Head gasket replace = $2000?
#1
Head gasket replace = $2000?
I have an 02 max with about 75k miles and the head gasket failed.
The car never overheated. It ran rough about a month ago for a minute or two and the check engine light came on. It was turned off for a few minutes and then ran fine until this weekend - when it sputtered and white smoke (steam) poured out the tailpipe. The only sign in hindsight was small amounts of coolant disappearing over the last few months.
It was towed to mechanic this afternoon and he said it will be about $2,000 to replace the head gasket. I know it is big job because the first step in the FSM is remove the engine.
He has not given me a full quote because he only had time to diagnose the problem, but I have the following questions....
1) What is a fair price? - Basically I want to know how man man hours and materials.
2) What should it include? new water pump?........machine heads even though it never overheated
3) What damage was done to the car? Does coolant flowing out the exhaust have any effect of the catalytic converter? Any emissions issues?
4) Anything not mentioned above
This is a commuter car - never driven hard and has been well maintained.
Thanks
The car never overheated. It ran rough about a month ago for a minute or two and the check engine light came on. It was turned off for a few minutes and then ran fine until this weekend - when it sputtered and white smoke (steam) poured out the tailpipe. The only sign in hindsight was small amounts of coolant disappearing over the last few months.
It was towed to mechanic this afternoon and he said it will be about $2,000 to replace the head gasket. I know it is big job because the first step in the FSM is remove the engine.
He has not given me a full quote because he only had time to diagnose the problem, but I have the following questions....
1) What is a fair price? - Basically I want to know how man man hours and materials.
2) What should it include? new water pump?........machine heads even though it never overheated
3) What damage was done to the car? Does coolant flowing out the exhaust have any effect of the catalytic converter? Any emissions issues?
4) Anything not mentioned above
This is a commuter car - never driven hard and has been well maintained.
Thanks
Last edited by gummydmilo; 09-23-2009 at 09:00 AM.
#5
#6
SC/TC - Supercharge, Turbocharge. You just have to look around for the engine. Car-part.com, junkyards, etc. You might be able to carfax the engine to verify miles, etc.
#8
I was thinking super charger/ turbo charger - but I want basic transportation.
I checked car-parts.com and the engines were about 1,000. The mileage really doesn't effect the price that much.
There is one with 25k miles for an I35 - is that a drop in replacement for a maxima?
The lowest mileage maxima is 45k miles.
Does a leaking gasket really ruin the engine?
If I bought an engine - what would the labor be to swap it?
What is my old engine worth?
Thanks for all your input!
I checked car-parts.com and the engines were about 1,000. The mileage really doesn't effect the price that much.
There is one with 25k miles for an I35 - is that a drop in replacement for a maxima?
The lowest mileage maxima is 45k miles.
Does a leaking gasket really ruin the engine?
If I bought an engine - what would the labor be to swap it?
What is my old engine worth?
Thanks for all your input!
#9
I was thinking super charger/ turbo charger - but I want basic transportation.
I checked car-parts.com and the engines were about 1,000. The mileage really doesn't effect the price that much.
There is one with 25k miles for an I35 - is that a drop in replacement for a maxima?
The lowest mileage maxima is 45k miles.
Does a leaking gasket really ruin the engine?
it will keep overheating and smoking
If I bought an engine - what would the labor be to swap it?
find a friend or make a friend with someone who knows cars
What is my old engine worth?
its good as new when u fix it.
Thanks for all your input!
I checked car-parts.com and the engines were about 1,000. The mileage really doesn't effect the price that much.
There is one with 25k miles for an I35 - is that a drop in replacement for a maxima?
The lowest mileage maxima is 45k miles.
Does a leaking gasket really ruin the engine?
it will keep overheating and smoking
If I bought an engine - what would the labor be to swap it?
find a friend or make a friend with someone who knows cars
What is my old engine worth?
its good as new when u fix it.
Thanks for all your input!
#10
I was thinking super charger/ turbo charger - but I want basic transportation.
I checked car-parts.com and the engines were about 1,000. The mileage really doesn't effect the price that much.
There is one with 25k miles for an I35 - is that a drop in replacement for a maxima?
The lowest mileage maxima is 45k miles.
Does a leaking gasket really ruin the engine?
