G16B Blown Head Gasket - Cost?

[mtb4x4mad]

I think my G16B has blown a head gasket - any idea on the approximate cost to have a mechanic replace it?

I'm going to have a pressure test done first on the cooling system as it's losing water constantly and despite using a sealant additive I haven't been able to eliminate the leak(s).

I have noticed some water in the exhaust recently and I'm thinking that's a good indication that the head gasket has gone.

[joeblow]

99.9% it wont be a head gasket, it will be a head! tbi or mpfi? never seen one do a gasket before.

[Gwagensteve]

X2. Head cracks are common in these engines, to the extent you can't get warranty on a G16B head.

I believe they are normally repairable though.

Steve.

[mtb4x4mad]

99.9% it wont be a head gasket, it will be a head! tbi or mpfi? never seen one do a gasket before.

Will a pressure test discriminate between a head hasket and the head? If it's the head then what sort of cost are we looking at?

And what's tbi stand for?

[mr green]

no, you will have to remove head to find out for sure.
TBI= toilet bowl injection...... i mean throttle body injection (single point)
jason

[joeblow]

the reason i ask about what injection it has is because the tbi heads allways crack, but the multi point ones don't. take it off and get it crack tested. i did do a conversion kit to run a mpfi head in a tbi setup.

[PCRman]

I think my G16B has blown a head gasket

What colour is your oil and is there any mucky residue under the radiator cap.

When my 16v g16b head went it cracked down the centerline of the head between cyl 2&3 and ran across about 4 of the valve guides, apparently this wasnt able to be repaired so a recon head was fitted. All up, head plus labour plus gaskets plus new water pump while off and a radiator and cooling system flush was about 1500. I also did 3 quick oil changes with black &gold oil before going back to my usual oil.

In hindsite i would have gone for a new 16v head instead of the 2nd hand one. For some reason the recon heads are only 1 or 2 hundred less than the new ones (mabey there aren't many 2nd but still servicable heads around)

Did you put chemiweld in to try and fix it? That stuff can make head removal tricky.

Edit: Joe, just saw your post. Would my bus being a 93 have one of the early mpi heads still prone to cracking? Apparently if was imporoved in later versions?

[mtb4x4mad]

I think my G16B has blown a head gasket

What colour is your oil and is there any mucky residue under the radiator cap.

When my 16v g16b head went it cracked down the centerline of the head between cyl 2&3 and ran across about 4 of the valve guides, apparently this wasnt able to be repaired so a recon head was fitted. All up, head plus labour plus gaskets plus new water pump while off and a radiator and cooling system flush was about 1500. I also did 3 quick oil changes with black &gold oil before going back to my usual oil.

In hindsite i would have gone for a new 16v head instead of the 2nd hand one. For some reason the recon heads are only 1 or 2 hundred less than the new ones (mabey there aren't many 2nd but still servicable heads around)

Did you put chemiweld in to try and fix it? That stuff can make head removal tricky.

Edit: Joe, just saw your post. Would my bus being a 93 have one of the early mpi heads still prone to cracking? Apparently if was imporoved in later versions?

The oil seems to be fine, as in it still looks like oil, and doesn't appear cloudy. My vit is also a 93 model, I'm not sure whether it's tbi or mpfi, but it uses water even on short trips, and i've been filling it up each time i drive it.

I used a product similar to Chemweld but not actually Chemweld brand, in an attempt to seal it but it hasn't seemed to make any difference to the rate it consumes water.

By the end of my commute (35 mins or so) it begins to rev itself, as it begins to heat up, I'm assuming it's some sort of fault mode that the engine management system enters when it meets certain conditions.

All this happened after I blew a heater hose 2 days after i bought it and didn't realise for 15 mins or so - not so happy :(

[mtb4x4mad]

I just had a quick inspection done, and there's clearly no water in the oil, however when i started it up without the radiator cap on, water spewed out like old faithful.

Can anything be determined from these conditions?

[suzimad]

that sounds like the gasket is blown between a cylinder and a water jacket ..

its hard to say the cost of replacing the gasket until the head is removed there are variables like ..

is the head straight , will it need a skim ?
is the head soft , there are simple tools to test the brinell hardness of the cylinder head , if it fails the test it means replacing the head. also if there are dodgy hoses and thermostat and cooling system issues that need a ddressing that will add extra cost (no mechanic will risk replacing the head and then having the gasket fail again due to a blocked radiator/ thermostat issue / blown water hose)

also its not the spi injection head that is prone to cracking , ive seen it plenty of times on the mpfi head.

if its just a gasket issue then about 5-600 should cover it , if it is the head then ouch ... honesty you be better off getting a s/h engine or if budget allows a full reco , as reco or s/h heads are generally costly then with labour , and if the bottom end is getting tired youd be wasting your money .

so to summarise
just head gasket $5-600
with s/h head about the $1200 mark
with reco head about $1700
second hand engine going rate from workshops is from $1000 to 1250 for engine plus fitting , another 600
full reco engine $2200 + fitting and cooling system cleanout , getting up to the 3 grand mark now...

so how much do you love the car ?