VillaAndLoyal Posted April 2, 2012 Share Posted April 2, 2012 So today on the way to work, five minutes away from work in fact, my 1.4 Fiesta Zetec went caput on a motorway sliproad. The garage (private business) have just called and said the head gasket has gone, and have quoted me about £800 to fix it. I know nothing about cars if I'm honest but reading a few related internet pages I think the gasket would probably need skimming as the car failed during use. Does anyone know whether that seems a fair quote or should I ask around? I can't really afford £800, especially as it's only 12 months since I paid £3k for it. Any help would be most appreciated. V&L Donations are also welcome :winkold: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
b23avfc Posted April 2, 2012 Share Posted April 2, 2012 If you're in brum give Pumabuild a call, pretty competitive and know their stuff. PumaBuild Units 5 Holford Drive Perry Barr Birmingham B42 2TU PHONE: +44 (0)121 356 2638 MOBILE: 07966 401734 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shambles Posted April 2, 2012 Share Posted April 2, 2012 So today on the way to work, five minutes away from work in fact, my 1.4 Fiesta Zetec went caput on a motorway sliproad. The garage (private business) have just called and said the head gasket has gone, and have quoted me about £800 to fix it. I know nothing about cars if I'm honest but reading a few related internet pages I think the gasket would probably need skimming as the car failed during use. Does anyone know whether that seems a fair quote or should I ask around? I can't really afford £800, especially as it's only 12 months since I paid £3k for it. Any help would be most appreciated. V&L Donations are also welcome :winkold: The head gasket is a high pressure seal between the cylinder head and the engine block. It's a bastard to do on most modern cars without specialist tools and requires a shit load of labour and technical knowledge. Wouldn't hurt to 'test the water', though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimmygreaves Posted April 2, 2012 Share Posted April 2, 2012 Whats the mileage? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Meath_Villan Posted April 2, 2012 Share Posted April 2, 2012 they will skim it charge you a nice sum then utter the words ...we cant guarantee that it wont go again leaving you in fear Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VillaAndLoyal Posted April 2, 2012 Author Share Posted April 2, 2012 The mileage is about 50k I think, so not too bad. The pages I've found on the internet so far are very contrasting - some seem to think £300/400 is reasonable but others say you could end up paying £1,200. I guess it depends exactly what the damage is? I just hate how every time I get a phonecall off this garage they seem to just pluck a figure out of thin air almost. They probably don't, but that's certainly what it feels like. Thanks for the responses so far chaps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Genie Posted April 3, 2012 Share Posted April 3, 2012 The skimming is actually pretty cheap, normally the garage will send it out to be skimmed and pay about £30/£40 to get it done. It doesn't HAVE to be skimmed but in the grand scheme of things its the thin end of the wedge with regards to the total bill so I'd recommend you pay for it to be done. £800 does sound a bit OTT, as you say, ring around and try and get it down to about half of that (which I'm sure you can). Until it is opened up its difficult to say for certain, its not uncommon the head to be cracked if the head gasket has blown, this'll mean you need either a new head, a recon or if the garage are feeling brave getting it welded up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BOF Posted April 3, 2012 Moderator Share Posted April 3, 2012 Head gasket can be a huge job if, as Tamuff says, the head cracks etc. So £800 might not be unreasonable. Obviously shop around but establish exactly what needs doing first. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimmygreaves Posted April 3, 2012 Share Posted April 3, 2012 The mileage is about 50k I think, so not too bad. How has a head gasket gone after only 50k miles in a new (ish) car???? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BOF Posted April 3, 2012 Moderator Share Posted April 3, 2012 Unless it's not really a 50k car ... or spends it's time being driven like it's stolen - especially when still cold. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darrenm Posted April 4, 2012 Share Posted April 4, 2012 In all honesty I wasn't surprised it had gone at 50k when I read it's a Ford.. Especially a smaller engine in a car which isn't as light as it could be. It will be under stress quite a lot. Have they added the 6th digit the odometer on Fords yet? £800 is a bit steep, it's not a massive job on a transversely mounted 4 cylinder. The timing belt and possibly water pump will have to be changed at the same time. I'd expect about £400-500 from a private garage. The skimming shouldn't be done unless absolutely required because it will higher the compression slightly causing extra knock and mean it's got less chance of running right afterwards. Many garages will do this as a matter of course but the engine shops tend not to actually skim unless required. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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