranty???? Wish I knew how to "spell" a klaxon sound.

WRT the head job, just ensure you have confidence in the garage that does the job, good reputations are hard to come by and they can cost that little extra, but it's worth it.

 

[lynall]

Just remembering lady opposite me had her head gasket changed on her 93 citroen xantia 1.9td a henious thing to look at never mind work on and that was approx £400 ish and that a terrible front wheel drive engine with extremely tight access on a citroen acces was so bad you couldnt even see the turbo as it was totally buried.

One car i made sure i stayed away from

Used to be the case in the motor trade if you were asked to do a job you didnt want you quoted stupidly high hoping customer would bugger off, but if they said yea you made very good money.



Lynall

 

[Ade B]

Think I paid around £600 + vat for a new CHG and I was told mine didn't need skimming by the MB specialist.

On the additional items, there are 2 schools of thought and having spent a fortune on preventative maintenance I'm now firmly in the if it aint broke don't fix it mode.

Ade

 

[para alpha]

Just spoken to a mechanic friend who has just called a round to the house. He phoned a guy who supplies him it engine components. He thinks he could do it in a day for £500 inc VAT! But that means a trip to Aintree, Liverpool. I would trust him to do mine. He knows a place that does a 2 hour pick up and return service on head skimming, he uses them a lot on Mitsubishi heads and has never had a problem.

 

[BlackC55]

MB heads don't often need a skim. I have skimmed one in my whole career.

£800 notes is a fair price.

 

[Roger Jones]

The core cost element is the labour on the primary job. I'm pretty sure that is an 8 or 8.5 hour job in the MB registry of job times. At an indy rate of £60 an hour, that's £500ish, and many indies don't charge that much. Anything around £1000 for that plus secondary work strikes me as questionable.

 

[94mattda]

After a little though and a bottle of red wine i have decided to give it a go myself....well at least the head gasket and valves.......... i have a few friends with the tools and a mechanic friend that have offered to help.

Does any one have a copy of instructions for replacing the head gasket, and valve seals etc..........

Not going to bother with the timing chain as it makes no noise and the mileage is not that high so i think i can leave that for now.

At least if i have a go myslef i will learn something about my engine... and save myself about £1000

 

[lynall]

Look in the how to section.



Lynall