Blown headgasket, need a new engine or no?

[MrsT44]

Our garage agrees with RAC we have a blown head-gasket which he is quoting £1200 for replacing. However he says he would rather put in a new engine as the 1 time he has replaced one on a Hyundai ix35 he still had to replace the engine, apparently the garage he uses for MOT's has done it twice before and also had to replace both engines.
So now the quote is £3000-4000 and 3weeks to complete because he has "lost faith in just replacing the gasket"
Does anyone think theres anything to this?
I don't know wether to call a Hyundai garage and ask them but don't know if they'd answer honestly or just go after the money they could make...

First off I know nothing about cars but when my car bkew it's head gasket a few months ago my dad said similar - apparently a new head gasket's seal is too tight as it's, well, brand new, so not good in an older engine? Donething like that. He said repairs really aren't worth it unless it's a fairly new car.
Sorry - it's shit isn't it? Luckily for me it was just an old banger that had cost me 350 quid in the first place so it was an easy choice to make.

Head gaskets can be replaced. I watched a mechanical engineer friend do it. It’s a delicate job though and if not done very carefully, oil leak, engine seizes up, car dies and new engine. I’ve watched my friends push a car off the road after this happened.

How do I know this crap?!

Anyway, yes it can be done and successfully if done well. It’s just a delicate job and so needs extra care and may go wrong if not super gentle. Possibly it can go wrong despite best efforts, it’s one of the trickiest jobs in terms of being gentle. I’d guess that’s why the guy is going straight to new engine.

Up to you for way forward, but at those prices (and even me being able to explain in a little more detail what’s going on here, I can’t even reverse Park!), I’d definitely talk to someone else making a choice.

They are reparable but can go again.
However if they've warped the cylinder then it's not repairable.

Pray you have a decent garage OP. I blew my head gasket, garage said it was that (that took them a week) then fucked around for another week before saying it needed a new engine. New engine ordered and it took them a week before getting around to even fitting it and then took another 3 days for them to fit.

Only when I went and sat in said garage did they finish the job without sticking their fingers up their arseholes every 5 seconds. Drove away to find they didn’t even bother replacing the thermostat so it had to go back within an hour of picking it up- fortunately, my DP saw smoke coming out under the hood when I pulled up outside his and we took it straight back.

All in all I was without a car for nearly 6 weeks- which should of been a week if not a little more.

Hooky garage you could say but my family have used it for over 30 years. Not anymore of course.

Should also add- when me and DH drove over 200 miles to collect said new engine the garage told us the day we traveled the old one would be taken out and the new one put in over the 2 days after as I was desperate to have it back for work.

Don’t even go there

Thanks all, i feel better knowing other people have had the same situation. It helps!
i will definitely make some calls then and compare the prices.
Its a classic case of crap timing as we have just pulled together the money to pay off the last of the finance on it and free us up some money each month which will now go on this instead! 🙄

I've just changed the head gasket on my son's car, it isn't a dark art.

I understand that modern all alloy engines are more susceptible to the head warping, particularly if you overheated it however even then a machine shop can skim it if it's within tolerances.

If not a decent mechanic would help you source a serviceable used replacement.

Unless there is evidence of extreme mileage, wear or some other mitigating reason, recommending a new engine for head gasket failure is like recommending a prosthetic leg for a stubbed toe!

Seriously, get a competent mechanic and ditch this clown.

During and after!

I havde no experience of RAC but I have called out a similar organisation , and the people who come out tend to not know an awful lot about cars other than how to get a few common problems sorted.
I would find an independent mechanic or garage and get a second opinion.

The last 2 cars I had head gaskets repaired on died again within weeks. That was, however, on old cars over ten years ago so it may be very different on modern cars.

Get 2nd opinions. Several.

What age is the car? If newer with lots of electronics then replacing the engine is an absolute nightmare due to the wiring and some bits will probably need reprogramming - if your garage doesn't have dealer-level diagnostic software they'll struggle with that.

Unless the head is really fucked it shouldn't be that hard of a job tbh. Pull head off, compression test, skim if necc, new gasket and then refit. If the garage have to outsource the compression test and skim that'll probably add £150-£200. We have the kit to do it on site but outsource where we can as OH and I both hate doing it and can earn more money on other cars while that work is being done. I'm not so sure about the particular price you've been quoted as I'm unfamiliar with the exact vehicle. It does, however, seem on the expensive side.

Do not bother contacting a main dealer garage. In 95% of cases they are out to make as much money as possible and don't care who they rip in the process. They generally employ 'technicians' rather than mechanics now and there is a massive over-reliance on computer systems to diagnose problems with the vehicles.