Filed under head gasket repair
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I am considering buying a 95 Mustang for my first car and the only thing it needs is a head gasket. The car is already priced way below KBB at $800 so how much would a head gasket installed be? Also is this a good deal even though the car is not inspected? And can a car run a little bit without a head gasket?
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Hi: Short answer. DO not buy this car.
If the head gasket is shot the main bearings may also be washed out from having coolant in the engine.
You could spend from $500 bucks to $1500 depending on wether you need to have the heads or block machined etc as they may have been warped by the engine overheating when the gasket let go, then have to rebuild the entire motor a month later when the bearings come to a screeching halt.
Either get a new/ used motor and replace the entire thing or stay away from the car altogether.
And No, a car can not run without a head gasket. After about 10 miles the motor will seize up.
russ
I HAVE a 1994 mustang ive DONE the head gasket install myself.
It’s NOT hard…..it just takes TIME.
I got quoted $2200 from a ford dealership to do the headgasket install.
(he told me they would install a new engine for $2800, so its NOT even worth me paying them to do a head gasket install!)
but i ended up doing the head gasket install myself, it costs me all of $300, since i ended up getting my cylinder heads taken to a machine shop and had them soaked in acid, seats and seals replaced, x-rayed, and mating surface milled down for higher compression(not really supposed to do it….but this guy worked for a NASCAR team i found out, so he knew how to do it carefully with aluminum heads.
If you want this mustang, its going to be WAAAAYY cheaper if YOU do the work, if you dont posses the basic mechanical knowledge or dont have any friends who have done this before, then I WOULDNT buy the car…….UNLESS you feel like dropping over $1000 for the head gasket install.
BTW: The original poster is actually incorrect partially.
You CAN drive on a blown head gasket, depending on what stage its at……if the gasket hasnt ripped bad enough yet, the coolant will just cause occasional noises in the engine.
But once you fully blow the head gasket, you can ONLY run the car for maybe 5-10 minutes, then you have to shut it down for a few minutes….to let it cool down.
Then you can start her back up and drive again tell the temp gauge pegs near HOT.
I’ve done this over a dozen times or more, and it NEVER had severe engine damage.
As long as you keep shutting it down before it gets too Hot, you’re fine.
Did the SAME THING with my s-10…….never had severe engine problems.
So if you only needa drive this car a few miles or something….take that into consideration.
The 1994-1995 v6 mustangs were notorious for head gasket problems.
(although it was ACTUALLY a combination of things…head bolts stretched, ford under-rated the torque specs for the head bolts….and the gaskets were not steal-lined….and was a recipe for disaster….plus they were slanted usually, and ford used Aluminum heads on an Iron block….haha)
Usually now-a-days its simply because the person who FIXED it the FIRST TIME DIDNT DO IT CORRECTLY!!!
Make sure you goto a FORD DEALERSHIP to demand the Torque specs for the Head Bolts and Intake Manifold bolts!!!
(DO NOT…..repeat DO NOT use a Chiltons Manual or Haynes manual for getting Head bolt Torque specs, THEY ARE INCORRECT!!!)
Ford UPDATED them around 2002 again……I have the Chiltons manual and Ford Shop Manual right in front of me, the numbers and patterns ARE DIFFERENT!!! haha.
Make sure you use BRAND NEW Head Bolts too……and use Fel-Pro or Ford Steel Lined Headgaskets.
(alot of people say the fel-pros are junk, they are WRONG….they are perfectly fine, just those idiots cant install a cylinder head, then blame the gasket.)
You may get lucky and end up with a good deal. I would take the car to a good mechanic and get their opinion. They can check to see exaclty how bad the head gasket leak is. With that info, they can make a good guess if any damage has been done to the crankshaft bearings. If it was a small leak, you may be ok with just a new head gasket.
The old 3.8L V-6’s were prone to head gasket failure. That engine is basically a 5.0L with 2 cylinders chopped off.
If it was a bad leak and was driven with the leak, there is probably bad engine damage and it will require a rebuild in the near future. Expect to spend about $2000 on a stock engine rebuild with the correct machine work too. If the rest of the car is in good shape, with no rust and good mechanical and electrical, you will still be only in $3000 with a freshly rebuilt engine.
Bottom line – take the car to a good mechanic for a pre-purchase inspection, and mention that it has a blown head gasket, and see what they say. The 1 hour of labour it will cost you for the inspection is money well spent!
Good luck!