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MG MGF Technical - oh dear - head gasket on my ’96 VVC - what’s that gonna cost me?

:-(
tony

....so was it related to your snap clonk?
Steve

steve, no - but i really am not so bothered by my snap/clonk now

:-(
tony

depends how bad it is and if your heads are warped. Could be as much as £1k I think if it's a real bad one or much much lower if not too bad.

I know exactly how you feel.
Ralph

I just had mine done. Cost me £470 which also included new HT leads. That was with a private mechanic so not sure what extra labour there will be at a dealer.
Neil

neil, this is also with a private mechanic, no dealers for me this time

tony
tony

Remember there might be other problems that are associated or even caused the HGF, leaking coolant pipes that need replaced or shot radiator.
Ralph

I had my VVC's HG done with the new dowels, etc at the MG dealer for £430 +VAT (Arriva, High Wycombe) furthermore they gave me a 1yr guarantee on their work, so if the head goes again I'm covered!

That seemed very expensive for a private mechanic and I'm sure there is no guarantees.

Cheers RichieR
RichieR

I've been quoted £650 for this work at Sargeant + Collins in Bromley. Am not happy!

I had to have a failed VVC unit replaced a couple weeks ago, and had a service at the same time.

Does anyone with more technical knowledge than me think they could have done something during the service/VVC unit replacement which subsequently caused the HG to go? It seems a coincidence to me that the HG went so soon after the other work.

Thanks
Ian
Ian

Isn't the VVC unit part of the head? If so then surely the HG would have been replaced when they put the head back on- therefore it would have been a faulty repair job (don't quote me on this as I don't know that much about the VVC mech)

Will
Will Munns

If the engine/transaxle was dropped to aid access to the valve gear, then the coolant system would have had to have been bleed, and then re-filled Ian.

We know that if the proper coolant bleed procedure is skimped on, then the risk of subsequent HGF is that much greater.

There may be a causal relationship between the previous work and the current problem - or the two may be completely co-incidental.

Your garage will almost certainly argue the latter. If I were you, I'd argue for a contribution towards costs, but if they refuse to play ball, then I don't think that you have much come back, as you'll need to prove negligence :o(

Good luck with the negotiations.
Rob Bell

Rob, Will

Thank you very much for the information. The garage have just phoned with an offer to go 50-50 on the costs, which going by Rob's comments seems reasonable enough.

Regards
Ian
Ian

This thread was discussed between 23/05/2002 and 27/05/2002

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