My car started misfiring again recently which the mechanic diagnosed as cylinder 3 spark plug gone bad but it only had a new set of spark plugs in April. So he did some more investigation and is certain that coolant is getting into cylinder 3 as the coolant level was low and the top of the piston has a brown tinge to it compared to the others. He also carried out a compression test and said they were all a bit on the low side but cylinder 3 was building pressure slower than the others. The plugs he pulled out of the other cylinders showed signs of over fuelling also to compensate for the coolant in cylinder 3.

The car has done just over 50k and doesn't have any other issues with the car. It is running okay as it is aside from the coolant burning. He's quoted me approx. 1k to replace head gasket and do timing belt/water pump also. Is this price around what I'd be expecting? I've not got any other quotes as of yet.

What is the risk that when he takes the head off it could be a cracked head/engine block and run the bill even higher? What is the longevity like on these cars/engines I just don't want another bill like this in a year or so.

I suspect that your mechanic is not too familiar with this engine and what he is getting himself in to.

Firstly if he suspects that water maybe entering cylinder 3, which is quite possible, he should firstly do a test for hydrocarbons in the coolant. A test kit is less than £20 and will check to see if exhaust gases are entering the coolant system.

Next a cylinder borescope inspection should be undertaken to see if signs of water can be seen, and if so does it look like a head gasket or cracked cylinder wall.

The price of approximately £1000 to do the head gasket AND replace the timing belt if fantastic !! Most garages are charging at least £1400 just to do the timing belt.

1 hour ago, unofix said:

I suspect that your mechanic is not too familiar with this engine and what he is getting himself in to.

Firstly if he suspects that water maybe entering cylinder 3, which is quite possible, he should firstly do a test for hydrocarbons in the coolant. A test kit is less than £20 and will check to see if exhaust gases are entering the coolant system.

Next a cylinder borescope inspection should be undertaken to see if signs of water can be seen, and if so does it look like a head gasket or cracked cylinder wall.

The price of approximately £1000 to do the head gasket AND replace the timing belt if fantastic !! Most garages are charging at least £1400 just to do the timing belt.

It's not a wet belt on the 1.5 4 cylinder 😉

58 minutes ago, alexp999 said:

It's not a wet belt on the 1.5 4 cylinder

Ah!! of course it's not. Got distracted by all the talk of cylinder 3.