2000 SL1 Head Gasket Replacment?

I had a tire blow and took the car to a tire store and they said I had a leaking head gasket. The car just hit 100K miles. I was wondering how to tell if that is true and what is the average cost for replacing a head gasket?

Reply to
Dean S. Lautermilch®²ºº³
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"Dean S. Lautermilch®²ºº³" wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@news.supernews.com:

Your car burning coolant, oil is frothy/waterdowned, oily coolant, higher than average operating temperature, etc. are all signs of a blown head gasket. Assuming you haven't melted your cylinder head, it should be like $300 to $400 or so for a head gasket replacement. You might wanna see how much your Saturn dealer would charge to replace it before taking it elsewhere, though most shops can do it fairly easily. Get it done sooner than later to avoid unnecessary engine damage/overheating/warping. If you need a new head, they might run another $300-$400 or so on top of the rest of the work.

Reply to
Justin

in=20

Do a "cylinder leak down test".

Reply to
Blah blah

I would ask them or your own personal mechanic to show you where it was leaking from . You could start yourself by looking in your coolant bottle for alot of brown crap in there - which could indicate a coolant / oil mix.

If it is leaking internally ( like a compression test or cylinder leak down test would show ) there is no way a tire shop wold have caught that while fixing your tire. You could have an external head gasket leak ( at the back of the block /head) which , depending on how long you want to keep the car, could just be let go.

Tire store mechanics are often paid on flat rate with a comission ( they get paid to "upsell" work ) and you should be cautious about what work they recommend. Find someone knowledgable that you trust or ask a close friend who they would use.

Reply to
Blue87T

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