306 head gasket failure

Hi all, just had the wife's 306 radiator replaced, and the garage
pointed out that there was oil in the water (and vice versa). They
reckon it would cost about £600 to replace the gasket. I've already this
year forked out £300 getting it through the MOT, £300 on a new clutch,
and now £200 getting the radiator replaced. The car is 11 years old, and
I'm loathe to spend another £600 on it. I've heard of head gasket
sealants but not sure whether they are any good.
Anyone got any thoughts?
Cheers
John

 

Does it over heat? loss water-oil . or was it a set up so u would say
do the work it has been done before .u could try the sealant first and
put the car up for sale,and £600 to replace a gasket wish i could
charge that price for doing one of them.£200 for a rad i think they saw
u comeing.why replace the rad?if it had oil in it a good wash out would
clear it out we use a oil killer and it works on rads very well.

 

Hi Chris, yes, it was overheating badly. The rad had a bad leak which is
when they identified the oil in the water. I went to the garage to see
it myself, and you could see from inside the oil filler cap that it had
emulsified. The garage said that the 306 rad is expensive to buy,
although easy to replace......

I've had a trawl on Google and come up with something called steelseal
(www.steelseal.co.uk) which would appear to have a good write up. I need
to keep the car running for 12 months before it gets replaced.

What do you reckon would be a reasonable price for replacing the head
gasket? The garage is a local one run by a couple of guys who have done
work on our car for years.

Thanks for the feedback,

Cheers

John

 

If they are just replaceing the head gasket should only be about 3-4 hrs
labour,but if they are removing the head and having it skimed that is
going to cost you lots more,as there is valves to remove and cut and
paste them back in. unless you are up to it your self or at least have
a go,it might take you longer but at least you said you did it your
self ,i dont know what they would charge you per hour, you could ask
them to give you a quote ,one high and one low then you would have
some i dear what it is going to cost.

 

Thanks Chris, I'll get myself a couple of quotes and compare.
Regards
John