Why does head gasket replacement cost around $1000 dollars when

>>15004253
labor, you fucktard

Because your mechanic is ripping you off. Do it yourself over the weekend.

Chances are you have a car that not only requires considerable disassembly to get the head off, but it's also partially under the firewall.

Some people consider swinging a wrench a profession

>>15004263
I don't think politicians have much to do with it.

>Labour

>>15004266
>Because your mechanic is ripping you off.
>getting paid to do work that others can't or won't do is "ripping people off"
eh?

So if you know a good mechanic who works for himself, he could probably do it cheaper than 1g... Considering the boss is taking heaps of money for labour.

Depends on the car. If it's a cheapo Jap 4 banger it's half a day job, 100-200 in labour at most. If it's a VAG V8 or some complex shit you basically have to disassemble half fucking car to change the head gaskeg so labour costs skyrocket because hey, its someones time and it takes some skill.

Why does a steak cost you $40 when the restaurant pays $6?

>>15004253

Because your mechanic is greedy

>>15004253
Are you that retarded?

>>15004300
It's too much even for professional work fucking retard.

>>15004266
>>15004318
>>15004599

Pro tip: reaching the head gasket on OP's car probably takes significantly more time with removing other shit first to access the head gasket than on your car.

>Inb4 it's German

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>>15004253
Because it's a shitton of work on anything that isn't an inline 4. Pic related, I did mine a couple months ago.
>>15004595
Ugh, I'm a slave at a walmart TLE and yesterday we had someone seriously ask why our high mileage oil change is $36 when the 5qt jug of high mileage oil off the shelf is $17. You're not just paying for the oil, fuckwit.

>>15004253
>remove serpentine belt
>remove timing chain/belt
>remove everything connected to the top of the engine
>take apart head
>remove head bolts
>take head away to be machined
>machine block
>bring back, install new gasket
>line everything up
>install timing belt
>reconnect 100 fucking hoses and electrical connectors, some of which will snap and break
>fix broken shit
>reconnect any peripherals you had to move out of the way
>install serpentine belt
>do oil change
>fill radiator

>>15004917

It not always takes a head/block machining but this is basically a short version of all the shit you gotta do...in an i4. If its a V or flat engine, it's three times the fucking trouble.

Plus, plenty of things can go wrong with a headgasket change considering you gotta dismount the timing...

>>15004253
/o/ - no cars

>>15004253

lots of overhead as people mentioned, it takes time to disasemble any engine to get to the headgaskets and chances are they will have to ship out your heads to have them machined flat so they can be put back on.

>>15004914
Is that an EJ out of a Subaru? Because those gaskets are a bitch more so than any other 4 banger out there

>>15004914
>you're not just paying for the oil, fuckwit
>15 dollars to unscrew a bolt

makes sense I guess...

>>15004291
Britbong pls

>>15004914
Ayyy used to be a TLE tech for 2 years I can vouch for dumbass comments and questions like that

>>15004894
>tfw longitudinal I6 so head removal is a breeze
thanks BMW

>>15006359
>What is 15,000 dollar lift

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>>15004253
If its a 50 dollar part, why can't they make it slightly more expensive so it wont fail? fuck

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>>15008071
>Break out harbor freight stick welder
>Crank that shit to 11
>Weld warped head to block
>JB Weld around the bead because your 120v chink welder has shit penetration
>Never worry about head gasket again

>>15008091
I would pay to see someone do this

>>15006359
It is a "full service" oil change though. We check and top off all the fluids, (tranny, washer fluid, diff, power steering, etc. The only one we don't check is the coolant because the engines are still hot when we're working on them), correct tire pressures, check the battery, check all the bulbs, wipers, and air filter, wash the windshield, and vacuum the carpet. It's not just a monkey removing the drain plug and filling it with new oil.

>>15004253
>Cost of production should equal just price
Get your head out of the middle ages

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>>15006359
We charge $140/hr and we're still getting more business than we can handle

>All these so called DIY home mechanic expert anons whom replace a head gasket at home and don't even consider getting the head skimmed nor even using the right torque settings for the head bolts

fucking kek keep doing it 'your' way and watch the headgasket fail every year and then be forced to take it to a professional.

>>15010015
/thread
some simple stuff i can do myself but I'm no mechanic so certain things i just take it to the pros.
As long as you know your going to a decent shop, It's worth the money to know shit gets done right and whatever it was that needed fixed is no longer an issue.

>>15005090
if your head gasket fails. for all the work involved in getting it off. why take the chance? just pay the 50$ for a head skim. assuming an iron block, alloy heads tend to warp more than iron.

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>>15008071
its not the gasket that fails. it's generally a symptom of overheating or over pressure. they can only make rubber and steel so strong. and they cant stop the metal from warping through some magical process. we're talking about 0.005 of an inch difference from your head going floppy when it gets too hot.

