Bad News Need Help

[jasoncurrie]

Some of you may remember my recent post re my T5 saloon, well I thort it was abit sluggish compared to my rover 220 turbo coup and didn’t have the money to get the chip sorted so decided to sell it.

I swapped it for a stunning Toyota twin turbo. But I didn’t have the radio code when I swapped it so i Contacted the Previous owner about it.

But the NEW OWNER has sent me a polite mail that he has sent on the MOT which he didn’t have at the time of sale, and not to worry about the stereo because the car is sitting up with head gasket failure !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!

Clearly I feel really bad about this, there wasn’t any mayo in water it kept temperature I must admit I didn’t give the car to much attention interms of checking. Just thort it’s nice and smooth, temp is good etc just abit slower then I imagined. But having never owned one before and just having owned a lighter coup with uprated boost assumed perhaps my expectations were unrealistic.

To the point is this job beyond willing amateur !! it certainly looks like it but having helped at college [I started btec mechanic course sep] just wondered if it’s do able with some guidance or wether I should just steer clear ?

If there is anyone from this site willing to take it on or help me I’ll pay the going rate etc. Plus would anyone on the site know a good site to get Gasket and head bolts etc.

Any help would be great ,,Jason

[fireclown]

no comprende

[jasoncurrie]

It,s English m8 try again !!!

[Ross9]

Actually, no offence but it is pretty poorly written and not very clear initially so no need to get shirty when someone says they don't understand.

From what I gather, you bought the T5, felt it was too slow compared to your Rover So you swapped it for the toyota. You didn;t have the radio code to give to the person you swapped cars with, so you contacted the owner of the T5 before you to get the code, so you could pass it on to the guy you sold it TO. The corrospondance to this had it transpire that the T5 has a Head Gasket Failure and you felt bad about it. So you now want to help the guy fix the T5 and are therefore askign how hard a job it is?

Firstly, the sale should have been sold as seen so you have no obligation for the T5.

Secondly, no idea how hard a T5 head gasket is.

Ross

[jasoncurrie]

Firstly, the sale should have been sold as seen so you have no obligation for the T5.

All privet sales are really on that basis, it is very unlikely that a seller can be held accountable or that someone is going to try unless it is a £20,000 car.

He hasn’t asked for anything, if he did I could say get lost !!! that was not the advice I needed though. I don’t personally like that attitude but if it’s acceptable to some so be it.

[Ross9]

I never said it was acceptable, I would certainly never sell a car or anything that I hadn't fully made known all faults I was aware of etc, but thats just the way it is and you are not obliged for it, credit to you for wishing to assist anyway.

As for the headgasket change, it's like anything, all you are doing is unbolting loads of stuff, then refitting it all the same way it came off, but if you've never done it before or don't have the space/tools to do it, then best leaving it to a garage to do. Otherwsiew what if you help him do the headgasket and it fails again soon after, or develops another fault that may or may not be related to something being done incorrectly on the head gasket repair, are you then going to be obliged to repair that as well? Something else to consider.

If you feel you want to help out I would think finding a reasonably priced place to do it and helping him with the cost is your safest option. Personally, if it was me, as long as the car had shown no signs of HGF and you knew nothing of it, my conscience would be clear, cars break unfortunately and sometimes their timing is crap, but it happens.

Ross

[jasoncurrie]

Hi m8,

I think you have a point, i,m trying my first headgasket on a 8 valve cav which i have sitting outside. I,m daring it as it don,t matter if it messes uP LOL

Probably best if i help him out with the cost do you know how much gasket is and headbolts are ? jason

[Tomcat]

Hi, all credit to you for wanting to help out the guy after he got the car from you, however I certainly wouldnt be attempting a head gaskette replacement if you have no experience in doing them in the first place. I have done loads of head gaskettes on various cars and I was still unsure about doing one on the T5.

[Andrew]

Hi, all credit to you for wanting to help out the guy after he got the car from you, however I certainly wouldnt be attempting a head gaskette replacement if you have no experience in doing them in the first place. I have done loads of head gaskettes on various cars and I was still unsure about doing one on the T5.

The gaskette itself may not be too bad - if you have the time and patience I understand it's do-able. However additional damage may have been done. The head, as an example, may need skimming and thats when you have to get the professionals involved and the £££ pile up.

Ac.

[Tomcat]

Yup I agree, I paid a garage to do mine in the end and they had to replace the head, cost over £600.

[bowman]

If you want to do the head gasket, you will need to make a special tool to refit the rocker cover, as it holds the cams down. Invest in a Haynes manual, it has details of how to make them. Other than its like anyother head gasket swap.

