Quick question: How long would it take to do a head gasket job on a '00 D2?? ...From the estimate I got from my repairpal app. I use, it seemed to come out to 8-10 hours if labor from a shop was $100. Anyways, I might have to tackle this job in the am/all day tomorrow if I want to see my fam. for Christmas (which would include the local machine shop resurfacing the heads)
Coming from the land rover experts here, how much time for just labor would it take?

Thank you!

 

if it has secondary air its a bit more of a pain and you will probably have to use an impact driver to get them off. but if not then its a matter of having lots of big and small tools to do the job.
and you will need a large breaker bar and a torque wrench. without either one you wont be putting the heads together correctly.

 

8-10 hours is a good estimate for a mechanic.... if you are on your own i would say you will need 2 full days. if you have an extra set of hands it might take you 12 hours.

 

I would double that if you're doing it yourself for the first time. Take your time, it's a pain in the *** job and it's only worse if you're in a rush. It took me two weekends to do it (probably 8hrs a day). However, I took my time, cleaned everything really good, cleaned the valves, replaced the stem seals and completely took the rocker arms apart and cleaned the oil passages which took up a lot of time.

 

Where are you buying your parts from, what are you buying and do you have a machine shop lined up? Doing it by Saturday is going to be a push if you haven't ordered all the necessary parts including a complete head gasket set with intake manifold gasket, new 8mm plug wires, U.S. made head bolts and a t/stat for starters.

 

Atlantic British is right next to me so I just ran over there after getting done talking to the machine shop. Im going to do it after I come back since I don't have time today to do it. I guess I'm going to just keep dumping antifreeze in there. I usually can go a week without it starting to overheat again so as long as I keep an eye on the temp gauge I should be good (on my 300mile journey)

 

I'm doing my head gaskets right now. I just got the heads off this evening, and everything came apart fine, and I didn't have any surprises other than needing an 8mm 12 point for the silly valve cover bolts. I'm decent around the garage, and have been on and off of this with the family and work, and I'd say I have a solid 8 hours in it all ready and I'm just now ready to go back together once I get parts and the heads re-done. I have a little extra time in it due to removing the radiator so I could get it cleaned and checked, as well as to provide easy access to the timing cover and crank damper for removal. If I ever meet the guy that designed how the rad is fastened in there I'm going to kick him square in the jimmy! By revearsing a couple of those bolts it would come out without much work at all, but the way it is in there you have to remove the whole grill and the freakin horns and foam to get to the bolts! Arggg!

 

You're gonna take a 300 mile trip with bad head gaskets? I hope all that coolant you're pouring in isn't going into the crankcase. Can't you rent a car? Why take a chance... you might end up ruining your engine!!

Eric

 

I would not drive it on a 300 mile trip if it is leaking unless you were desperate and just trying to get home.
You are going to be running the risk of blowing up the engine.

 

You must be near me too. AB is about ten minutes from me and I also have a 325i, though not an "M", wierd - well not really. Anyways looking at your picture gallery I doubt you'll have trouble with a headgasket job. Are you sure the headgasket is leaking? These cars can be pretty sneaky about loosing coolant other places and not seeing it. You know about cracked blocks and coolant issues to right (just something to keep in mind)? What shop did you take the heads to?