Head Gasket Blown after Service...

boomer_ie

Folks I have a Ford Transit that went in for a Service on Thursday and Friday costing nearly €900, the alternator had to be rebuilt apparantly, along with work on the tappits?, all filters, spark plugs and fresh oil .

Yesterday the Head Gasket blew (approx 50 miles after the service). Could the garage have seen a potential head gasket failure coming? At the same time the Radiator developed a hole and the rocker plate? broke (little piece of it, some sort of material, was sticking out of side of engine). And finally the frost plug dropped out of the back of the engine which led to water just flowing through it like a river.

The garage has said that no way they could have seen this coming and are not responsible. They have quoted a "ballpark" figure of €3,000 to repair the engine.

They have also suggested replacing the engine (V6 Petrol) with a Diesel engine but I am starting to get the feeling that this may be uneconomical.

Has anyone been in this boat before or got any ideas?

crosstownk

You'll get advice here - some good and some bad. But, tbh, the best thing you can do is engage an independent assesor. If the garage are denying any part in the HG failure then you will need to employ the assistance of someone qualified to call it. And even at that apportioning blame may end up difficult.

mike65

Why were they replacing tappets?

Mike.

Anan1

If you're lucky enough to have paid by cheque then you might still be in time to put a stop on it pending your independent assessment.

boomer_ie

mike65 wrote:

Why were they replacing tappets?

Mike.

They heard a rattling noise from them and adjusted them, saying that we should "take it easy with it and it will last"

boomer_ie

Anan1 wrote:

If you're lucky enough to have paid by cheque then you might still be in time to put a stop on it pending your independent assessment.

And have them then sue me for non payment?

crosstownk

They'll hardly sue you for €900 if an independent assesment is underway. If the assesment is their favour then you should pay them immediately.

astraboy

Generally a white mayo type of substance builds up under the oil cap as the head gasket is on the way out. If the garage was changing the oil they should have spotted this and at least checked that the gasket needed replacing. Replacing the gasket before it blows saves a lot of money as the head would not need to be skimmed. I'm not sure if you can blame them for the gasket blowing, but they definitely should have spotted it. I had the white gunk build up on my car and a few weeks later the gasket blew.

As for the 3000 euro quote, that sound very expensive. For most 4 cylinder cars it should be under 1000 euro to replace a blown gasket and skim the head etc. It would probably be more expensive on a V6 but 3K sounds very high.

The other things like the frost plug dropping out(not sure what that is!) sounds like dodgy work to be honest. The garage should have seen the failure coming, but I doubt you could prove it was their fault the gasket blew, as these things happen with engines now and again unfortunately. What year van is it BTW?

PADRAIC.M

my two cents...

Well obviously the HG went because it ran out of water, but the question you have to be asking is-
A. was it leaking when it was in for a service and they never noticed the leak and failed to report on it, if so, your in luck and any decent I.A. dude will have no problem noticing this and rule in your favour

B. there is no B:)

and also the white gunk on a ford oil cap is no real determination as the ford crankcase breather system works through the oil cap and all of older ones builder up that on a common basis.

Bradidup

That sounds exhorbidant for a head gasket job, from the sounds of it you have an older model. What year is it? Im driving a 01 LWB, my younger brother has an 1981 V4 petrol Transit camper .
Head gaskets usually give some obvious tell tail signswell in advanve of going such as bubbles rising in the resevoir (back pressure), tempature up, white gunge in inside the rocker cover, diluted / grey coloured lube oil on the dip stick. Those idiots could have left a hose loose, id stop the check immediatly.

boomer_ie

astraboy wrote:

The other things like the frost plug dropping out(not sure what that is!) sounds like dodgy work to be honest. The garage should have seen the failure coming, but I doubt you could prove it was their fault the gasket blew, as these things happen with engines now and again unfortunately. What year van is it BTW?

From what the AA guy tells me its some sort of safety thing and it blows to "protect the engine" and he reckons it blew because the radiator had a hole in it, bear in mind that at the time he saw the vehicle the Head Gasket was not suspected to be blown.

boomer_ie

Bradidup wrote:

That sounds exhorbidant for a head gasket job, from the sounds of it you have an older model. What year is it? Im driving a 01 LWB, my younger brother has an 1981 V4 petrol Transit camper .
Head gaskets usually give some obvious tell tail signswell in advanve of going such as bubbles rising in the resevoir (back pressure), tempature up, white gunge in inside the rocker cover, diluted / grey coloured lube oil on the dip stick. Those idiots could have left a hose loose, id stop the check immediatly.

Its a 1994 Ford Transit 190 LWB V6 Petrol

boomer_ie

Just a follow up to this, the garage informed me today that the €3,000 is for rebuilding the top half of the engine, and its €5,000 to rebuild the entire engine....

Now call me silly but these prices sound a little EXTREME, does anyone know where, if anywhere, does reconditioned engines?

GB15

Considering those quotes why not just replace it?

http://www.buyandsell.ie/browse.php?quicksearch=94%20transit&textopt=all&sort=p&dir=a&

Although after just spending that much on a service it's always going to be a hard decision.

Kimbot

IVI Engines, their ads are in the buy and sell with rough prices!!

Bradidup

boomer_ie wrote:

Its a 1994 Ford Transit 190 LWB V6 Petrol

Those vans are all over the place, they made that series in diesel engine right up on to 00 until they changed the model, It would be cheaper to buy a complete parts van with a good block thats running as theres other things you will need, ie fuel pump, filter housings, fuel lines etc. Im not sure but I think the gearbox is different. Get a good mechanic to listen / inspect it running, no point paying a guy to install a block and then find out its burning oil. I wouldnt pay more than e500 for a parts van, something rotten, crashed or doe failure. If its white, ie vans favoured by courier companies, check tell tail signs of high mileage.

MercMad

You casually mentioned that there was a hole in the radiator. Would it not be the case that when being serviced, they check the water level and ensure it is okay, with no obvious leaks ?

I expect that is normal, and you drove away, sometime later your rad sprung a hole , maybe you hit something, and it ran out of water. You didn't spot the temp gauge getting high and eventually it overheated and blew the gasket !

The frost plug could easily blow out if things got very hot !

What does the hole in the rad look like, could they have damaged it ?

A V6 Transit isn't very common over here, and since it has two cylinder heads you have twice the work/cost etc...

I would suggest an Independent inpection without a shadow of a doubt !

Blue850

I presume the V6 is the 2.8 from the Capri and Granada? Try Traynors in the north for an engine. A engine swap would be a lot cheaper than rebuilding.

boomer_ie

GB15 wrote:

Considering those quotes why not just replace it?

http://www.buyandsell.ie/browse.php?quicksearch=94%20transit&textopt=all&sort=p&dir=a&

Although after just spending that much on a service it's always going to be a hard decision.

I should have mentioned, they are ambulances

boomer_ie

jonny24ie wrote:

IVI Engines, their ads are in the buy and sell with rough prices!!

Unfortunately they dont do Ford Transits

boomer_ie

MercMad wrote:

You casually mentioned that there was a hole in the radiator. Would it not be the case that when being serviced, they check the water level and ensure it is okay, with no obvious leaks ?

The hole was only obvious to us because there was steam and bubbling water coming out of it (it was right at the top of the radiator on the engine side not the front of the vehicle) so its hard to know if its related, was caused by them or something just happening etc

boomer_ie

Blue850 wrote:

I presume the V6 is the 2.8 from the Capri and Granada? Try Traynors in the north for an engine. A engine swap would be a lot cheaper than rebuilding.

Its a 3l Petrol so I dont know if the 2.8 would fit in the same bay etc