gm 17 td headgasket !

[DMC HAMMER]

Hi all, my first post on this forum ! Can anybody tell me How Much i should expect to pay for a headgasket replacement including belt and pump ''while there at it'' on my 98 astra mk3 van ? Its the 17td gm engine . Also does anyone have a good garage in the herts/ London area they would recomend where i could get it done ? . Best place to get the parts from ? cheers fellas , Mick

 

[paul.spencer]

Hi Mick,

I reread your thread on the other forum and still don't see why you reckon you need your head gasket done at all. I guess it is conceivable that there is HGF but you said it runs well, temps good, no big clouds of white smoke, just sounds like you got some rust showing up in your coolant (not some nasty oily emulsion) and you're leaking and/or burning some oil.

Did that garage you went to say exactly what tests (if any) have been done to indicate HGF?

Cheers, Paul

 

[DMC HAMMER]

Hi Paul, hows it going mate ?. To be honest the garage said that the coolant system was pressurising very quickly after starting and i could see that myself !, i do reckon the headgasket is failing as there is white smoke from the exhaust albeit not clouds of the stuff. I could probably continue to use the van as it is ,but because the replacement engine has only 56000 miles on it i would like to preserve it if possible and get it sorted sooner rather than later . I was a bit annoyed at the high price i was quoted so did not go into too much detail with the garage owner as i thought i was being mugged off !. It did'nt help that they don't open on a saturday so could'nt collect the van till this monday evening either and its costing me £25.00 for the prognosis . I might just have a juggle around and see if i can rent a garage for a couple of weeks and do it myself in my spare time .

 

[paul.spencer]

oh - bummer. I thought you might have gotten away with the cambelt job and waterpump replacement, but its looking like you will have to do the head gasket replacement.

I've had a couple of stupid, expensive experiences with garages here and was thinking that if my head gasket blew I would tackle it myself. Anyway maybe somebody on here will suggest some garages in your area and you'll find a better deal than that other garage you went to.

Good luck with it and keep us posted - especially if you do the job yourself! If you do I have to insist that you take plenty of photos and post them here.

Cheers, Paul

 

[rc]

If you do tackle it your self you will need the specialist cambelt fitting kit with the dti gauge if changing the headgasket, you can't put the belt back on the same marks when having the head skimed, very very very tight valve clearances on the gm td engine, as i found out the hard way. There's no key on the cam sprocket and the cam has to be dialed in every time.

 

[DMC HAMMER]

Thanks for the heads up on the dial gauge RC . Been looking into it and it is quite involved even with the camkit and flywheel locking gadget. Its a 98 motor 56000 miles on vauxhall replacement engine ,with full mot , its very clean and tidy but don't know how much time and or money i want to throw into it ??. Bit of a catch 22 really mate .

 

[Andy_Mk3]

It's quite a big job on the diesel. At a garage you'd be looking at roughly £500-900.. depending on their rates and on what needs replacing.

 

[DMC HAMMER]

Hi Andy mk3 ! , your right mate its a fair job alright , don't know which way to go with it at the moment ? Can get a complete engine easy enough without the stripping and faffing around with it which i am considering ?. Its a real shame coz its a real clean motor and low miles but i can't see me spending a pile of money on it. Things are not exactly flush at the moment so need to watch the old spends big time ! Using the frontera for work at the mo but not ideal, mpg , parking etc , cheers for the reply mate ,Mick
Might consider selling it to someone who's got an engine ready to go so they can benefit from the 12 months mot, new brakes etc?. I just aint got the patience or time at the moment to sort it out although i'll probs regret it ! any offers ?

 

[Andy_Mk3]

It all comes down to what the car means to you. If it's a cheap runabout then it's going to be better for you to sell/break/scrap it and buy another cheap runabout. Or if you like the car and want to keep it then it's going to be worth spending some money on.

 

[Ashl3y]

Just double check if its the headgasket by opening up the oil filler cap after its been run about if it has gone usually you will hear a hiss either from the coolant tank or the oil filler cap plus will smell slightly of exhaust fumes