If I bought an engine - what would the labor be to swap it?
What is my old engine worth?
Thanks for all your input!
I checked car-parts.com and the engines were about 1,000. The mileage really doesn't effect the price that much.
There is one with 25k miles for an I35 - is that a drop in replacement for a maxima?
The lowest mileage maxima is 45k miles.
Does a leaking gasket really ruin the engine?
If I bought an engine - what would the labor be to swap it?
What is my old engine worth?
Thanks for all your input!
#12
#16
I am not driving the car. It was towed to the mechanic so it would be another tow.
A new engine is 1,000 with 1,000 labor - so either way I am out 2,000. I would maybe get a car with 40k less miles but would not know the history.
My 94 maxima was sold with 150k miles on it, and the 00 max has about 175k and is still running strong. I am hoping it will 'stay cheap' until the kid goes to college
Hopefully the 02 max will be "costly breakdown" free after this! I agree it is rare - but stuff happens.
#17
In my opinion, if the head gasket is blown I don't think it is a rip off. Is it cost effective? No, a swap would probably make more sense. But I think to drop the motor from the car and remove all the timing and stuff and get the heads off, flycut them to make sure they are flat (if there was overheating) then reassemble and put the engine back. 2k is a reasonable price for all that work.
#18
#20
In my opinion, if the head gasket is blown I don't think it is a rip off. Is it cost effective? No, a swap would probably make more sense. But I think to drop the motor from the car and remove all the timing and stuff and get the heads off, flycut them to make sure they are flat (if there was overheating) then reassemble and put the engine back. 2k is a reasonable price for all that work.
2k is a lot of money, but when mechanics charge hundreds to change a starter/radiator/ect (which I do myself), I can almost see 2K for this. I assume all the brake lines, AC, PS, tranny need to be disconnected.
As far as a swap. I know this engine was driven by a grandma who took it to the dealer for every scheduled change. Then it was ours and everything was kept up (but my girfriend isn't the best on getting it in for oil changes).
Do I swap for an engine I know nothing about? Is my old engine scrap metal? Somebody will just fix it and sell it for $1,000 - it doesn't matter if the engine has 50k or 100k the prices are close if it is 'grade a' on the car-parts.com.
#22
#23
The car started to run rough as daughter drove 2 miles to work (but she only made it about 1.5 miles). She parked the car and left it. She didn't notice smoke but was looking at gauges and worried about getting it parked so it could have been missed.
I arrived 6 hours later. The car started on the second try and was idling fine. I was looking at the engine when billowing smoke out the tail pipe caught my eye. If the wind was blowing the other way I may have missed it (but my girlfriend in the car saw it in the mirrors). This was the only time we saw smoke but they may have missed it while driving.
Incident #1, a month ago, I arrived about 15 minutes after it started to run rough after 10 miles of freeway driving. It started fine and ran normal until this weekend.
#26
I got the details today - still 2,000.
Includes:
antifreeze change ($15)
spark plugs (80)
oil change (30).
machine heads (100???)
gaskets (100????? plus RTV silicone) or maybe he needs the gasket kit for $250 (minus the 30% for the wholesale price)
http://www.courtesyparts.com/maxima-...1958_1960.html
The material costs are my rough estimates from experience or googling, so roughly about 1600 labor and 400 parts.
Last edited by gummydmilo; 09-22-2009 at 05:50 PM.
#27
you should get this fixed. I mean if you don't want to run the engine replacement route. Lots of people ignore HG problems, i mean your car will still drive, but eventually you'll start overheating and the heads will start warping and terrible things like that.
$1600 for labor is still steep though but its oh well.
$1600 for labor is still steep though but its oh well.
#28
The car was only driven a few minutes when there were symptons of running rough and the CEL (time to get off the road and turn it off).
I guess the big question I should have asked in the beginning - "how many man hours does it take to pull the engine, replace head gasket, and replace the engine on a 5th gen maxima".
If there is 20 hours of work, then I know I am paying about $80/hr. If it is 10 hours, then 160........
I just don't want to get soaked - like when the stealership wanted to charge me $240 to put in coils, and then $120 to change the spark plugs . Almost $400 for 45 minutes of work and you don't even get dirty! Don't get me started on what they wanted to charge for parts!!
