Head gaskit? yes or no

[rollas22 0]

hi there everybody....

After driving the 320 E30 this weekend to hamz n back to whakatane all was good, car drove superb and mint did not miss a beat....

Come to drive it today and notice is got a slight miss.... also before i started to drive today i checked oil & water, oil was full, but i had to stick a jug of water in the car

took it for a drive and it was running a little rough, the temp was on just over 1/4, take it up a hill and it was just over half. Went home, went out again and was running really rough, missing and crap, on the flat the temp got up to 3/4.... so i pulled over and let it cool down, drove home straight away. I checked the exhaust while car was ideling and it is puffing steam or white smoke (pritty sure steam) that with the temp on half heat after being driven.

Is this sound like a HEADGASKIT has blown? or is it something else???

[Grant 4]

Check your coolant reservior. If the coolant is a brown 'milky' colour, then it is a head gasket.

Otherwise check your hoses and thermostat etc for a coolant leak.

Cheers

Grant

[topless 5]

The best method to check for a blown head gasket or cracked head is to use either a leak tester or alternatively a compression tester. Either will definitely let you know if you have a problem from the readings. If you don't have access to either, the following will help determine what sort of problem you have.

Pull your spark plugs out. If the gasket is blown into the combustion chamber, the offending cylinder/s spark plugs will be clean with the ceramic nice and white and possibly still have water on them. The others will be a normal type of browny colour.

If the gasket is blown into the sump area, the filler cap will have a milky mess inside when you remove it.

Another way, if you have access to a exhaust analyser and suspect that the water jacket is leaking into the combustion chambers, is to stick the exhaust probe just inside the water bottle filler neck (above the water level). If the gasket is blown into the water jacket, you will measure traces of CO in the cooling system.

Just remember that the M20 motor can develop air locks in the cooling system. If for some reason you lose water, you need to bleed it to remove air. A faulty thermostat jamming closed can cause the engine to overheat and pump water out. Just topping it up will often not solve the problem.

[rollas22 0]

Cheers for all the help..... the water is a browny colour/milky

Just dropt it off at a garage in town to get them to check whats wrong with it, verdict is a BLOWN HEADGASKIT

How much am i looking at paying to get this repaired??

Is it easy enough to do your self?

Edited to make topic a sticky

Edited October 26, 2005 by ///Carl

[318is 0]

ALWAYS shave the head when it's off. Unless it's a cast iron one, then 9 out of 10 times its ok.

Alloy heads need a shave once off. Its the only way to be 100% sure the job is done properly. It should only cost ~60 bucks for a six cylinder. Most gasket jobs that come through my shop are four cylinders and are 45 bucks a skim ( my price ).

[rollas22 0]

Yeap, took it to another garage for 2nd opinion, they wana take the head off and check if its cracked (dont think it would be), guna charge me $200-300

then the gaskit price, then thermostat (he rekons it needs 1)....

But then again all mechanics are rip offs. He said it could cost me near 1k to to it all.

Then he said u could change engine and we'd charge $4k with warranty for everything..... crazy price.

So im thinking im just going to take the head off myself and check for the crack.... is there any special bolts that i need to undo to remove the head, like HEX bolts? also can any1 tell me the torque settings for the head bolts???

[gmccormack 0]

The machanic is probably not just trying to rip you off, he is trying to make sure the problem is fixed permanently. Head gaskets don't fail for no reason. Either your head has warped or cracked from previous overheating or the water passages have corroded away to the point that there is not enough metal for the head gasket to seal against. What ever has caused the problem, it is going to take more than just a new gasket to fix it. Replace the gasket and do nothing else and you will probably be doing it all over again in a month or so. If you get away with just machining the head and a thermostat I would count yourself lucky.

[topless 5]

As Graeme says, the mechanic is doing you a favour buy wanting to crack test the head. They do give problems in this area if overheated. They also tend to warp slightly and I have not done a head one one of these motors without giving it a light skim,

Head bolts sometimes are torx bolts, you will need the tool to fit them properly. Also, replacing head bolts after an overheat is a good idea.

If the gasket has an obvious blow point, you could take the chance and replace the head without leak testing it (but carefully examine it BOTH sides of the head first for any signs of cracks) but don't replace it without a skim.

Thermostat is cheap money and may well have contributed or caused the problem in the first place. Overheating damages them.... REPLACE the thermostat....

