head gasket leak

my car has a head gasket leak.. but there is no white smoke coming out. the car has a very rough idle and it smells like gas if i press the gas too hard. i hate this..
my car is a 95 rs. 5spd.
can anyone help me with any advice.?
i also would like to know how hard it is to do.. and how much it would cost to get it fixed at some place other than the dealer
thanks guys.
the check engine light is on also

get a chilton manual and order a new head gasket if you want to attempt it otherwise a mechanic will charge around 500 bux?...bring it in and get an estimate..
for the check engine light go to checker auto parts or another place similar and ask to use their scan tool....its free and they print out a little packet for you describing the problem, its pretty cool.
good luck

500 buck!!!????...

i had one of those leaks like you. my mech discovered it while hooking up turbo timer. it shouldnt' cost more than $150. at least that's how much mine cost.

Went I went to checker to get the code reader they said they did not have the one for a Mitsubishi.

i had the same problem with my gs. I went to pepboy and bought the manual for my car and the gasket which costed me a total of around $30-$40. Then it took me and my friend less than two hours to change it. It was pretty easy, just follow the book. It took us that long because we were bullshiting around and working in the dark with a flashlight. Do it yourself and you'll save some money.

thanks guys this advice you gave me is great.. i dont know which way to go yet.but i will definetely give you guys the info on what happended......tnaks a lot.

thats why I said go to a mechanic and get an estimate, I am just guessing...I wouldnt know I did mine myself

rice rocket unless your mechanic did some hack job repair you didnt get a headgasket leak fixed for 150. just the gasket cost like 70 bucks and you have to take off the the whole top of the engine(intake mani, exhaust mani, head, all the wires/hoses, timing belt cams, etc...) to get to it when i got a quote for the headgfasket on my 93 1.8 which is alot easier to do then a 2.0 the garage wanted 600 buxs. so i did it myself and it cost me about 200 for the parts

i am pretty sure it was $150. maybe you got ripped off or maybe he did it because he was right at it. either way, he told me because the engine was leakin oil so he had to replace the gasket for me.

Are you sure you are talking about a head gasket and not a valve cover gasket? That seems really, really cheap for a head gasket.

That does seem way too cheap for a headgasket.

I think a lot of people on here think the valve cover gasket is a head gasket, there's a real big difference, the valve cover gasket is easy, the head gasket involves a lot more time and work.

I dont know about that Mister D. I am sure they do know what they are talking about.

If the people in here who work on their DSM's all the time dont know the difference between a head gasket and a valve cover gasket they shouldnt be working on their cars.

And a valve cover gasket you can change in less then 10 mins.

read the post # 5 by smokatellius, I think that was the valve cover gasket that they changed, It took my son and I two hours to change the valve cover gasket on a 1996 2.0 non turbo eclipse, but we took our time, used carburerator cleaner to clean off all old oil, made sure we cleaned off all old silicon and gasket material, tightened the bolts in the proper sequence and torgue. we just wanted to make sure we did it right, the mitusubishi gargage said it was a one hour job for them and their experienced at it, It takes a least 5 minutes just to torgue the bolts, which your supposed to do 8 bolts 3 different times.

it could be a valve gasket then. like i said.. he told me was leakin.. so a new gasket had to be replaced. and obviously i don't do my own work either. YUP!>. i am one of those dumb ass who don't do their own work. :P

do you guys think the valve cover gasket is causing the problem then......the rough idle is annoying the hell out of me so im just trying to get it fixed befor i drive it again
i know my valve cover gasket is leaking oil......im getting it cahnged........do you guys think this could fix the problem

www.vfaq.com/mods/timingbelt-2G-NT.html

Go to this Website, check to see if your cam gear timing marks are lined up, you can remove the top inspection cover and have someone keep lightly bumping the starter until the marks are straight across from each other, it's very hard to see them, if they are not aligned this can cause a rough idle and even cause the check engine light to come on, if more than one tooth off.

I forot to mention that the valve cover gasket can Not cause a rough idle, it will only leak oil, there are four rubber seals that go around the spark plugs that also should be replaced along with the valve cover gasket, they sometimes come with the new gasket.

when my valve cover gasket blew, my head gasket went out 2 weeks later...thats what i get for letting my stupid nephew redline my car i guess :banghead:

i changed the valve cover gasket and the mechanic that did this couldnt tell me what was wrong with my car. it still idles really bad and told me that i should get a scanner to get it checked..
the car runs pretty fine otherwise and wanted to get the timing checked as well. i will try all my possibilities...... thanks......

Did you have the timing belt changed before the rough Idle? if so was the Idle okay before that? Does it sound like a car with a racing cam at an Idle? if all these answers are yes, then Most likely the person that changed the timing belt has one or both of the cam gears a tooth or two off.this will require the same procedure and time as if your replacing the timing belt all over again, the trick to the 2g non turbo engine is to align the all of the timing marks to TDC then make sure that the TDC mark on the Crankshaft is 1/2 tooth to the right of the mark on the block before routing the belt around counterclockwise, once the belt is on then all 3 timing marks must line up when number 1 piston is at TDC, rotate the engine at least twice to make sure they stay aligned, you can even start the engine with the cover off and just make sure nothing gets caught up in the timing belt, let it run a few minutes, shut if off and recheck the timing marks again before reassembling everything.If they are not aligned you have to remove the timing belt tensioner again and align the marks again, sometimes it takes several tries before you get it right.