Blown head gasket question

[Morales, Roberto J.]

What I can think of is that the engine felt a little hotter than normal
even though the temp gauge was always in the middle... So I'm thinking
that it really overheated though I'm not sure why.

Robert J. Morales
ESD Administrator
Mayer Brown Rowe & Maw

-----Original Message-----
From: Wayne Cox [mailto:wmc_sr20@bellsouth.com]
Sent: Monday, July 01, 2002 3:10 PM
To: Morales, Roberto J.
Cc: se-r@lists.deskmedia.com
Subject: Re: Blown head gasket question

At 02:43 PM 7/1/2002 -0500, you wrote:
>Does $800.00 to $900.00 sound right to replace a head gasket? I've just

>recently notices some oil in my Radiators reservoir and am concerned...

When I had valve trouble years ago, I was told the book or "flat rate"
for
a gasket replacement was 10.5 hours.  Figure $200 for gaskets, bolts,
oil,
coolant & other consumables.  So yeah, that's right in line for most
shops
at $60 - 70/hr.  However, in 8 years or so on this list, I don't recall
any
stock motors just spontaneously losing head gaskets (usually requires a
turbo, severe overheating, or monkey mechanics.)  Might not be anything
that major.

Like someone mentioned....  might be cheaper to do an engine swap, esp.
if
you can handle much of the labor yourself.
   -Wayne