Corrosion is another thing common if antifreeze has not been used. Carefull check this as it is not always obvious.

If you get to the point of doing the job yourself I will post the settings but will need to know what bolts the head ones are as there are different methods for doing up different bolts.

IMO, leave this job to an experienced person...

[rxsumo 33]

I would budget a little more than $200-$300.

We did a head gasket in our 4.1 Falcon motor last year, and it ended up costing $2500.

We ended up ditching our old head, and having to recon a good used head, as our old head had been machined badly before and the combustion chambers varied in size as the head was a banana shape (front to back) prior to the last machining job, the head had also gone soft from being overheated previously.

You need to get the head to a engine reconditioner/head speciallist. Not only do you need to find out what actually caused the gasket to blow, but as mentioned previously the head should be checked for cracks, also if the head has gone "soft", whether the head has been machined previously, and if so was it done properly.

If the head is off you might want to check the condition of the valves, valve guides, rockers and the rocker shafts.

You might want to consider replacing the thermostat, the water pump and the radiator, if the exact cause of the gasket failure cannot be determined. New head bolts definitely should be used.

You can do a dirty and cheap job and just do the bare minimum work, but if you intend keeping the car it might cost you more in the long run.

[E30stz 0]

so say you did blow a headgasket - how much is it for the parts required ?

New and second hand parts price estimates would be good.

Gasket ?

Head ?

Thermostat?

Waterpump?

Radiator?

I'm looking at a car that overheated and consequently blew the headgasket. What sort of price am I looking at, have got mechanic friends that can help with the labour side of things.

That combined with a good service manual.

The head is being crack tested in the next few days, and will check for warpage.

Edited October 27, 2005 by E30stz

[bravo 34]

Cracked the head on my ute about two months ago becase the radiator blew all at once and owned my temp gauge (was still reading normal operating temp when steam started billowing from the bonnet accompanied by an almost instant loss of power.

$2500 later... (incl. labour as beinng a company car it got taken in, not a DIY job 4 me thank god).

That was a new head and radiator though - if only the gasket, then it'll be a damn sight cheaper I guess.

[rollas22 0]

Hey took the head of the bmw yesterday,

This morning i got the head presure tested, no cracks or damage. Head is getting skimmed as i type this

also got a new full gaskit set, and new head bolts

Totalling to $398 incl. GST

Not a bad price considering im getting a full gaskit set, new head bolts, presure test and the head skimmed.

Bmw should be back on the road this week.

DOes anyone out there have a link/website to a e30 workshop manual for a 320i???

[nz320i 0]

s week.

DOes anyone out there have a link/website to a e30 workshop manual for a 320i???

yeah bro there is a thread in maintanence where you can download the haynes manual.

[Carl 3]

Since no one replied I did some ringing re M20 head gasket set and head bolts

SD European said $220 for gasket set and $65 for bolts

Shelley's said $405 for head gasket set so I didn't even bother asking about the bolts

Anywhere else worth checking or is SD's price a good one?

[E30stz 0]

thanks Carl, I'll do a bit more ringing around in Auckland - see what prices I can come up with. We're those prices including GST?

Edited December 11, 2005 by E30stz

[MattA 162]

Try BMWarehouse, 07 8466671 they're normally a bit cheaper than SD.

cheers Matt

[E30stz 0]

just gave them a call, they're getting back to me.

I asked at europart in manukau, they claimed the only M20 engine headgasket sets they have are for the 325 and the 328 ... wtf @ 328 ? anyway that was $199.36+GST ..

BMWarehouse - $218.75+GST

$69+GST

Edited December 11, 2005 by E30stz

[Carl 3]

SD was gst exclusive, fairly similar to BMWarehouse by the looks

[E30stz 0]

talked to BMWorkshop and htey werent able to give me a price over the phone but emailed me the following.

Head bolt sets are $ 37.53+GST

For the headgasket set $249.60 + GST

Edited December 12, 2005 by E30stz

[PHTBMA 0]

european auto spares in manukau are rip offs. I got a head gasket from appco for $40 inclusive. had steel gaskets for everything else so didnt need replacing. changed the head over myself wit abit of help from a mate. torque settings from memory are 40nm w8 15 mins then again at 40nm let car idle to normal temp and use a breaker bar and angle gauge to tighten to 90 degrees. thermostat cost me bout $50 inclusive. anybody looking to buy a m20 block? includes manifolds