My 02 DII (80k miles)sprang a coolant leak last week. I saw it dripping down onto my new front driveshaft. The shop was able to see a little bit coming down the back side of the engine, but they can't tell exactly from where it is coming. They have narrowed it down to either a head gasket or intake gasket. If it is the head gasket, they are telling me the valve guides are probably bad, too, and will need work from a machine shop while the head(s) are off. I am fairly mechanical (read: shadetree mechanic/backyard warrior) but I don't dive into engine innards. They are quoting me in the neighborhood of $1400 plus parts - which I can buy from whomever I want. Does this sound like it could be a possibility? Are valve guides huge problems on these things? Does this price sound reasonable for new head gaskets and whatever other work may be needed in this vicinity to stop a coolant leak? Are there any other possible causes that are more common on the back of the enginethey may not be seeing? Any thoughts/experiences would be appreciated!

 

Did they perform a pressure on the cooling system? If they did they should be able to pin point the leak. The valley gasket is a common place for a coolant leak. I had the head gaskets on my 97 D1 replaced for $1500 including parts. My heads did not require any machining.