Looking for a "fixer-upper" to flip for my niece who's about to be driving age. Been looking around local advertisings and found a 95 that reads "Ran hot, blown Head gaskets". Per the owner, everything else is in good shape.

Given my experience I think I can call BS on the condition of just about everything else, but I don't know much about possible repercussions involving a car thats been run hot enough to blow gaskets. I'm sure I can change the gaskets, but is it worth it? Are there other things to think about when a car brakes down in this manner?

Thanks,
Capitone

 

Look at the car. Make your opinion if the body and interiors in good shape. Might be easier to just throw in a lower mileage motor instead of fixing the blown head gaskets on this one.

 

Honestly, with only knowing that as the car's info, I would stay away.

If and you check it out and that really is the only problem, I would just replace the motor, 3.0's are cheap, and it would be worth it (IMO) to avoid any other complications from the overheating (ie cracked heads).

If they let it overheat enough to blow the head gasket, then they likely did not take care of the rest of the car either. Buyer beware.

 

Is changing the head gaskets "worth it?" Hell no. If it needs the head gaskets changed you are better off just swapping in a new motor. Less time and effort in my opinion, and you don't have to worry about having head or block surfaces that aren't true.

I'd base my decision on the price of the broken car and the shape it is in. If it were a clean car that you think you could sell for $3000 but that you can purchase for $1000 because of the bad motor, sure. If the car is a piece of crap that you'd be hard pressed to sell for $1500 and you are paying $800 for it with a bad motor, that wouldn't be worth my time.

 

Sweet! Thanks guys for the info and opinions. In light of everyone’s comments it would appear that blown gaskets are likely to mean a bad motor as well. That means swapping out the entire motor is probably a better idea.

That being said, I’d say that effectively takes these sort of fix-ups off my list of “possiblities”. I ain’t afraid to dig in, but I for dang sure don’t have the resources to tackle a motor swap.

Thanks again fellas. Thats was quick and insanely helpful!

Capitone out

 

Have you asked them why they believe the head gaskets are blown? A basically stock car overheated even for extremely long periods will not blow the head gaskets, in my experience.

I'd go out and check the car out, it may very well just be losing coolant from a bad water pump, a hole in a hose, cracked rad (which are relatively common), etc. Definitely get more information.

 

Blown head gaskets do not necessarily mean the motor is unsalvagable, the point is that it is easier in my opinion to swap in another motor than it is to fix the blown head gaskets on original motor. Doing HGs on VQs is a very time consuming and tedious process.

 

Isnt blown HG in vq's pretty rare anyways??

 

+1

About two years ago I found a 94 Toyota Pickup with the 22RE in it with 80K miles for $200. The body and interior were almost mint, but the guy claimed the engine was blown and he just wanted it out of his backyard. I asked him how the engine was blown and he said it was barely running and his mechanic said it was blown but didn't give him specifics. So I picked it up, did a leakdown test and it turned out the valves were leaking. After a valve adjustment that took less than an hour, and a quick tune up, the thing ran like brand new. So for a total investment of less than $300 I got a good little truck. A year later I sold it for $1800.

So if you can get the thing for dirt cheap it may very well be worth it. If they were ignorant enough to let it run hot for so long, then they are most likely ignorant to what is really wrong with it.

 

Nealoc, bare with me here as I'm no mechanic, but wouldn't swapp'n out the motor require specialized gear, like a engine hoist? Changine HG's from my reading in the manaul can be done with a decent set of traditional tools and nothing more. Maybe I'm missing the big picture here, but swapping out a motor seems/sounds about as troublesome (if not more so) as replacing gaskets?

No?

And just to clear things up, I'm looking for something to fix-up so that I can provide my niece with a decent car that I can work on, not something to sell for a profit.

 

Ive pulled several motors in my day using a come-along supported by a couple of rafters in my garage (assuming th engine goes up out of the compartment). I also routinely drop trannys using just an ordinary floor jack. I am not saying this is the best way to do these things but when you don't have the proper tools the next best thing will usually work but you have to be more vigilant.