What is a head gasket?

[Illusio]

My good ole '97 neon just broke its head gasket. Just wondering what this is that i am paying to fix.....good ole cars breaking down before the xmas season.

 

[yakko]

It is the gasket between the head and the block. Probably the most important gasket in the car.

 

[NJLOAD]

It is the gasket that goes between the engine block and the head's. Been a long time out of the car business but not too cheap to fix.

 

[GasX]

The depressing this about replacing the heas gasket is that the repair bill is >90% labor. It's a very cheap part, but major surgery is involved in replacing it.

 

[amdskip]

what he said and also this is not uncommon especially for neons, how many miles does it have on it? 60,000-80,000?

 

[Illusio]

my car has about 40,000 miles..

 

[kpxgq]

think o-ring

 

[CraigRT]

4 banger Chryslers are notorious for going thru head gaskets...

I bought a Neon knowing this problem existed..It's not a big deal in my mind. it's a pretty easy fix overall for someone who is mechanically inclined. If you are not too hard on your car and keep the engine at lower temps (not ripping on it helps) then your gasket will last longer.. overheating is the #1 cause for this problem...

The head gasket is the sealer between the cylinder head and the engine block, instead of just having metal on metal, the gasket is there to prevent compression loss among many other things! (you probably saw white smoke or something)

 

[pulse8]

It's the gasket that's in charge of all the other gaskets.

 

[ViperXX]

I have the same problem I just lost the head gasket on my 94 Olds. Achieva. My dads a mechanic so he'll fix it for free but I have to pay for the parts. I hope you did'nt let the car overheat too much when the gasket failed you'll end up having a warped head. You'll have to have the head ground. When my dad pulled the head off he told me to have the valves ground (says the engine will last longer) and replace the timing chain. You might want to do the same.

 

[Bozz]

Head gaskets stop your brains leaking out of your ears, nose and mouth. Unfortunately too many people tend to blow a head gasket and get some "head gasket fix-in-a-bottle" and put that in which patches the leak up temporarily and results in continued function yet lower quality and these people tend to start spitting crap out of their mouth that is also known as hot steam....

 

[vi edit]

Call up Dodge/Crysler customer service and they should be able to set you up with a dealer and have it done for half price or so. It's the least they can do for not making it a legitmate recall.

 

[C'DaleRider]

<< When my dad pulled the head off he told me to have the valves ground (says the engine will last longer) >>

.......

Actually, depending on the engine's milage, doing just that may shorten the engine's remaining life. The valves seal the upper part of the engine and the rings the lower, creating a "vessel", called the combustion chamber, that is fairly air-tight.

Both the rings and valves wear together......both losing its seal equally, at least that's the hope. Typically, as both the rings and valve seats wear out, the compression drops.

Now, take an engine with wearing rings and valve seats..........regrind the valve seats so the seal is like brand new. Now the compression rises, but the rings haven't been replaced. So now, the worn rings have to seal against that increased compression, a compression they haven't seen since they were new. This increase of compression can cause a quicker failure of the rings.

I've seen numerous valve jobs done with replacing head gaskets.......mechanics love doing this for you because they know sooner than later you'll start having lots of oil blowby by the rings and increased oil burning.

 

[dman]

If you go to a dealer to get the headgasket replaced, make sure they use the MLS Headgasket, per the TSB, as that is designed to last longer than the original equipment. And, as referenced in the original thread., you should be able to get the repair done for VERY LITTLE as you are just outside the 36K warranty and chrysler does have an unwritten repair policy on headgaskets.




<< If you call DC's customer support and bitch, they'll do it for $100 or less. >>