OOdynamite

So my friend needs a new head gasket in his oldsmobile intrigue and it looks like it's gonna cost him well over 1000 dollars get replaced. So my questions are

1. Is this something that 3 college kids can do on our own? Or is it better to have a shop do it for all the money?
2. Or should he just get a whole new freaking engine and call it a day?

Thanks for the help

maverickdan

1. are you mechaniclly inclined? if you are then yes.
2. I would run a compression check first if it got a lot of coolant in the cylinder while running it could have cracked a piston.

if you do end up doing it get the heads resurfaced and do 2 oil changes after. 1 right before starting it and 1 ten minutes later

OOdynamite

1. The owner, not even a little, me, more then him but not a lot, and the other friend, pretty freaking good but still learning. So all in all, no lol
2. And all I know is that he puts coolant in it damn near ever day...

maverickdan

does it misfire really bad? Its never a bad time to learn to do head gaskets. get yourself a repair manuel and a good torque wrench and you should be good to go

OOdynamite

I'm not sure, all I know is he said it needs a new head gasket. I'll check with him tomorrow and let ya know

Black00XJ

At work a head gasket job pays usually between 15-17 hours. So think of much work that intails. I'm not trting to discourage you by no means, just a glimpse of what to look foward to.

MiNi

And that would be for a professional to do it. It'd take longer for ya'll. No offense.

OOdynamite

Absolutely no offense takin guys, that's why I asked this question in the first place, to get your opinions on the situation. And yea we are by no means mechanics, just a little daring lol. I'll have to talk to him then and let him know about what I found out on here. I'm up for the challenge, but then again it's not my car lol, so if we screw it up, I'm still ok. I wonder if it would just be better for him to get a new car all together... like an XJ.... what do you guys think?

MiNi

Tell him to get an xj! Spread the love!

bikerider

Bingo! That's what I would do. It would be worth it to just replace, what is most likely an old tired engine anyways, and be done with it. IMO.