Fiesta ST180 Head Gasket
Discussion
Hi, apologies if this is not the correct place for this post. I'm looking for some advice.
I recently purchased a 2013/2014 Ford Fiesta ST180 with around 77k mileage on the clock. The car was purchased around 2 weeks ago.
I noticed that the coolant was going down rapidly and also saw milky oil under the oil cap. I've taken it to two garages that have both confirmed a blown Head Gasket.
Luckily the car came with 3 months of warranty so the dealer is covering the cost of the Head Gasket replacement.
The mechanic mentioned that for £1800 he can do the head gasket, timing belt, water pump, thermostat and a few other things that I honestly can't remember now. The dealer is not willing to cover the full £1800 but is happy to cover the cost of replacing the Head Gasket. I understand that the engine will be opened up so it makes sense to change the parts that he mentioned, but I'm just not willing to spend another £800-£900 to replace parts that seem to be working fine.
The mechanic mentioned that if he replaces just the head gasket it is not guaranteed as something else like the timing belt can go later down the line. I've seen that the timing belts on these should be changed at 125,000 miles.
In the end I've told him to just sort out the Head Gasket issue as I still have over 2 months warranty so if there are still any issues hopefully they show up in that time.
Has anyone had a Head Gasket replaced on an ST180? If so, were there any issues after?
I recently purchased a 2013/2014 Ford Fiesta ST180 with around 77k mileage on the clock. The car was purchased around 2 weeks ago.
I noticed that the coolant was going down rapidly and also saw milky oil under the oil cap. I've taken it to two garages that have both confirmed a blown Head Gasket.
Luckily the car came with 3 months of warranty so the dealer is covering the cost of the Head Gasket replacement.
The mechanic mentioned that for £1800 he can do the head gasket, timing belt, water pump, thermostat and a few other things that I honestly can't remember now. The dealer is not willing to cover the full £1800 but is happy to cover the cost of replacing the Head Gasket. I understand that the engine will be opened up so it makes sense to change the parts that he mentioned, but I'm just not willing to spend another £800-£900 to replace parts that seem to be working fine.
The mechanic mentioned that if he replaces just the head gasket it is not guaranteed as something else like the timing belt can go later down the line. I've seen that the timing belts on these should be changed at 125,000 miles.
In the end I've told him to just sort out the Head Gasket issue as I still have over 2 months warranty so if there are still any issues hopefully they show up in that time.
Has anyone had a Head Gasket replaced on an ST180? If so, were there any issues after?
ZX10R NIN said:
Normally it's every 10 years or 125k so the belt should've been changed, point this out to the dealer & they may be a bit more willing to cover the (although you should've checked that before you bought it) cost.
That was my first thought too. If the belt hasn't been done then it needs doing.My ST3 had 83k miles when I sold it. I never heard of head gasket failure on one.
Yeah it was a risky move purchasing without the cambelt being done.
After thinking about it I think I'll tell the mechanic to do the cambelt as well.
Probably save me the headache of getting it done further down the line or even worse.
Dealer is not willing to contribute to the cambelt but I knew that already and factored it in to my purchase cost.
Just didn't expect to have to get it done less than 2 weeks after purchase.
From checking online it seems like a blown head gasket is quite rare so just really unfortunate.
Dealer is not willing for me to return the car to him and tbh I don't really want to as I love it.
Praying that once the head gasket and timing belt is changed all is well and the car will give me years of use.
After thinking about it I think I'll tell the mechanic to do the cambelt as well.
Probably save me the headache of getting it done further down the line or even worse.
Dealer is not willing to contribute to the cambelt but I knew that already and factored it in to my purchase cost.
Just didn't expect to have to get it done less than 2 weeks after purchase.
From checking online it seems like a blown head gasket is quite rare so just really unfortunate.
Dealer is not willing for me to return the car to him and tbh I don't really want to as I love it.
Praying that once the head gasket and timing belt is changed all is well and the car will give me years of use.
They are great cars. If you plan to keep it a while then its definitely worth doing the timing belt.
Head gasket failure is often down to overheating. Get them to check for any coolant leaks or at least keep your eye on the levels. I think that leaky hoses or problems with the expansion tank were more common. Should be an easy fix though if there is.
Rear bushes can be shot at that kind of mileage too. Again not too expensive to replace.
I loved mine. It was very cheap to run over the 4 years I had it.
Head gasket failure is often down to overheating. Get them to check for any coolant leaks or at least keep your eye on the levels. I think that leaky hoses or problems with the expansion tank were more common. Should be an easy fix though if there is.
Rear bushes can be shot at that kind of mileage too. Again not too expensive to replace.
I loved mine. It was very cheap to run over the 4 years I had it.
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