How Do You Repair A Blown Head Gasket

None of us want to have to pay to repair any part of our cars but sometimes information technology's unavoidable. When it comes to dealing with a blown caput gasket cost, knowing what range you lot should expect to be hearing from your mechanic will ensure you're informed and prepared. Y'all'll be armed with the knowledge to ensure you're not taken past surprise, as well equally some perspective on how a blown head gasket repair compares to other repairs your motorcar may demand to undergo. With that in mind, the average toll for a blown head gasket repair is in the $1,000 to $2,000 range with some rare cases possibly going as high every bit $2,500.

Auto Repairs Are EXPENSIVE

What is a Head Gasket?

One of the near infuriating things about fixing a blown head gasket is the fact it seems like such an insignificant part of your engine when you see it. It's very sparse and often fabricated from multiple layers of steel and elastomer and riddled with holes. It's meant to sit between the engine block and cylinder heads to create an closed seal in a combustion engine. This allows the combustion reaction to take place safely within the cylinder and seals out things like coolant and oil. If y'all don't have a well-sealed gasket in identify, then you don't accept the necessary pinch for the engine to function.

Some older gaskets and those in some higher end automobiles may be made from copper rather than the multilayer steel. A copper gasket is usually very durable so if yous have a blown gasket, odds are it'southward not a copper one, simply information technology is possible. Copper usually makes for an exceptional seal betwixt the engine block and the cylinder head as the metallic is soft plenty to fit snugly when everything is tightened in place.

Composite caput gaskets announced in older vehicles and they are made from materials like asbestos and graphite. This is arguably the least reliable kind of gasket and much more decumbent to accident outs than other materials. Luckily, these are longer used so if you take a newer car this won't be an consequence.

How Do Y'all Blow a Head Gasket?

The reason we employ the term "blown" to describe what happens to a head gasket is very telling Because you demand to maintain compression in the cylinder, over time that pressure combined with rut can impairment the caput gasket. The force per unit area can physically break the gasket causing a blowout. That'southward simply one of several potential causes though, and then let's wait at some of the others.

Some gaskets can simply vesture out due to extensive age. This is nigh mutual with blended but could happen with multi-layer steel too.
Wrong gasket installation is some other potential crusade for the gasket to accident. This tin be because the gasket is the wrong size and not meant for your machine, or it was just installed incorrectly.
Extremely high engine temperatures tin can cause the gasket to blow. Something similar a coolant leak makes the engine run hot and the gasket is unable to maintain a seal in such high estrus, breaking or warping as a result of expansion in the heat. High temperatures may be the most mutual cause of diddled head gaskets.
Hot spots are a problem in some engines that effect in diddled gaskets and these can exist harder to predict. Some engines are designed to have a very specific head gasket in identify that actually fills sure spots on the cylinder head. Replacing the factory gasket may betrayal hot spots that aren't protected any longer and volition wearable out the new gasket faster.
Abnormal combustion may also cause a head gasket to accident. If in that location's an upshot with your fuel injection or some other engine misfire bug, the mistimed ignition can put undue stress on your head gasket. This will weaken it over fourth dimension and cause it to blow out sooner rather than later.

Needless to say, in that location are a variety of causes for a blown caput gasket. Each one tin can accept an upshot on how to best repair the problem and what your final price will be. Naturally, the kind of gasket volition also effigy into the repair toll as well.

How Tin I Tell If I Blew a Head Gasket?

You know that yous don't want to blow a head gasket and that it's going to cost a lot to fix, but how do you know information technology happened in the first place? At that place are a few things you need to exist on the lookout man for that could betoken a diddled head gasket.

White smoke coming from your exhaust may indicate you lot're burning coolant and is a potential sign of a blown caput gasket. Blue fume caused by burning oil could also betoken the same thing.
If the temperature of your engine is consistently high every fourth dimension you drive, that's a proficient sign that you may have a blown head gasket and should have a mechanic have a await.
Look for any external coolant leak beneath the exhaust manifold.
If your oil becomes milky or frothy it may be a sign that it has become contaminated thank you to a blown gasket.
Consistent cylinder misfires are often the issue of a diddled caput gasket. The lack of proper compression throws off the firing.
Check your coolant for contagion. If oil has gotten into information technology there will be a film on top that is reminiscent of mayonnaise.

If you notice any one of these signs, or especially several of them, yous may have an issue with a diddled caput gasket. Each of these problems is clearly something worth getting properly diagnosed so you should definitely be heading to meet your mechanic as soon as you can.

Is information technology Worth Repairing a Blown Head Gasket?

