Suspected blown head gasket....what now?

[suga4oot]

My beloved 05 VZ SV6 has a suspected blown gasket after 3 independent reviews.

Symptoms:
- milky, creamy sludge under coolant cap.
- coolant cap split.
- engine over-heating - Alloytec 102k on the dial

Checked coolant and it head completely drained. Replaced it and it took about 7L for it to register.

No one wants to attempt repair as it costs too much; time for them and money for me.

Quote 1: $3700-$4500
Quote 2: $5000 to drop a 2nd hand engine.
Quote 3: $4000-$5000

Has anyone else had similar on their VZ and what did you end up doing?

 

[_R_J_K_]

What does your oil look like?

 

[uniacidz]

Wow those are some heavy price quotes there. (maybe taking advantage of miner prices etc)

Usually costs round 1700 or so for head gasket replacement
Should be able to get a second hand engine and install for under a grand.

Keep shopping around

 

[commodore665]

The above quoted price sounds more realistic , keep shopping around , a compitant mechanic would be able to do the job so why no one wants to touch it surprises me a bit , so saying it costs to much time and money sounds disingenuous to me .

 

[DaveNZ]

I did my adventra, I couldn't source a replacement engine over here & couldn't afford to pay someone, so I had no choice but to diy it. only thing I got done for me was i sent heads away for checking/planing. shopped around & sourced all parts & did timing chains, thermostat, water pump, cleaned up the carbon from heads & pistons etc. while I was in there. Did a couple quick oil changes, it still runs smoothly & has 286k on it. I saved quite a bit of money over getting an exchange or a mechanic repair but it was a reasonably big job. if you wanna keep the car long-term(5-10yrs) get it fixed & get the timing chains done while they're in there as this is something you'd probably be facing down the track anyway.
if you can't do it yourself best value is probably a low mileage exchange. do the thermostat before it goes in. then the car is only out of action for a couple days. pay the money then shout yourself a box of beers to numb the pain. good luck mate.

 

[Nfsve]

Id find another engine. You will never know what other damage has been done with the overheating and water in oil... etc..

 

[EYY]

They're giving you high quotes because they don't want the job, and for good reason. They can make more money doing regular servicing than dismantling engines to fix problems that may not be easily fixed. You're better off buying another one and dropping it in. Try and get one with warranty if possible.

 

[routier1642]

I had a quote for the head gaskets on my Adventra's Alloytec and it was in the $3000-$5000 bracket.
Everyone says it's a big job.

Luckily, the diagnosis was wrong, but I remember the feeling. I feel your pain.

 

[DaveNZ]

I should've mentioned, I got a TK test done to confirm 2 blown head gaskets(1 worse than the other). the culprit was a failed radiator.. plastic side tank burst(split) & dumped the water, it overheated & that was that.

 

[xx-Trev-xx]

Try going to the wreckers rather than a mechanic to do an engine swap. I got quoted $4900 by mechanic and $2170 supplied and fitted from the wreckers which also included service,radiator and hoses.