Blown head gasket. HELP!

[Ike95]

Ok heres the scoop. my engine on my 95 mx6 overheated and i lost heat inside the car. so i took it in to get fixed. the mechanic replaced the radiator. the car ran fine for abot 20 miles then it lost heat inside the car and overheated yet again! so i took it back and complained that they didnt fix it and they told me i blew out the head gasket. they claim that it''ll take 17 hours and app 2 grand to fix the problems.
i looked up in another forum and saw a how to..but he said if you dont know much about engines to not try. he claimed it took him 8 to 9 hours. so what im wondering is should i replace the engine or try to fix it myself or should i scrap the car or is the estimate good on having them fix it?
if anyone wants the car as a parts car or has an engine to sell. V6 or V4 with tranny let me know. mines a v6.
ps i dont know much about cars. but im leaning toward scrapping the car.

[Beemsmx6]

i was thinking it sounds like your thermostat(spell?) is busted. its a much easy attempt to fix. look into that it could be old and stuck shut and not allowing coolant to flow. and because you said after a while of driving it heated up. a thermostat opens only when it gets hot enough to. i really think its that. there like 30 bucks so it wouldnt hurt to try. get a gasket with it to!

[jordy25]

Originally Posted by Ike95

V6 or V4 with tranny let me know. mines a v6.
ps i dont know much about cars. but im leaning toward scrapping the car.

I'm not sure if they make V4's haha. It's I4.

But here's what i would do. check the thermostat like beems said, that's exactly what happens. The thermostat lets coolant through when it is hot enough, but if its broken (which is VERY common in cold times) it wont let coolant through, resulting in it boiling over (steam out of engine blow out thing, donno the name). It happened to me last year in my DD (87 nova). Got about 5 km on my way to school, saw my temp gauge at MAX. Im like uhh [fizzle], turn around, about 1km later, engine is SMOKING. Im like [fizzle] it, i gotta make it home. Didnt hurt engine at all, thankfully.

Turned out, i needed a thermo stat + coolant/radiator flush. And it's been fine since.

About the head gasket. 40$ part, 800-2500$ fix (depends on the car really). It seriously is all labor. They have to take apart the ENTIRE engine. It might be cheaper just gettin the KLZE (high HP jap engine) or KLDE (the stock v6 american one). It seriously does take a long ass time.

I BELEIVE when ur head gasket is blown, your car blows out black smoke in the exhaust, because its oil getting burned or something. You'll have to check on that one.

Id maybe try getting a coolant flush?

[Scatman95]

the smoke coming out of a car with a blown head gasket will be a dark white, almost gray and the exhaust will have a "sweet" smell to it. not to mention coolant will probably be dripping out the exhaust

[Green Alien]

just do a leak down test that'll tell you if it's the gasket or not.

[Luckyshooter87]

Yep, thats how my story of my MX6 began, bought it for $700 and the motor overheated the next day due to thermostat sticking, $6 part= blown head gasket. They are a pain in the ass just to get the heads off and then you may have to replace them... $500 a pop! so i chose to just get another motor. it still wasn't cheap but worth it to keep the car alive! If you decide to part it I'm interested. Need some parts!

[whitenoyz]

try changing your oil. if you realize that you're actually changing your coolant, then it's your head gasket. Hopefully and probably it's the thermostat, let's just say I replaced mine in 15 minutes not knowing what i was doing. Just be sure to drain the coolant. Warm up your car. When it overheats, turn it off and check the hose outlined in red. if it's cold, it's your thermostat. If it's very hot, then you have other problems, maybe your coolant temperature sensor.

[Ike95]

Thanks for all your help...the hose oulined in red does get really really hot. preshure builds up... also the thermostat was the first thing i made them check. they said it was opporational. there however is no black or white smoke..lots of steam. Im going to check on the oil thing.