2009 Tigra B suspected head gasket - Worth a DIY?
Discussion
Hello,
The other half has purchased another car and was poised and ready to sell her Vauxhall Tigra B with 40,000 on the clock... Until I got a phone call from her on the side of the road last Friday!
Suspected head gasket gone. Garage suspect the same after telling them symptoms. Coolant was spat out inside the bonnet with no coolant in the tank when I first lifted the hood. Filled up with coolant and set off up the road. Lots of steam coming out of the exhaust before eventually conking out on a roundabout 0.5mi up the road. Coolant was empty again.
Been quoted £1,000 to sort out which I suspect is a lot of labour and may not fix the issue entirely as the gasket may have taken something with it.
I'm toying in my head as to whether I should get hold of a workshop manual and spend a long weekend doing this myself. I'm not a mechanic and I don't live in the engine bay but I'm fairly competent and particular when taking stuff apart (bolts in labelled bags etc).
Going to get a workshop manual tonight but it looks like I need a:
- Timing chain kit (£90.00)
- Head gasket kit (£82.99)
- Water pump? (£47.99) Need to check manual for this but from what I've seen this is best practice
- Few cups of tea
- Swear jar
With a 30% off code I've got the total down to £155.38, which is a drop in the ocean with coolant and oil on top.
My big question is: Would any experts/enthusiasts recommend I do this? The car looks like it's still worth just over a £1,500 - 2,000 and it would be nice to sell working than dead.
Thanks,
Oli
The other half has purchased another car and was poised and ready to sell her Vauxhall Tigra B with 40,000 on the clock... Until I got a phone call from her on the side of the road last Friday!
Suspected head gasket gone. Garage suspect the same after telling them symptoms. Coolant was spat out inside the bonnet with no coolant in the tank when I first lifted the hood. Filled up with coolant and set off up the road. Lots of steam coming out of the exhaust before eventually conking out on a roundabout 0.5mi up the road. Coolant was empty again.
Been quoted £1,000 to sort out which I suspect is a lot of labour and may not fix the issue entirely as the gasket may have taken something with it.
I'm toying in my head as to whether I should get hold of a workshop manual and spend a long weekend doing this myself. I'm not a mechanic and I don't live in the engine bay but I'm fairly competent and particular when taking stuff apart (bolts in labelled bags etc).
Going to get a workshop manual tonight but it looks like I need a:
- Timing chain kit (£90.00)
- Head gasket kit (£82.99)
- Water pump? (£47.99) Need to check manual for this but from what I've seen this is best practice
- Few cups of tea
- Swear jar
With a 30% off code I've got the total down to £155.38, which is a drop in the ocean with coolant and oil on top.
My big question is: Would any experts/enthusiasts recommend I do this? The car looks like it's still worth just over a £1,500 - 2,000 and it would be nice to sell working than dead.
Thanks,
Oli
Edited by mrnorm on Tuesday 28th February 08:41
voicey said:
Your max downside should you bugger it up is minimal but the satisfaction and additional experience you will gain should you get it right could be enormous. Do you have a workshop manual for the car and somewhere to take the head to be skimmed? If so, I would knock yourself out...
That's what I'm thinking. If I take the plunge and take my time I could learn a lot! I've found a 'software download' to one that covers her engine code, which hopefully covers off what I need. Not sure if I can link to it on here? I probably don't have all the tools myself but I know one or two people who may do.I have a pretty good relationship with my garage so I'll ask if they can do the skim or know someone who can. Looks like a suspected £70-90 from what I found online. Edit: £35 from the workshop they use! Bargain!
Am I missing anything major from my post or have I pretty much covered it? I'll probably need a few seals and a sump (or two) but hopefully the workshop manual will help me with what I need for that.
Thanks,
Oli
Edited by mrnorm on Tuesday 28th February 10:09
If it really is a HGF causing those symptoms you would expect to see exhaust gas residues and possibly also oil in the coolant. I would get as much information about the problem as possible and try to confirm the diagnosis before you start actually taking things apart, in case you're working from a false assumption. Also bear in mind that the problem might have damaged more than just the head. Finally, bear in mind that it's not common for head gaskets to go in modern cars treated sensibly and if it does turn out to be HGF there may be some other problem that caused that; unless you find / fix the root cause, you could put a lot of time and money into the repair only to have it go again a few miles down the road.
I usually dread doing a headgasket, but as long as you're tidy & methodological, it's not so bad.
Did it overheat, or did you turn it off before it got red hot? If it's not been overheated then it can probably be a fairly straight forward job - unless as noted above, other bits have gone to.
Have you done compression test/oil check?
In my experience (which is fortunately not too many times), the failure mode has often been a very slow leak around a flange or jubilee clip that goes unnoticed. Eventually, coolant drops too low & motor overheats. Overheating motor then kills the HG meaning you top it up and it just pisses out from then on. GreenV8S guidance is good - do some additional diagnosis.