I guess the big question I should have asked in the beginning - "how many man hours does it take to pull the engine, replace head gasket, and replace the engine on a 5th gen maxima".
If there is 20 hours of work, then I know I am paying about $80/hr. If it is 10 hours, then 160........
I just don't want to get soaked - like when the stealership wanted to charge me $240 to put in coils, and then $120 to change the spark plugs . Almost $400 for 45 minutes of work and you don't even get dirty! Don't get me started on what they wanted to charge for parts!!
#29
But hey I heard of this thing called Steel Seal where it will seal your broken head gasket by pouring it into your radiator.
I have never used this before but some mechanic guys in Youtube promote it, and it seems pretty cheap so it might be worth a shot before spending $2K on some guy to just replace a little piece gasket. (And some other goodies)
I have never used this before but some mechanic guys in Youtube promote it, and it seems pretty cheap so it might be worth a shot before spending $2K on some guy to just replace a little piece gasket. (And some other goodies)
#31
#32
I guess the big question I should have asked in the beginning - "how many man hours does it take to pull the engine, replace head gasket, and replace the engine on a 5th gen maxima".
If there is 20 hours of work, then I know I am paying about $80/hr. If it is 10 hours, then 160........
If there is 20 hours of work, then I know I am paying about $80/hr. If it is 10 hours, then 160........
#33
#34
But hey I heard of this thing called Steel Seal where it will seal your broken head gasket by pouring it into your radiator.
I have never used this before but some mechanic guys in Youtube promote it, and it seems pretty cheap so it might be worth a shot before spending $2K on some guy to just replace a little piece gasket. (And some other goodies)
I have never used this before but some mechanic guys in Youtube promote it, and it seems pretty cheap so it might be worth a shot before spending $2K on some guy to just replace a little piece gasket. (And some other goodies)
#35
#36
This forum is my second opinion. He could put 10 or 20 hours on the bill and I wouldn't know which is a realistic number for an experienced person.
I looked at the FSM and the first step was "remove engine" - so I knew it was out of my ability. I changed the timing belt on my 94 max, and the water pump a few years later - but removing engines is nothing I want to tackle.
But if I can make $1600? in 2? days I may consider changing careers
I looked at the FSM and the first step was "remove engine" - so I knew it was out of my ability. I changed the timing belt on my 94 max, and the water pump a few years later - but removing engines is nothing I want to tackle.
But if I can make $1600? in 2? days I may consider changing careers
#37
This forum is my second opinion. He could put 10 or 20 hours on the bill and I wouldn't know which is a realistic number for an experienced person.
I looked at the FSM and the first step was "remove engine" - so I knew it was out of my ability. I changed the timing belt on my 94 max, and the water pump a few years later - but removing engines is nothing I want to tackle.
But if I can make $1600? in 2? days I may consider changing careers
I looked at the FSM and the first step was "remove engine" - so I knew it was out of my ability. I changed the timing belt on my 94 max, and the water pump a few years later - but removing engines is nothing I want to tackle.
But if I can make $1600? in 2? days I may consider changing careers
Which head gasket is it? Didn't see where you said.
#38
Businesses have costs, 24/7. $1600 is gross, unless he's using borrowed tools, in your driveway, with no warranty or insurance....and not paying any taxes or withholdings, which means he isn't being honest.
Do you want a dishonest guy taking your engine apart? I doubt it.
Anyhoo, I'm sure he's quoted the book time, and I see no reason why he wouldn't show you that...or ask at a different garage.
He won't know the actual time to do YOURS until it's done. Each one is a little different, and presents it's own challenges.
Cheers.
Do you want a dishonest guy taking your engine apart? I doubt it.
Anyhoo, I'm sure he's quoted the book time, and I see no reason why he wouldn't show you that...or ask at a different garage.
He won't know the actual time to do YOURS until it's done. Each one is a little different, and presents it's own challenges.
Cheers.
#39
Part of my job is quoting so I know costs more than I would like too
The work has begun on the car - so no turning back now.
Thanks for everyone's input - hopefully the next time one of my maxima's goes down it will be an simple and cheap fix in my garage!
#40
What I hate is if they tell you it takes 2 hours and you tell them you're gonna wait, they make sure you wait around 2 hours, even if they're done in an hour. I'm already gonna pay ya, so why waste time?