So I screwed up and blew a head gasket in my car (still not sure exactly how). Now I got an estimate of $1200 to repair this "assuming nothing else is wrong with the engine". My question is: is a blown head gasket something I can fix in a weekend with a mechanically minded friend or is it something I need to get gouged for?

I have done minor repairs like swapping in a new thermostat and replacing the knock sensor and O2 sensors. My friend has done entire engine rebuilds but has never worked on a Max before. I would much rather spend the money and learn something in the process but if it's insanely difficult I'd rather not screw it up any worse than it already is. So is it doable?

 

dont repair it.. .get a new motor.. its not worth it....

 

It can be fixed. It's a lot of work. I dont agree with the "get a new motor" idea unless you know what you are getting. If you do decide to replace the motor may as well try one of those "quick fixes" first. I have done it on a GM and it worked fine. PM if you want to know which one i used.

 

New motor will be cheaper than $1200, probably even a low mileage one.

 

yea this is DOHC.. not pushrod.. iv done it on many cars already but its totaly not worth it doing it on out motors...

 

first things first -- what makes you think the head gasket is blown? who told you that, and what evidence did they present to you? it is really tough to blow a head gasket on the VQ30. severe overheating is about the only way, so if you don't know how it happened there's a good chance it didn't.

if the hd gasket is indeed shot it is not worth replacing. on this engine it is a much bigger job than your friend realizes, I think. plus, depending on how long it's been bad, your bearings could be fried from coolant leaking into the oil and turning it into an acidic slurry. soon after the job is done you might get a visit from the rod-knock fairy.

better to find a good used low mileage VQ. but like mizzax said, a good one is hard to find and you really need to know what you're buying. don't just take a junk yard's word for it.

 

it can be done but its a lot of work

Intake plenum has to come out (a tedious task)
support the engine
remove passenger side engine mount
remove timing case (includes lower oil pan)
remove cam sprockets
Remove cams
un bolt the heads
then replace head gaskets
re-install in reverse


and there are many more steps in between that was a very rough outline. It could be done in a weekend, and by that I mean a full weekend, 8hrs saturday and 8hrs sunday.

 

the other thing to consider is, if overheating caused the gasket breach, then it likely is the result of warped or cracked heads. you'd be wise to get them magnafluxed to check for cracks, and measured for trueness. really, it's much more hassle than it's worth.

do confirm that you have a breached gasket before you do anything.

 

If you can afford the down time, bust it open and chek it out, I enjoy engine work, it centers me

but most places in the US you can get a vq30 cheap
however I am really shocked that no ones has said VQ35 yett . . . .

 

It appears from his post that a headgasket job it probably too much for just himself. Throwing the 3.5 out there is just waay out of reach.

 

It turns out that replacing a blown head gasket is a ***** of a job on this engine but if you do it you end up learning a lot about your engine (like for example how one of the seals that covers the spark plug holes is in upside down causing oil to leak into the spark plug hole). I think the car actually runs better now than it did before. I don't get any weird mid-rpm band power losses or anything like I did before, the car just goes.

Net time for doing it was about 18 hours of work total. But I am really glad I did it.

 

my head gasket blew a year ago and i got a quote to replace it for $1200 dollars... but i decided to get the entire engine replaced .... $1000

i say replace the entire engine...

 

He has already replaced the headgasket.

 

are you talking about the #1 plug tube seal (valve cover set)? or a different seal down inside the head?

several orgers (myself included) have noticed oil on the #1 plug threads, but without oil in the plug tube itself - so it's not the valve cover/plug tube seal. it's also not the valve seals, b/c the plug is otherwise clean except for the threads. for the life of me I can't figure out where it comes from.

pic...

 

yeah i had the same thing when i replaced my plugs 5 plugs were nice and dry one plug had oil on the threads, but it seemed dry oil and not fresh, the tips and the electrode element were all dry tho, here are some pics

 

when i replaced my plugs a while back there was oil on all of mine....