hi all, wife's car overheated, she says she stopped as soon as it got hot, but according to the guy aa towed it to, it has blown the head gaskets, and is cheaper to get another engine, anyone had this happen and if so what $ are we looking at, her and the kids are on holiday at hot water beach with no car as it happened on way there, so it was a wonderful start to their trip .
neell,
Jan 12, 2:35am
What colour is the car? Blue ones cost more to fix than red ones.
jason18,
Jan 12, 3:34am
Maybe see if they can use a head gasket repair in a bottle to get her home?
bjmh,
Jan 12, 3:53am
you need to post a year and model,i'm guessing a 00's commodore,maybe the mileage as well for a guesstimate.You would do well to check that the radiator cap on the engine hasn't fallen apart,poking all the coolant out. also the overflow tube comes out of the plastic bottle. allowing coolant out,but no return.If it has blown headgaskets,another engine would probably be the go,cost may be the value of the car depending on its age etc
skippy33,
Jan 12, 4:55am
its a 2005 vz, yea radiator cap was rooted
msigg,
Jan 12, 4:56am
You could go out and buy another car, even another holden "cheap as', take it down to her , as said above stick a bottle of head gasket repair in it and hope for the best, sell for parts. Otherwise hire a large trailer and tow it back with your new holden. Or sell it to the local garage. Either way it's going to cost you a few grand. Other wise get a qoute of the garage where it is now to fix.
neell,
Jan 12, 6:39am
If it wasn't driven far the head gaskets should be OK. Refill the radiator and try it for a while, you will soon know if the heads are OK. Compression test would be a good indicator
skippy33,
Jan 12, 7:04am
guy where AA towed it to said head gaskets are shot.
neell,
Jan 12, 7:15am
OK, your call. If it was me I'd do as I suggest, what have you got to loose? The guy that is saying the gaskets are stuffed wouldn't be looking for a bit more work would he?
mad_signtist,
Jan 12, 7:44am
I would try a bottle repair to see if you can get her home.
wind.turbine,
Jan 12, 7:52am
I thought all AA knew how to do is jump start your car!. wonder how he knew the gasket was gone and if he actually did any proper testing
evotime,
Jan 12, 7:56am
I've never seen one with blown head gaskets, I have seen one driven until it stopped after an accident damaged the radiator, it had the radiator and thermostat replaced and bled the system and was fine( from memory they shut down cylinders to protect the engine.) Water pumps are common failures on them as are the two gaskets for the housing for the top radiator hose, heater hoses usually seep rather that piss out coolant, sometimes the you get leaks at the thermostat housing there's 4-5 o-rings and gaskets the there from memory.(back drivers side of engine) Or a damaged radiator. The final bastard one is frost plugs on top of the block they occasionally seep past the sides(heads need to come off to do them) which isn't worth it and can be fixed with seal well pellets. Also BJMH is right the radiator caps often fall apart. Just get the cooling system pressure tested fix whatever is leaking, bleed the system and hopefully it should be fine.
skippy33,
Jan 12, 9:09am
yea im thinking he may be trying it on, have a mate that has a transporter, has offered to go get it for me, get it home and get a mechanic I trust to look at it.
pico42,
Jan 12, 10:22am
The. Guys. Where. The. AA. Towed. It. Too.
serf407,
Jan 12, 10:35am
vz 3.6 alloytech - distance, condition etc - seen one for $1500 a while back. There is a bit competition for them for jetboats, into older commodore 6 cylinder circuit cars etc. Probably the rubbish radiator was faulty.
next-to-normal,
Jan 12, 10:59am
its a hard drive back from hot water beach,good mechanic just before pauanui township,
gmphil,
Jan 12, 11:14am
can or two chemi weld if it will hold water u will make it back to aucks !
lissa25,
Jan 12, 11:30am
I'm guessing it was towed to Whitianga? If so, most of the garages in town are flat out busy, the ones I know locally are not known for playing games. At least the shuttles and ferry are running around at the moment so there should be plenty for your family to do without a car.
bjmh,
Jul 29, 1:57pm
do this I have had a couple loose coolant ,I fixed the minor problems,bled and run. both survived. even if it is the h/gaskets . at least if its at your home turf you can keep an eye on the repair.To the AA guys credit he's probably just guessing at a busy time of the year.
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