Head Gasket is gone! What now?!

[russ3161]

Okay so my worst fears have been realised! I had to leave my car at my parents house in Crawley and return to Derby. They had a local garage pick it up who have just phoned me and told me they have tested it and the head gasket has indeed gone!

So my question is what do I do now? There's no way I can afford to front the cash for a new head gasket to be fitted. Is it cheaper to buy a new engine from somewhere and if so how much could I get one for?

Or should I scrap it or sell it for parts? It's a sad day coz otherwise the car is in good condition and I've spent so much money on it which is prolly why I have none left.

Trouble is with it being at my parents and with me only being able to have it on the road at my house I can't even strip it myself to sell off piece by piece!

Little bit upset at the moment as I'm sure you can imagine!

Anyone wanna make me an offer for it!?

[ligertigon]

Why don't you replace the HG yourself?

Its not as bad as you think, and it could be done by the road (weather permitting)

Plenty of help and pointers from here

[russ3161]

You over estimate my mechanical knowledge and abilities, plus unfortunately that'd also involve getting it to Derby.

I think the options will have to remain the same;
Sell it for parts as a whole or scrap it. Unless there is anyone close enough to Crawley who thinks they can do the gasket remarkably cheaper than a garage?!

It'd be easier if it'd gone here in Derby coz I'm gonna have to rely on my parents to liaise with any buyer or mechanic down there which isn't ideal

[BIGBOBO]

Try posting an add in the wanted section. Maybe someone there would fancy doing it.

How about you just try it? If it's broken already, what difference does it make if you mess up?

There are some guides online to help you. We could even point you to the official Toyota repair manual.

[NDR008]

Hey mate, I have never done a 4A headgasket, but we can do it if you want (have done a few 4Es). Thing is I have always been thought to check the head for warping after an HG failure (which I don't have the tools to do), if people could tell us if the 4A is usually know to need this type of check (usually alu heads warp).

Also I don't have a torque wrench, but if you could borrow one or buy one, we could do it dude.


OOOOPS just realised you said crawley, where is that? I guess I could still come but would not drive all the way there myself
Oh and no garantees on availability and success, but I will give it a shot just as if it where my own.

[Jaspa]

It's down near Gatwick.

Not too far from me. Unfortunately I need to sort my own car out 1st, once that's sorted, I'm sure we could have a looksie if you're not in too much of a rush

[Kooga]

You can use a steel rule or sheet of glass (e.g coffee table) to check head isn't warped. Usually you'll get away with it if you haven't driven too long with the hg blown.

Improvisation is a way of life

[Tony jinxy froude]

Try Kev Crazylegs on here, he lives & has a workshop near Woking Surrey, which i dont think is far from you, he knows mk1's like the back of his hand & runs a mk1 service & repair centre, if i were you he would be my first port of call, he is also extreamely reasonable on charges & a top bloke , we would have had a go but im up to my ears in work & he is closer than us.... plus he has a warm workshop ,
if the car is as good as you say it is, why scrap it for the sake of a headgasket there isnt that many mk1's left & it would be criminal to break it, sell it on ebay as it is & let someone else have the repair costs if the cost is too much , but for heavens sake dont break it Jinxy

[mr2mk1chick]

Tegan replaced her HG a month or two ago.
most of the info you need will be in her thread here:
http://www.imoc.co.uk/forums/viewtopic. ... sc&start=0

[sadako]

Another vote here for fixing before scrapping, I ended up swapping the engine though as my head was not just a little warped but propper fooked. There was more exhaust coming out of the coolant cap than out of the exhaust pipe

API engines FTW