how much should i expect to pay for a new headgasket

[eastcoastS14]

wondering what is a fair price for a shop to install a new headgasket. Im thinking of picking up a 240 that needs a new headgasket the car is pretty cheap but i will try and negotiate based on what a shop will most likely charge me for the install. I will most likely do it myself but if i brought it somewhere what is it likely to cost?

[GSXRJJordan]

if you're talking about an OEM head gasket for a KA, bought and replaced by the shop, look to pay like $500. It's a bitch, most shops don't want to do it.

If it's already got an SR, then you can bargain down some more, because I can basically count the number of shops that work on SRs in ur area with my thumb lol.

If you're gonna buy an aftermarket head gasket and do everything yourself, it'll still cost you a couple hundred (Tomei, Power Enterprise, HKS, not Greddy or Cometic) for the gasket plus head bolts, and it's still a bitch.

[eastcoastS14]

yeah its a stock KA so what am i looking at in terms of work....I thought it was just remove the belts and head install the new HG or resurface the head if neccessary and then put it all back together and make sure the timing markers line up.....is there more to it than that? I have friends who are willing to help so let me know if there is more involved

[IIIXziuR]

No, it is alot of labor/time consuming as Jordan said. It is probablly easier on the KA considering you can remove the head without dismantling the valvetrain like on an the SR.
But you will have to pretty much remove everything from the head itself.

[GSXRJJordan]

on a KA it's still a pain, but not as much as with an SR. Just removing the manifolds and head on some old motors is next to impossible with all the rusted hardware you run into, but basically you've got the right idea. If you're doing it yourself, having people around that have done it before is a MUST.

[IIIXziuR]

^ Yes, I def agree. Someone with knowledge will be a great convenience.

[eastcoastS14]

yeah a couple of my buddies are techs so they should be able to help out

[eastcoastS14]

so any other estimate on how much i should expect a shop to charge or is $500 the concensus?

[wootwoot]

If a shop only charged 500 dollars for a headgasket install I would more then likely not want to go there. Thats only 6 hours of labor for most places and it takes longer then that. If the head gasket is blown, the motor has a potential to be scrapped. Lets put it that way. It should be real cheap.

[eastcoastS14]

yeah the story behind it is the lady has owned it forever and it just started to over heat on her so she saw it pulled over and had it towed to a nissan dealership. Is there a way to tell if the motor is junk without pulling it apart?

[johngriff]

In my experience, I have never seen a KA re-seal correctly, unless the block was decked, and that will be circumstance for a full tear down... I would be looking into a swap for this car about now.

[wootwoot]

First of all, how much does she want? Secondly, doing a motor swap is considerably easier then doing a headgasket job properly.

[Ca_laurier]

to do a head gasket properly its very time consuming. seriously alot of people think you just take the head off, slap the new gasket in and your good to go. But getting your block resurfaced and your head is what needs to be done.

I have to agree, just pick up a ka in good condition and swap it in. probably will be cheaper if you do it yourself and its really not that hard

[C. Senor]

yeah i dont know about the 500 dollar shop. i deliver parts to shops and i've seen prices for head gasket changes range from like high 800 almost 900 to like 1500. the most recent i can recall is a corolla. it was like a 95-96, i dont know how that compares to the ka other than they are both 4-cyl. but that job was going to be almost 1100. head gasket changes iirc is supposed to be like 14-15 hour labor time. someone correct me if i'm wrong.

[BoostedCoupe]

when i had a headgasket done on my car it was 1800. but i got a new oil pan gasket timing chain rebuild and all new gaskets. and the head had to be repared from it being messed up.

[Unholy S14]

Damn, didnt think it was that much.

[BoostedCoupe]

me either but like said it takes alot of time to take the head and all the stuff that has to come off with it. labor is where the money got high. if i had to do it again and known howmuch it would have coast i would have probally had a sr swaped in. thats what will happen if a headgasket blows in my s14 itll get a sr befor a headgasket.