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View Full Version : how long can you drive on blown head gasket?



joesc280
01-17-2004, 07:45 PM
cause i think my head gasket is blown but i have been still driving on it...and the leak has gotten exponentially worse....the car has no signs of overheating as the temps are the same....and because unlike most cars it's leaking oil instead of water.....

what are the potential dangers of driving on this for too long...will the head warp?....cause i'm debating if i replace the head gasket, if i will need a new head(1500 +1000head) or buying a much lower mileage used engine($2500)....

i know how this goes on other cars....but then again it is not the ordeal it is on a benz....my head job could cause as much as another car...lol....and it usually doens't take ten labor hours to complete....so any help would be appreciated....

moebiusgold
01-17-2004, 07:54 PM
Your head gasket might not be bad. Lots of folks have vlave cover Etc. big time oil leaks. My C36 has had all that stuff replaced twice.

GDawgC220
01-17-2004, 09:44 PM
if it's the headgasket in need of replacement, should cost right around $1000-$1200 to do, including labor. Part is only like $150-$200...but it's heavy labor, ~11 hours.

Driving around on it may cause engine overheat I hear and/or warped head.

Good luck.

-G-

moebiusgold
01-17-2004, 10:10 PM
BTW the gasket can leak (and cause a lot of oil to blow out) and just happen not to leak into the water jacket. It's happened to me lots off times but not on MBs. My C36 Head Gasket was replace at 86Kmiles.:eek:

Denlasoul
01-17-2004, 10:31 PM
Head gasket failure was prone to the 94-96 I6 engine.

I replaced mine and it cost about $1200. Pretty much all labor.

C280 JR
01-18-2004, 08:52 AM
i replaced my head gasket and cost $700, it leaked terribly, and next to that, my car would idle non stop, when i got it done, it stopped idling...

Elvir

jnolte
01-19-2004, 09:24 AM
Whoa i have been up on CAmano Island all weekend fixing myfreinds head gasket on his E30 318. It took awhile basically we had the whole engine stripped down. He had coolant mixed into the oil too so the car wouldent even crank. It was a mess. We just finished it ysterday!

kameraguy
01-19-2004, 10:16 AM
When i bought my C36, it had 63k on the clock. I did not know at the time, but it had a slight leak due to a worn headgasket seal.

I noticed it at 68K, as i finally saw some drops of oil on my garage floor. I guess it was bad enough to finally drip past the bottom engine cover.

I did get it replaced for $1300! Good thing to have an extended warranty.

Prior, I did not notice any abnormal engine temps.

Your call on what to replace, but obviously you should get it fixed asap. If money is tight, you might be able to get by a couple of paychecks until you can get it done...but try and do it sooner than latter as it's hard to say what kind of trouble can happen. Basically anything that can go wrong because of it won't be cheap!

J Irwan
01-19-2004, 10:32 AM
I bought my car at 49K on the clock

I notice some small oil residue on the head gasket area when my car has 73K

and finally I saw one small mark on the garage floor, and that's it I brought it to the dealer and have it replace at 77k.

And good thing too, I have my aftermarket-warranty covered it for me.
My expense was only some $7 shop supplies ;)

And when it was leaking, no changes on the temp, performance, or sound at all. just the leak


the bill was $1250ish (the job also includes replacing the valve cover gasket, and front timing cover seal as well ;) )



Regardz,

jnolte
01-19-2004, 01:30 PM
u may be able to do it urself.... i havent really tore into a C engine yet but the E30 was easy enough, just VERY time consuming. I say it was 11-12 hours we worked on the car.

nokia8860
01-19-2004, 03:09 PM
I have had my leak for a good 6 months now. Its slow, makes a mess but car seems fine but there are spots of oil in the coolant. And it gives the car a funky smell on the outside because of the burning oil on hot engine parts.

I know ill get it fix but it wont be anytime soon. Could be even 2 years before I even get around to actually address that problem again.

So to answer the original posters question I will take my car to 2 years or even longer with a leaking headgasket. Its already been 6 months and my car is a daily driver 100 miles a day :)

joesc280
01-23-2004, 08:13 PM
cause i feel the same way you do...it has no effect on driveablity unlike the jap cars i owned before....it seems like it could go many more miles like this as the engine temps are consistent...nothing abnormal....it will take me a while to save up that much cake again after i did all the rims, kit and paint......

also had a quote done at any indie shop and they said a whopping 2800 dollars...they said i needed a front timing seal and head gasket replace but while i was at it replace the timing chain and assorted hardware and also do a valve job.....

i heard that the timing chains last almost forever and i don't know about the valve job as that added like 800 more dollars...i just want to stop the leak...it drives well as it is...

SLAMMED_C
01-25-2004, 01:56 PM
where r u leaking oil.. is it internal or externally?? I'm guessing its external, as long as its external and u keep ur eye on oil level and coolant levels.. u should be ok for a bit.. but if its internal and ur burning the oil or coolant.. u might wanna get it fixed soon. u can damage ur cats and those will be $$$ to replace!
just keep ur eye on fluid levels. a lot of customers at the dealer I work at dont want to get oil leaks fixed half the time.. big $$$$.. and most of the time the leak is external.

202rules
07-08-2004, 07:24 AM
I drove my car with a blown headgasket for a looooooong time, I had to check my oil level frequently. Whenever they put light weight oil in it it leaked bad, thick oil looked like it didn't leak at all.

The only problem was that oil kept leaking onto my air pump which now needs replacement.

I think I took a high risk of letting the problem go for a long time, you really could warp your cylinder head.