Headgasket gone....

[Danb1987]

Well I recieved my bike today... Changed the plugs, emptied the carbs, changed the fuel... Hey presto it fired up on further inspection the waterpump and thermostat are working :thumb: BUT the engine oil resembles MilkShake lol

So went to our local motorcycle dealer and asked for a quote.... £660ish Inc Vat!!!! PLUS parts...... Is that the going rate for a headgasket change??

I'm not to good with engines so I need to send it somewhere but that price takes the micky!

[Jimzxr400L1]

i am a car mechanic but if your near manchester??? i could do it if you left the bike for a week or a couple maby....not much time on my hands you see id charge £100 ,£200 labor at the most you get the parts??

[Tirpitz]

How do you know the headgasket has gone? Was the oil ok when you got the bike? If there was already contamination in it from some source (could be a host of things) then all you need to do is an oil and filter change. Now then, if after that it ends up gloopy again then you've got a problem.

If you do need the HG sorting then get several quotes. £600 sounds steep. You can save yourself a lot of money if you take the engine out of the frame yourself and deliver it for the work doing, and refit. It's not difficult, it's just a bolt out, bolt in job. It constitutes a lot of labour time and will bang your price sky high, so do as much as poss yourself and leave the proper mechanics to the experts if you're not confident to do it all.

[Danb1987]

The lad I brought said it had an overeheating problem? We checked the read etc and that sempt clear ish water however it was bubbling quite alot.... But the engine oil is sort of a grey White colour with a layer of water on top causing the pipe going into the airbox to produce a fair bit of steam??

Iv managed to find a local mechanic who said he can do it for £25 an hour.... Unsure on how long he'll have it but it seems fair.

If the engine isn't to hard to take out I might attempt it but if it to the mechanic at least I know it will be right lol

[Daniel.p]

as someone else said have an oil change and filter change when i got my bike the oil was so white! changed the 2 and its been fine ever since especially as weve just come out of winter all that damp weather does get to your oil

[Mori Man]

I think Dan is describing emulsified oil rather than oil with some moisture in it from cold starts and damp. If the ZX-4 engine I have was handy I could show you what blown head gasket oil looks like - same as Dans description

Engine out - your a 1hr job tops to change the gasket , in the frame and not familiar with the bike anything upto 4hrs would be fair.

While at it ask him to do your shims too - if he takes the measurements before stripping the motor then on rebuild he can make the adjustments (if any) needed and should save you some labour time to boot.

If you can get a hold of some cheap oil ask them to fill with new filter run engine to temp and dump then put in the good stuff with another new filter.

[Tirpitz]

So you can see from what MM is saying that £600 is steep. Even dealer mechanics 'only' ( ) charge £50 ph labour, so if they have never touched a ZXR and do the job in the frame they shouldn't be charging more that £200 labour + parts. Even if you don't fancy taking the engine out for them you can do a lot of the simple work yourself (tank and airbox off, coils off, exhaust off, fairings off, carbs off) which will cut down on their time and your costs. By all means leave the mechanicking to them but do the monkey work yourself - you could end up saving them 2 hours and yourself £100 with work anyone could do.

[Danb1987]

In all fairness I want to attempt it myself as itl will help me in the future!
I spoke to the bloke doing it for me and he wants to hear the bike running before he does it....

Thus I won't be able to take the engine out :/ I'd rather have the engine out as I'm wanting to get everything powdercoated!

If I was to do it myself what specific tools etc would I need to aquire?
I may ask the bloke if I just take him the engine could he change the head gasket and shims?

[Tirpitz]

MM is just about to do a thread on changing a gasket, so if you can wait for that you can do it as he posts up. As for tools, you're only going to be needing the usual - socket set, spanners, torque wrench (most important that as you MUST torque up correctly when you put it together).

Any mechanic should work on a loose engine for you. It's no skin off his nose, you're the customer and you're paying for just the bit you want doing. Anyone not prepared to do it this way is best avoided anyway.

I'd be shopping around a bit for price. If you're taking the engine out you can drive it anywhere (within reason) to get a good deal. Cheapest is not necessarily best so beware, but on the other hand getting ripped off isn't worth it. So get a sensible price from a respectable mechanic. I would be avoiding the place which quoted you £600 + VAT + parts on principle. I wouldn't do business with them at all. In general terms (and apologies to the exceptions to the rule) dealers are arseholes when it comes to spannering. They will rip you off and bodge your bike. They don't really care, plenty of new (ignorant) business will come along and anyway, the business they really want is bike sales and servicing. A proper mechanic, who survives on mechanical work alone, needs to do good work or he soon ain't got no business. Try to find one of those.