[nobananas]

If you do it send the head to a good machine shop for the reface. It would be advisable to have it pressure tested as well to ensure that there are no cracks in the head. The valves and manifold studs will need to be removed to do this but I would advise letting the machine shop handle this as it is very time consuming. You may also want them to reseat/recut the valves as well but obviously this will cost more. They should also be able to supply you with a full head set and bolts and may insist on doing so as they will need valve stem seals etc from the kit to rebuild the head. Ask for a break-down of what everything will cost before agreeing to the work. Good luck (p.s you can't go wrong with Vaux head gaskets on 8 valves just remember that when doing the cam belt the engines are marked 10 deg btdc and not tdc like most motors !)

[LeeT5]

Some of you may remember my recent post re my T5 saloon, well I thort it was abit sluggish compared to my rover 220 turbo coup and didn’t have the money to get the chip sorted so decided to sell it.

I swapped it for a stunning Toyota twin turbo. But I didn’t have the radio code when I swapped it so i Contacted the Previous owner about it.

But the NEW OWNER has sent me a polite mail that he has sent on the MOT which he didn’t have at the time of sale, and not to worry about the stereo because the car is sitting up with head gasket failure !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!

Clearly I feel really bad about this, there wasn’t any mayo in water it kept temperature I must admit I didn’t give the car to much attention interms of checking. Just thort it’s nice and smooth, temp is good etc just abit slower then I imagined. But having never owned one before and just having owned a lighter coup with uprated boost assumed perhaps my expectations were unrealistic.

To the point is this job beyond willing amateur !! it certainly looks like it but having helped at college [I started btec mechanic course sep] just wondered if it’s do able with some guidance or wether I should just steer clear ?

If there is anyone from this site willing to take it on or help me I’ll pay the going rate etc. Plus would anyone on the site know a good site to get Gasket and head bolts etc.

Any help would be great ,,Jason

OK m8. Listen if i were you i would not get involved. You sold that T5, as far as you were concerned in good working order. How do u know that when the guy took posession of said T5 that he didnt thrash the arse of it and damage the head gasket himself!!!!! :B_steerin :slap: Now he's thinking he can blame you!! BOLOX i say
Tell him where to go, IT AINT YOUR PROBLEM ANYMORE!!!!!!!
It's his word against yours and he could make anything up (no matter how honest you think he is). Save yourself the hassle and just walk away - he can't do anything about it cos as ppl have said, sold as seen.
:rant:

Credit where credits due fair play to you for being honest but i must say if he can't prove that the headgasket was leaking when you sold him the car then you will be an absolute fool to get involved. I'm sure anyone else would agree with me on this......

To test the head he will have needed a sniffer kit and a coolant pressure tester. Without these you cannot diagnose a headgasket (mechanics back me up here!) Unless its bloody obvious the head has gone, ie 6 inches of emulsified oil on the dipstick, then he aint got a leg to stand on.

[Wobbly Dave]

I agree with Lee. It's good that you want to help, but as no warranty was offered there is no recourse you need to undertake. I suggest if you want to help you could supply the new owner with details about local Volvo independant garages or send him the link to this site. Advice is one thing doing it is entirely different. You also need to understand that if you do the job and mess it up then you will be in an even worse mess than b4. I doubt you will have professional indemnity insurance to cover yourself and most head gasket jobs from a garage would come with a warranty which I doubt you will be able to supply.

I think it is an honourable thing that you want to sort it out, but you really need to consider backing off. It will be better for all parties in the long run.

In future please consider using the following written phrase on any reciept for a private car sale/swap

"This car (#car reg#) is sold as seen with no warranty supplied or implied"

Both parties should sign off/date the receipt and be entirely clear on the basis of the sale/swap.

[jasoncurrie]

Thanks everyone for the advice,

Just want to make one thing clear the new owner never asked that i fix it or for any money he just informed of the problem etc.

I have contacted him but he doesn’t seem interested in further contact, He owns his own hotel so i assume he is minted and not to bothered ? or just to pissed of to contact ?

I just find it strange that a smooth running engine, that kept temp didn’t loose oil went BANG doesn’t make sense.

I constantly buy cars/ swap them etc how do i test this in future ?

compression test i assume is a good indication ?

check water for mayo ?

pressure test coolant system ? how exactly does it work as in bad indication i did it at college and we diagnosed water pump bearing leak on a car.

But i must admit we only did it once and i am not totally familiar with al the signs and procedures etc any help would be great.

[LeeT5]

In future please consider using the following written phrase on any reciept for a private car sale/swap

"This car (#car reg#) is sold as seen with no warranty supplied or implied"

Both parties should sign off/date the receipt and be entirely clear on the basis of the sale/swap.

Hear Hear!!!!
Wise words from a very wise man....if a bit wobbly :hail: