Hi all, I've recently blown my head gasket on myr reg v70 and was wondering what I'm better off doing? Do I get a new reconditioned engine fitted, or replace the head gasket, and how much am I looking at? Thanks in advance
Depends on the state of the original engine, was it badly cooked? Did it lose all the coolent? Also what mileage was on the old engine? It would probably be worth striping the head off, and having it checked. A new engine would be nice , but only if properly built, not thrown together and will not be cheep. You could try a second hand one if cheep enough, and are willing to take a chance. Much better if you see it in its original car first to see why it was scrapped. Roger.
Hi Roger, It's done 145,00 and I don't think it was badly cooked, no coolant came out, just a lot of burning oil, and a milky dipstick. Is stripping the head a long process? And once stripped of its not too bad do I just get a new head? Cheers Jake
Taking the head off is not too bad a job if you're used to getting stuck in. Haynes do a guide for it. You'll need new head bolts and a head gasket kit, which can be expensive if you want genuine parts (otherwise around £100 if you get pattern parts). And get the head skimmed. Are you sure the gasket has blown? If you have the oil cooler in the radiator they can fail and mix oil/coolant.
I've had a good mechanic look at it, and he and the AA suspect it's a cracked head gasket, What are recognised symptoms?
If you have two opinions the same then maybe that is the diagnosis. The other way to tell is get a compression test and/or a sniff test done. What engine is it?
It's a 2.3 turbo
When you say sniff test are you talking about unburnt fuel?
A sniff test detects hydrocarbons in the cooling system thus indicating an issue with the head gasket