Did it overheat, or did you turn it off before it got red hot? If it's not been overheated then it can probably be a fairly straight forward job - unless as noted above, other bits have gone to.
Have you done compression test/oil check?
In my experience (which is fortunately not too many times), the failure mode has often been a very slow leak around a flange or jubilee clip that goes unnoticed. Eventually, coolant drops too low & motor overheats. Overheating motor then kills the HG meaning you top it up and it just pisses out from then on. GreenV8S guidance is good - do some additional diagnosis.
Edited by Arnold Cunningham on Tuesday 28th February 21:35
Definitely good advice from GreenV8S. If you are friendly with your local garage ask them to diagnose the problem for you. Removing the head is not a particularly difficult job, just labour intensive.
Don't just have the head skimmed, get it pressure tested for cracks-very unusual on this engine but you never know- and have a vacuum test done on the valves to make sure they are sealing properly. You would be gutted to have a valve seat fail six months after having had the head off!
Don't just have the head skimmed, get it pressure tested for cracks-very unusual on this engine but you never know- and have a vacuum test done on the valves to make sure they are sealing properly. You would be gutted to have a valve seat fail six months after having had the head off!
Thanks for all the advice everyone. I really appreciate it!
Having got hold of a GM/Vauxhall servicing application and diving into instructions, I'm finding it a little lacking in detail. The illustrations look like they've been potato-pressed into a scanner too. I'm also seeing difficulties with the timing chain replacement with limited access to the sides of the engine.
Taking very valid points on board with additional diagnosis too. Going to have a look around this weekend but she's now thinking to sell it 'as is' to save on the pain and just take the loss now. Shame..
Oli
Having got hold of a GM/Vauxhall servicing application and diving into instructions, I'm finding it a little lacking in detail. The illustrations look like they've been potato-pressed into a scanner too. I'm also seeing difficulties with the timing chain replacement with limited access to the sides of the engine.
Taking very valid points on board with additional diagnosis too. Going to have a look around this weekend but she's now thinking to sell it 'as is' to save on the pain and just take the loss now. Shame..
Oli
Sorry for the bump.
What happened op? Did you do the head gasket or sell?
My Mrs has a 2007 Tiagra and it is losing water. I can’t see any obvious leaks but I haven’t jacked the car up and looked around the back of the engine yet.
The oil cap is “gunky” I cleaned it two weeks ago just checked and it is the same again. It’s grey/ brown. Not white. Could just be condensation as she never drives far so I can’t see the engine getting properly warm.
As far as I know she hasn’t overheated it.
Suppose best thing to do is firstly take it for a good run and see what happens. Then have a good look around the engine.
What happened op? Did you do the head gasket or sell?
My Mrs has a 2007 Tiagra and it is losing water. I can’t see any obvious leaks but I haven’t jacked the car up and looked around the back of the engine yet.
The oil cap is “gunky” I cleaned it two weeks ago just checked and it is the same again. It’s grey/ brown. Not white. Could just be condensation as she never drives far so I can’t see the engine getting properly warm.
As far as I know she hasn’t overheated it.
Suppose best thing to do is firstly take it for a good run and see what happens. Then have a good look around the engine.
Hello,
I'm afraid she sold it as is for £2k less than she wanted to a bloke who was going to sort out the head. He ran a garage so it was probably a quick job for him.
Last time I checked, it was still on the road and recently MOT'd so whoever purchased it must have done the job.
Funnily enough after sitting there dead for a bit, the guy managed to start it up and drive it onto the car transporter, albeit with lots of smoke.
Hope you get your problem sorted
Oli
I'm afraid she sold it as is for £2k less than she wanted to a bloke who was going to sort out the head. He ran a garage so it was probably a quick job for him.
Last time I checked, it was still on the road and recently MOT'd so whoever purchased it must have done the job.
Funnily enough after sitting there dead for a bit, the guy managed to start it up and drive it onto the car transporter, albeit with lots of smoke.
Hope you get your problem sorted
Oli
I'd like to be in a position where I could take on a project car and give stuff like that a go myself but I need a garage first.
The OH sorted out finance went for a lightly used Mk3.5 MX-5 in the end, which has been fantastic fun. She wanted something Jap that'll last a while so fingers crossed!
The OH sorted out finance went for a lightly used Mk3.5 MX-5 in the end, which has been fantastic fun. She wanted something Jap that'll last a while so fingers crossed!
keo said:
Thanks for the reply Oli.
It might be something of nothing, don’t really want to spend loads on it really it’s probably only worth £500-£1000 at best I would imagine.
If u don’t replace the timing chain and don’t remove lower timing cover it’s a cheap easy job to do on themIt might be something of nothing, don’t really want to spend loads on it really it’s probably only worth £500-£1000 at best I would imagine.
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