1. Home
  2. Toyota Camry
  3. Replace Head gasket on '97 camry

Replace Head gasket on '97 camry

My 97 Camry (4 cyl.) is leaking old form the head gasket. Car has ~100K miles on it. My mechanic gave me a quote of $1,400 to repair this. He says it is a lot of labor, but the part is cheap. This seems like a lot to charge. Is anyone familiar with this repair and know what the average cost would be? It's leaking a small amount of oil on my garage floor. Of course, I don't know what is leaking when it is being driven. I really don't want to spend the money right now. Can I just top-off the oil once a week, and not get it fixed now?

Also, we have had a LOT of problems with this car with parts failing much earlier than expected. For example, the seals on the power steering went bad as ~80K miles. My mechanic, whom I take the car to regularly, noted that it is not normal to see such an extensive repair history on Camry's, as they normally have a very good record. I am looking to write a letter to Toyota. I'm sure that won't get very far, but it will feel good to vent!

Thanks,

Reply to
Leor Amikam
Loading thread data ...

If you're leaking oil from the Head gasket, than you're looking at a much more serious problem, ie water is getting in the oil, and vice versa.

Look at the dipstick. Is it a bit milky? If it is then water is getting past the gasket into the crankcase. This is not a Good Thing. You're looking at blowing the engine, sooner or later.

If you plan on keeping the car for any amount of time, then do it now before the engine gets damaged. If you don't care and will just go out and buy another one, then run it till it drops. Just have your Triple-A paid up!!!

It is very labor intensive. Depending on the design, he may be able to disassemble the engine right in the car, if not, he has to pull the engine and then break it down to replace the gasket.

Hey, at least the guy was honest enough to tell you the parts are cheap!!! Let's hope his mechanical abilities are as good as his integrity!

Reply to
Hachiroku

Your car is 9 years old with 100k miles and you are going to write to Toyota and complain? Ya need to try a Chrysler or a Ford for comparison. I can remember not many years ago a car with 50k miles on it had a foot in the junkyard - Toyota changed all that --- now we demand 150+K miles with no repairs. Do you follow all the recommended maintenance in the owners manual -- and have it done at a qualified shop? Head gasket? Sounds more like a valve cover gasket leaking (or oil pump seal). A head gasket would show as low compression/poor performance, lots of white smoke out the tail pipe all the time, or antifreese mixed in with the oil. If it is actually the head gasket - $ depends what he is going to do to fix it - shave the head/block, replace valve stems, recondition valves, replace timing belt --- or just slap on a new head gasket? My recommendation - have compression and leak down test done, steam clean the engine to see where oil is truely leaking from.

Reply to
Wolfgang

OIl leak and head gasket condition are probably not related. Re: power steering - was the fluid ever changed? Re: head gasket - how often was the coolant changed, and was it Toyota red with distilled water, or generic green with tap water? Was there ever any problem with the water pump or over heating or radiator leakage? How often was the oil changed?

It is unusual for a head gasket on the 4 cylinder to go bad at 100k.

Reply to
Daniel

My power steering leaked also, got it replaced and now I change the fluid a few times a year with a syringe. Back to the head gasket..get a second opinion on this just incase its a leaky valve cover and your mechanic just wants a big screen TV for Xmas.

Reply to
Rob

The Law of Unintended Consequences?

Reply to
badgolferman

MotorsForum website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.