cylinder head is knackered how much to replace?

ROTFL :- See earlier posts.... regarding mechanics poll - which engines are least reliable?

I guess the best advice would be to get another car, sorry to sound like a bitch but the K-Series is a bitch in most peoples eyes. Get an old merc or volvo or Saab or something you will never look back.

Andy

Only the new shape 400 series (i.e. the Honda Civic based model) used a K series 1.6 engine. If it's the original three box shape (up to about 1995) then it'll have a Honda 1.6 engine which is not known for head trouble...

Darren

its the civic shape V reg 1999 had it for yonks and got 110,000 miles of carefree motoring out of it... been a great runner... just curious to know how much it should cost

Hard to say without knowing what's actually happened inside the engine.You are probably looking at £2-300 for the labour in removing and refitting the head but that's not to say more work won't be needed.

Oh yes? Some Saabs have a habit of throwing their timing chains out of the pram - and cost more to fix than a K-series head gasket. Like a couple of grand. I know two people this has happened to. But none who have had a K-series engine fail. Just my straw poll. YMMV.

My K series only went wrong on the head gasket when it overheated due to a split hose.

I know two people who have wrecked Saabs - one threw a timing chain and the other threw a rod (for what reason I know not).

Problem with personal experience, the only thing I've evr had throw a rod was a 1.3 Mk1 Astra Estate.

In article , Chris Street writes

The only engine I've seen throw a rod is the one in a Maestro van. Think the lump might have been based on the A-series engine, judging from what I remember of its size and shape. The rod came out through the front of the block.

That's odd. The topic never seems to come up over on alt.autos.saab. Most of the people over there are completely in love with their chains.

Cheers,

Colin.

Reminds me of the 1.8 CVH Sierra I once bought from a scrappy. They told me the engine was "playing up".

Colin.

The message from Colin Stamp contains these words:

I wonder if that counts as "playing up" for Trades Descriptions purposes!

In article , Colin Stamp writes

What is it that's come through the sump? A big end shell?

Yep - the half on the rod. I'm assuming the bolts snapped and the rod dangled for an instant before being smacked sideways next time the crank came round. Luckily the engine wasn't on the list of bits I wanted from the car. It made it interesting getting it on the ramps to get the gearbox and diff out though. I discovered that Sierra starters are surprisingly torquey.

Cheers,

Colin.

The message from Mike Tomlinson contains these words:

Still attached to the con-rod, I'd say.

Oooh nasty. Still attached to the rod was it? Funny angle as well - judging from the scoring the crank was stuffed to or did you noth bother stripping it down that far to have a look?

Labour will cost you dearly (don't vote for them) so if you're comfortable doing so, remove and refit the head yourself. Assuming the engine overheated then the head will probably have warped in which case you'll need to get the mating face skimmed flat again by an engineering co. If the engine didn't overheat and there were no other symptoms then there's no reason to suspect the head to be damaged as gasket failure is reasonably common on these engines. Of course, regardless of the cause you should thoroughly flush through the entire cooling system including heater matrix and radiator.

I've never paid a garage to do engine work as I've always done it myself, so I can't even begin to estimate at how much it should cost. However, assuming it's just a gasket replacement and done yourself, I'd estimate maybe £150 parts (which includes a new timing belt and head bolts). Of course, if you don't repair it then the car is effectively scrap though you'd probably get a few hundred from somebody willing to fix it themself.

Darren

I guessed the rod was still mostly in one piece, but I left well alone after taking the photo, and went back to trying to work out how to get the gearbox out without it falling on my chest - only *just* succeeded there ;o).

Cheers,

Colin.

Wind the front windows down. Put cardboard or carpet on the tops of the doors. Rest a Scaffolding pole on the carpet. Fasten a sturdy rope or chain to it. Thread this thru the gearlever hole, and bind up the gearbox. If you've given yourself enough rope (har har) you can winch it up and down :->

Note - not tried it meself, but I've seen my dad do it on other RWD Fords (A Cortina was the last one though!)

cheers,

Certainly a bit more elegant than the method I used...

1. Put trolley jack under gearbox.
2. Make wobbly pile of timber on top of jack to reach gearbox.
3. Pull box until input shaft clears clutch.
4. Box flops against tunnel side. Timber wobbles menacingly.
5. Place camping mat where you think box might land.
6. Retreat to other end of jack handle and open "down" valve.
7. Watch with satisfaction as box lands just where you expected.
8. Retrieve trolley jack from surprisingly long distance away.

As an aside I discovered that, once the gearbox is removed, it can be completely drained of oil as follows.

1. Lay gearbox flat on clean garage floor.
2. Watch tailshaft for a minute or two. Observe that no oil emerges.
3. Place ridiculously small plastic bag over tailshaft "just in case"
4. Go to bed.
5. Open garage door in the morning to move gearbox.
6. Observe (from a fully horizontal position) that all oil has left the box, with 20cc or so in the bag.

Cheers,

Colin.