Head gasket

Tiny
MIRIAM GREZEL
  • MEMBER
  • GEO PRIZM
I have a 1992 Automatic Geo Prizm. It has 225,000 miles. The engine was rebuilt at 215,000. Because a defective thermostat was not replaced, I am about to blow the head gasket according to the expert mechanic I have seen in Tucson, AZ. He says it will run me about $1600 to repair it. Is this reasonable? Should I spend the money at this point or just junk it? I love this car. It is very smooth running and in great condition as to body and general mechanics.
Thursday, November 15th, 2007 AT 7:50 PM

2 Replies

Tiny
BLACKOP555
  • MECHANIC
  • 10,386 POSTS
215k is getting to the end of its life. But if you are handy yourself and have average tools you can do it yourself, and save over 1500 bucks! And its not a hard job at all.
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Thursday, November 15th, 2007 AT 8:00 PM
Tiny
MMPRINCE4000
  • MECHANIC
  • 8,548 POSTS
Is it blown or about to blow? Ask him how he determined it is ABOUT to blow.

If the engine overheated, it is possible that the head is warped and may or may not be salvageable.

The head gasket (depending on your skill level) can take 8-10 hours or more.

Make sure you replace the thermostat with one from Toyota, they have a weep hole at the top, aftermarket ones sometimes do not.

The camshafts must be removed to get to the head bolts.

Get a Haynes manual, it has detailed instructions.

$1600 is on the high side in my opinion, I would think $1000-1200.
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Friday, November 16th, 2007 AT 5:21 AM

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