Am I getting F***ed?

[RustyBoX]

Hey evryone,

I went to the car doctor cuz my car was overheating when I stayed on neutral for a minute or two, and he said there was some air in the cooling system.. So he cleared it all and after he showed me that some bubbles were coming up the cooling liquid(the green stuff) and that probly I had a crack in a head gasket. He said it would cost me around 700$ to change gasket or 1000$ for all the head.. Honestly I don't know enought about cars to know if what he says makes sense and if the price he gave me is too high.. So does all that make sense to any of you?? Any opinions?

Right now the car runs fine but he said that it would come back in a month or two.. and get worse..

 

[JDMxDB8]

Replacing a head gasket shouldn't cost that much. My tuner was going to charge me $200 including a Mugen headgasket.

 

[Nighthawk]

There is no way in hell a head gasket job will cost you $800. Take your car elsewhere...they obviously are giving you some rediculous price because they don't feel comfortable working on a foreign car. A complete head gasket set will cost you around $320 for OEM parts. Considering most non-dealership garages will cost $60-90 an hour....I'd really like to know how replacing the head gasket is going to take just shy of 5 hours. For that price they should be adjusting your valves AND replacing your timing belt AND water pump.

 

[G3GirL]

have you checked to see whether it was something else causing the overheating or did you just take it there on a whim? personally, i'd get a second opinion from a reputable shop.

 

[JDMxDB8]

have you checked to see whether it was something else causing the overheating or did you just take it there on a whim? personally, i'd get a second opinion from a reputable shop.

I agree. Check your thermostat and fan switch. I thought I broke my head gasket a few months ago too. Ended up being the thermostat that was broken. Saved me a lot of money.

 

[dc2GS-R]

You're getting F***ed.

Just because it was running hot doesn't mean it blew the headgasket. It's a possibility but not a guarantee. A simple compression test will tell you if you the headgasket is good or bad. I wouldn't let that guy charge you that much just to replace the headgasket on the assumption that it may be bad.

 

[RustyBoX]

Well the overheating stopped now and I saw the bubbles coming up where the radiator caps is so it makes sense to me.. But I'll do a compression test for sure if I am changing the headgasket. Anyway I'll look around to check the prices of a couple of other places.

 

[batman smd]

i would take my car to the acura dealer and pay the diagnostic fee and be sure before i would pay that much..have you changed your oil yet, because most of the time you will have radiator fluid in your oil if you have a blown head gasket..plus if you had air in you cooling system it would mess with your air idle control valve and your car would have an irratic idle.. i would guess its what g3girl or jdm had to say..

 

[J_Jay_B]

just call around to some good shops... and ask ur friends and family where they take their cars... ask if they were satisfied by the work and the price... but after you figure out which places are good and which are bad... start calling around and ask for a price quote on certain things... they may ask for you to drop off ur car for a while... let them look t it and figure out what is wrong with it... OR if you know a mechanic then have them look at it for free... i have a connect in St. Louis if you are close... but i doubt it. if you are tho pm me and i can have my friend at autotire look at it for free... compression test and everything... he will tell you what he recommends that you do and give you a price quote... he is a very good mechanic and i have him do all of the work that i cant do by myself.

But YES your getting fucked by Car Doctor...

 

[dc2GS-R]

Well the overheating stopped now and I saw the bubbles coming up where the radiator caps is so it makes sense to me.. But I'll do a compression test for sure if I am changing the headgasket. Anyway I'll look around to check the prices of a couple of other places.

I'd do the compression test before replacing the headgasket. It's easy and virtually free to do and if it comes back healthy then there is no point in changing the headgasket

 

[Groundfx]

Try putting a pressure tester on the cooling system, to see if your losing pressure into your cylinders. Pull the plugs, if you can hear any air then you'll know which cylinder might be bad.