>>15010122
>torque wrench
>50$
>angle torquing tool
>10$
simple and easy to do, just dial it in.
its really not complicated. to set the timing you just make sure it's at TDC at the end of a compression stroke on cylinder 1, arrows lined up on the cylinder head and cams.

then you just take off the belt, remove the head, take the head to a machine shop to be inspected. then put everything back on. people scared me away from doing my timing belt so i ended up shilling out a thousand bucks to have it done. its not hard. its really easy. just line the arrows up. then turn the crankshaft one full turn and make sure they still line up, if not, take off, try again.

>>15004253
>Why does head gasket replacement cost around $1000 dollars when it's a 50 dollar part?

I ran over someone. Why does the doctor bill and lawsuit cost $700,000 when the value of that person's bodily flesh was only about $2 of raw materials (carbon, oxygen, hydrogen, nitrogen, and water)? This is outrageous rip off pricing. I should only have to hand over $5 at most for materials!!

>>15010268
>I ran over someone
get gud

>>15010159
I hear what you're sayin. I have all the tools I need. I did the timing set on my dodge myself along with a bunch of other shit that didn't require pulling the engine. not that big of a deal.
Some things i still leave to the shop though. mainly because the garage at my apartment isn't the easiest place to wrench on shit.
Hell if I had a back yard with a cherry tree or a larger garage i wouldn't hesitate at a complete engine removal/rebuild but just don't have the shop space

>>15010268
>doctors charge too much
>why cant i remove my own appendix?

>>15004253

Bitch ain't got no damn ass

>>15004300
Found the mechanic

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>tfw head gasket issue on 2000 STS

Would I need the cylinder head shaved if I'm only swapping heads or what?

>>15004891
Then do it yourself. If you can't or won't, you pay a fucking mechanic. It's that goddamn simple. If you can't do it and it's "too much" then you get to drive around with a blown head gasket and trash your car like a stupid nigger.

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>>15011113
depends if the head is square or not

>>15004253
It costs me $50 to replace a head gasket but I'm not a beta nu-male that has to take my car to the shop for a few hours of unbolting then rebolting things. Ok maybe $75 to include the beer for me and my friends who stand around "helping."

>>15011190
>a few hours

first of all, how "few" depends on the car.
second, my time is worth about $150/hr, so a four-hour job is worth $600. My time isn't free.

>>15011200
That's a fallacy, the time you would otherwise spend dicking around on the internet is not time you are making $150/hr. You are right about car though, if I had a subaru I probably wouldn't want to do a head gasket job.

>>15011145

>IRL lego

>>15011265
>minecraft

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>>15011336
>TF2

>>15011091
Its a calong card for those old Northstar engines

>>15004253
are you serious

it alot of work

and on some cars the engine needs to be pulled to get the heads off

>>15004253
What a stupid fucking question

I still barley understand why they use a fucking headgasket in car
>Unreliable as fuck in the heat
>If it breaks and leaks coolant into the oil system it destorys the engine
>its literally a fucking thin condom for your coolant line/engine block
if companies actually invested a little bit of time, they could find a better part that makes a headgasket obselete

>>15008091
So the welder can go one louder?

>>15006359
Don't forget the filter

>>15011212
No you're the one deep in fallacy. The free time of a person with nothing to do is worth very little.

The free time of someone who spends 40+ hours a week working is worth more than the money he is paid for his labor during that 40 hours. This is the concept behind charging overtime. Unless you are underemployed, your free time is more valuable than your work labor.

Doing your own menial work is only worth it if you enjoy it.

>>15004253
flat ass

Headgasket failure is your engine's way of telling you to get that high-flowing aluminum head you've always wanted

>>15011145
>>15011265
>>15011336
>>15011358

>When /b spills over to /o

>>15011212
Subaru is easy, just pull the engine out and do it on a bench

>>15004253
Becuase it can easily be a 20 hour job on some engines + parts will probably break and need replacing as you go in+ heads have to be milled.

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>head gasket eats shit
>figure i can replace it easily
>reading up about head bolts and shit
>apparently some engines have bolts that literally need to be torqued until they stretch and so cant be re-used
>start wondering if my engine has these bolts
>start wondering if my engine does have them then where the fuck do i get new bolts from

>>15008091
You would have to flip it over, pull the crank and pistons, and weld the inside too

>>15012231
t.guy with no engineering background

>>15013659

Speaking to a guy who just landed a job at BAE systems, try again, kiddo.

>>15013452
With the head gasket kit for your specific car

>>15013452
stretch bolts are pretty common these days
you can pick up a new set at your local auto parts dealer

I can't believe this thread is still going.

>>15004584
You're an idiot. 1-200 for labor wouldn't cover anything. This board is full of underage kiddos

>>15013697
becuase developing things that make cars easier to work on and more reliable are secondary emissions control, safety standards and aesthetics.

>>15013452
NAPA has them.

>$50 head gasket

Is it made of gold? Why the fuck would it be 50 buckaroos.