I think my head gasket is leaking and was wondering how much that would cost to be repaired by a mechanic? I was considering doing it myself but knowledge is limited and I live in an apatment complex and people frown when I do anything to the car.

 

The work is fairly straightforward, but it takes time so you might find a fair old labour charge. Can you not use a buddy's drive? It can be done in a day, and will save you $$$ if you can do the work yourself.

Not doubting your diagnosis, not for a second, but it may be worth doing a compression test before ripping the heads off. Depending on the problem you have, you may find it to be something else (such as valve seals, if you're blowing blue) which would be possible without removing the heads.

As you can see, I've covered everything except what you asked for, but that's cos I live in the UK and can't tell you what it would cost over there.

Good luck anyway,

Si

 

You would be looking at pretty nice price tag to have a mechanic do this... def dont take it to a chevy dealership, you would be better off going to a smaller mechanics shop if you are worried about the price... i agree with si camaro it is pretty straight foward work but just takes a lot of time, i would also check my compression before removing the heads, also make sure that it is your head gasket that is leaking because it would be a hell of a lot of work to replace it and then get it all back together and just have a bad water pump or something. Does your oil have antifreeze in it? What makes you think your head gasket is gone?

 

Whatever you do don't take it to a mechanic unless you've got that kind of money to blow. Replacing a head gasket is so easy. All you have to do is take off your TPI or carb and intake manifold, valve covers and gaskets, remove rocker arms and pushrods, exhaust manifold, then take the head right off. There's your head gasket. Simple. Don't expect the gaskets to be cheap either, they cost anywhere from 95 to 120 bucks for a set and if I were you I'd replace BOTH at the same time. The entire job is like maybe 3 hours if you know what you're doing. 6 hours if you don't and you're trying to follow a repair manual.

 

What are your symptoms? Why do you think you need a head gasket?

 

it also depends on how long it has been leaking. if it has been too long you might need to rebuild.