Suprise, surprise, I have a coolant leak (rover 214...) which the local garage says is head gasket. He says 200+vat (including cam belt which has coolant on it) or
400+VAT if the head needs a skim. Is this reasonable? nothing has gone bang and it isnt overheating, its just leaking and theres no oil in coolant and vice verca.£200-ish isn't bad for a gasket and belt change - he's massively taking the piss charging an extra £200 for a skim, though. When I had a gasket go on an Alfa 33, it was £230 all-in to fix - only £25 of that was for the skim.
I agree. This would put me off going back to that garage or trusting anything they say.
A more likely cause of coolant leak is a small hole in a radiator or a splitting pipe. The latter will get worse much quicker than the former. Take a look under the bonnet for any visible leak with the engine warmed up. A hose for your car should cost £1 from a scrap yard. A hole in the radiator can be fixed with Radweld (£4 from your nearest motor parts shop), possibly with steel wool if it's a large hole.
If you can't see a leak, either wait (topping up and keeping an eye on the temp gauge) until the symptoms are noticeable or put the Radweld in and see if things improve. Don't put in more than one dose of Radweld though.
If you feel like spending money on a water leak, spend it on a new radiator.
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£230ish is about right for most head gaskets, but I don't know a single garage round here that would actually *do* a head gasket on a K-series [1]. My bosses girlfriend has an R reg Rover 214 with a K and when the head gasket actually popped - it was contractually obliged to, it's a K series - I had the job of either changing the gasket, skimming the head etc, or finding a garage that would do it.
These were some of the comments from my mates in the spannering trade.
"sell it" "£650, all in, twice!.. cos it'll blow again" "if it's a 1.8 then take the head off, take it to a Land Rover garage, and tell them it's off a Freelander. Ford (LR) don't argue when they pop, they know it's a fault. Rover will argue til they're blue in the face that it's your fault..."... "I'll give you £200 for the car" "it's an easy enough job to actually change the gasket, but they don't last long, heads are shit on 'em"
[1] I've spent the best part of my life in the motor trade, there aren't many jobs I can't find someone to do, but a K series is one of them..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.