Please Help! I just shelled out $3,100 for a rebuilt transmission and driveshaft and my check engine light came back on. I took it back to the shop that did the previous work ONLY 50 MILES after I got it back and they told me I had a blown head gasket that would cost $1,900 ($1,100 labor and $800 parts)!!!!! Do I honestly have to pay this!?! Is there anyway I can blame this on the mechanical work? I brought it to them and said "fix everything" only knowing the driveshaft had dropped, and they never checked anything in the engine. PLEASE HELP

-Any and all advice wanted

 

1. You might have a beef with them if they drained coolant and vehicle operated and over heated. Did temp gauge go up or overheat light come on?

2. Is original work result of an accident or failure while you were driving? We just had a post about insurance covering a broken shaft and associated damage. - $4,000 claim - hit a pothole.

3. Coolant level? What codes are available?

4. Check engine light can mean a lot of things - would want to know codes. Any overheating on the gauge (above 9:00 position), any white smoke out the exhaust, any coolant leaking, any coolant loss, running rough, water fall gushing sound under dash?

5. Get them to tell you what leads them to believe head gaskets. There is no code for "soccer mom needs head gaskets" but there are several codes for "mechanic needs boat payment".

6. Head gaskets can leak water outside, inside into oil (makes oil look milky), inside into cylinders (makes white smoke). Head gaskets can also leak oil instead of coolant. Head gaskets can make a spark plug in a cylinder look "steam cleaned". There are some tests they can run, like drain oil to look for coolant (can also get there from the valley pan gasket, much cheaper). They can put a dye in the coolant and see which spark plugs show up with green flecks on them. They can use a chemical test (and you can also) that you mix with warm coolant, and it will change color if exhaust gas is present in the coolant from a head gasket leak.

BTW, their price is about average, but usually the parts are $300, then there is machine shop work to mill the heads back flat ($200 and up in some markets) and about 12 hours of time. Plenty of posts here of guys doing their own for the $500 range, and two weekends.

Please don't pull the trigger on repairs until you post back with us, your answers may prompt other suggestions.

 

I'll second SavannahBuzz on that list.

Have them EXPLAIN to you why you need head gaskets, and don't be afraid to get a second opinion.

If you have a chance, please post your codes that are throwing your SES light here to diagnose.

Unfortunately, there are some very good & very honest mechanics out there, and also some not so good/honest. No idea on yours, but it never hurts to check it out.

How does the car drive? Is the engine running smoothly?

This forum has saved a lot of folks a lot of money on stuff like this - hopefully someone here can do the same for you.

Good luck!

 

Also hope you put this on plastic, because credit card companies will go to bat for you.