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| Re: Blown head gasket |
Subject: Re: Blown head gasket
by mr_nismo4 on 2002/7/31 9:07:31
Shame to hear about the headgasket Mareo. I just had one let go on my girlfriends '88 Corolla. But unfortunatly things got worse when it finally got to the mechanics for a fix up.
First of all, my g/f was struggling to afford the repairs and so the guy said he would try and keep the costs down. Ends up that it cost $1000 AUS. This doesnt include the cost of new coolant, oil, and re torquing the head bolts when it goes back in! Other workshops said that $1000 would cover it no worries, she didnt even mention she was hard up for cash!
Anyway, got the car back. they did all the crack testing, shaving the head, blah blah, thermostat, etc etc. My g/f drove it home the first night in slight traffic and it heated up a little more than it should. As I wasnt in the car I dont know how far it heated up but my g/f said it was about 3/4 on the gauge. Hmm, this is weird I thought. No loss of fluid or anything, all looked OK. At this point I will mention how (when the car went in)I asked the guy to make sure the thermo fans were working because I had never heard them come on anytime.
First chance I had to drive the car (two days later)I was in traffic and it was pissing down with rain. Car heated up too much so I pulled over. Popped the bonnet and there was coolant going everywhere! One of the heater hoses had gone causing all the collant to piss out and the car overheat. Got the car towed back to the workshop to get fixed as I thought it was their responsibility.
Took them about a week to replace a heater hose worth $4 and two 50c hose clamps. So another $100 later we got the car back.
Now I dont think Im an expert on cars like some mechanics think they are but I do know my fair share of things. One of those is that any decent workshop will NOT ask questions about whats wrong with the car when it brakes down until they get it back to their workshop and look it over. These guys made an assumption I was a mechanic and could track down the problem for them! (which I did, but I should have only had to tell them it lost fluid and needs towing) Then from my description of the problem they will NOT try and absolve themselves, again like these jokers did.
The mechanic said that the hose went because it was old. Fair enough, you inspect all hoses when replacing a head gasket and replace suspect ones, its a bit of a 50/50 wether you replace every single hose costing $$$.
But he couldnt tell me why the car heated up so much the first night we had it back. My theory is that the thermo fans didnt come on to cool the car down. The car got just enough flow thru driving to stop it boiling over. Then we I got caught in traffic there was no air flow, the thermo fans werent working so they didnt cool the car down and the hose went loosing all the fluid. The mechanic said that was crap. He said it over heated because the hose went. So why did it over heat that first night? The hose surely wasnt gone becasue we had no loss of fluid, not a drop. He would not stop saying that it wasnt their fault.
So we payed up and left, the only time we see that slimy prick and his workshop again ever will to be tightening the head down. Then I wont go back there again.
Just thought I would share a yarn with you guys, while on the topic of head gaskets.
Cheers,
Simon
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