Head Gasket

[swep1]

My wife has a '92 Explorer and recently noticed that her coolant reservoir appeared to be leaking. She'd top it off and a few days later it would be low again. Similarly, the truck appears to have a small oil leak (which I've posted about on this board before). Turns out, a couple days back, she went to check the reservoir and it was overflowing and dark. Looks like oil and coolant mixing and I'm thinking head gasket. Not having had to deal with that problem before, I'm curious what would happen if she continues driving it, in other words, we'd like to hang onto it at least a couple more months before seriously considering buying a new car. Also, if we decided to replace the head gasket, what kind of price range are we looking at for that repair? Thanks!

 

[stubborn1]

A rough estimate on repairing the head gaskets would be around $1000. You would want to replace both gaskets and not just the leaking one. Most of the labor is just to get to the heads, so you may as well pull the other head and replace while you are there.

The longer you drive it, the more damage you are going to do to the engine. Water in the crankcase will break down your engine oil. If you HAVE to drive around without fixing ASAP, change your oil frequently.

 

[unclemeat]

$1000 seems a little high. But it depends on how much damage has been done. I believe it is about 8-hours labor to get the heads off and back on. Then the question becomes are the heads still true, cracked (destroyed) or warped (repairable). Then the question is has the water in the crankcase damaged the engine bearings?