In a word, yes. You cannot ignore a diddled head gasket and expect to go on your motorcar running in good condition. If a blown caput gasket is not repaired in a timely fashion you risk a cascade upshot of damage. That can result in harm to your ignition system, the fuel injection system, the exhaust arrangement, and potentially even an unabridged engine repair or replacement. At that signal, depending on the historic period and condition of the rest of your vehicle, this may make your car a total loss that'southward no longer worth fixing. And so for the potential $1,000 to $two,000 to set up the gasket, you could exist saving the entire cost of a new vehicle that you may stop up paying if you don't accost this issue as presently as you can.

With this in mind, you demand to consider the value of your car as a whole. If you have an older vehicle, is it worth it to invest $ii,000 or more than into fixing it? If not, you may want to consider cutting your losses, selling the car as a junker and upgrading to something a little more reliable. It really all depends on the age and value of the machine you have and how much fourth dimension and endeavour you desire to invest in information technology.

Why Does information technology Cost And then Much To Repair a Blown Head Gasket?

The caput gasket itself is non an expensive part and you can find them for $20 to $fifty or so online. But that's not what you're paying for when you lot get a blown gasket repaired. You're paying for the labor and this is a labor intensive job. To repair a diddled head gasket the engine needs to be pulled apart. This repair job can actually take a few days to perform depending on how decorated your mechanic is.

This is a highly involved repair and it must be done with conscientious precision or the situation could actually go worse. While disassembling the engine will take time, reassembling it will have even more fourth dimension. The cylinders but work when they are precisely timed to fire in order and calibrating them is non something you can guess at. This is an involved repair and it takes upward the bulk of that price you're paying to set a blown head gasket.

Repairing a blown caput gasket is i of the nearly expensive fixes whatever automobile tin always face, up there with a total engine repair or a cleaved manual. There are legitimately only three or four other repairs that may get more expensive, then you actually do want to take this event seriously if you don't want to spend any more money than is entirely necessary.

Can I Prevent a Blown Head Gasket?

As you might expect there are things you can practice to forbid a blown head gasket so that you don't demand to deal with the toll down the line.

Keep an heart on engine temperatures. If you detect your car running into the ruddy on the temperature gauge too often, get information technology looked at correct away. The longer your car runs hot, the more probable it volition exist that yous will blow a head gasket.
Pay attending to both oil and coolant in your car. Your possessor's manual will tell you lot exactly what kind of oil and coolant you should employ, and so make sure you follow the directions and get the right kind for your automobile. This will extend the life of all your internal parts and keeping a close eye on leaves can help you diagnose leaks.
If your car is having engine misfires, have the problem diagnosed and fixed as soon every bit you can. Misfires can wear downwardly a caput gasket much faster than normal article of clothing and tear.
Exercise not miss those recommended oil changes! Many drivers allow this slide for a very long time but at that place is a reason your manual will recommend an oil alter later a certain number of miles. Follow it equally closely as you tin to extend the life of all the parts of your engine, including the head gasket.

Can I Nonetheless Drive with a Blown Head Gasket?

If your car starts afterwards y'all've blown the head gasket, and that'southward a big if, you actually shouldn't try to keep driving unless y'all're literally on the style to the mechanic. It tin can be very dissentious to your engine to try to drive in this condition. The longer you drive the less likely it is that yous'll exist able to continue to do then for long. Without the gasket in place y'all can go water in the engine, oil in the radiator, gasoline in your coolant, and so on. Essentially, you're making a dangerous mess of your engine components. This can ruin your spark plugs, damage internal sensors, and more.

There is a product you can buy chosen head gasket sealer. This is a bottle of sodium silicate and other ingredients that are basically a kind of liquid glass with embedded fibres. When you lot pour this mix into your radiator and run information technology through your car for near a half hour, it bonds with your gasket to create a oestrus proof seal kind of like a bullet-proof vest. Reviews for the production on Autozone are generally favorable and indicate well-nigh people who use it take a lot of success improving the life of their head gaskets. It should be said that these are temporary fixes though and a liquid sealant will only last for so long. But it could definitely help you get a damaged car to the mechanic and even put it off for a few days if yous absolutely can't beget to get to the mechanic to have the blown head gasket repaired just even so. The best part is that this product only costs nigh $13 then it's clearly a cost-effective temporary set.

In unproblematic terms, you should avert driving with a diddled head gasket at all costs. If you absolutely must, a liquid gasket sealant mixture could help yous go a trivial more life out of your gasket. Only remember, the longer you await, the more than costly this will get. That $1,000 could get to $2,000 and college faster than you realize.