Hello All,

My Sister has just blown the head gasket on her 2005 Fiesta....basically had a water leak and it ran dry and then the head gasket blew! The garage its at now reckons its a new engine job as water has got into the engine. They are quoting £2.5K to fix. The car is only worth £3K!

Can anyone offer any advice? What are the chances that it needs a new engine?

Is £2.5K a realistic price for new engine?

Does anyone know of anyone in the bristol area they can supply / fit 2nd hand engines and if so what would be the rough cost estimate?

Would it be a better idea just to sell the car as scrap / spares? if so how much would you get for it?

Thanks, any help would be most apprechiated.

Cheers

Dave

If water has entered the cylinders then you're looking at piston/rings/valves/crank/etc.

Water doesn't compress like air/fuel does so producing over-pressure in the engine and causing major problems.

Try clearing the system down and fitting a new gasket them be a pressure test on each cylinder to see if the valves and rings are shot or not.

You may be lucky.

Hello and welcome to the forums :)

2.5k to source and fit a new engine is ridiculous, sounds like they don't really want the job.

1k is more like it, £500-£600 for an engine and a days labour. That said, just because coolant has got into the cylinders doesn't mean it's toast! It will need stripping down and inspected.

What engine is in the car?

That's kind of the price range I was thinking! Would £600 be for a new engine or 2nd hand? It's a 1.6 petrol. Thanks for the advice!

That's kind of the price range I was thinking! Would £600 be for a new engine or 2nd hand? It's a 1.6 petrol. Thanks for the advice!

That would be for a second hand engine.

i blew a head gasket once a rover 218vvc. to skim and ploish head and fit new triple layer gasket cost me £300 including labour. £2.5k sounds high

how do you avoid this happening, what do you look out for?

i blew a head gasket once a rover 218vvc. to skim and ploish head and fit new triple layer gasket cost me £300 including labour. £2.5k sounds high

I think everyone had blown a head gasket in a rover lol.

Most cylinder heads are aluminium nowadays, nice for saving weight but more proof to warping and cracking than cast ones.

Rover heads were particularly sensitive, I know of three people who have had it happen.

If an engines cooling system is maintained add working efficiently then all's fine but as soon as they suffer overheating for a sustained time you're looking at about £1000 plus for a rebuild.

Regular servicing and coolant checks are very important.

Keep an eye on your fluid levels and pipework/radiator, if you suspect any problems get it checked asap.

i have a spare engine for this car in my garage there very common and should not cost more than £200,