head gasket
waynel
01-24-2006, 09:35 PM
HI,
found a 1990 metro for $250 with a blown head gasket.
Is this easy, and cheap to fix, or is it a replace engine thing?
thanks
waynel
found a 1990 metro for $250 with a blown head gasket.
Is this easy, and cheap to fix, or is it a replace engine thing?
thanks
waynel
spy1309
01-25-2006, 07:54 AM
Is not a hard job but is better to go with a JDM engine you will avoid problems during the long run .
unbe
01-25-2006, 05:46 PM
What would you say is a fair price for a JDM 3cyl metro engine.Also do they tell you how many miles it had on it .
Unbe
Unbe
sbiddle
01-25-2006, 06:47 PM
I'm cheap so I'd do the head gasket and hope for the best. Check the valves when you have the thing off and get the head milled flat. This engine is about the easiest to work on.
Metro Mighty Mouse
01-25-2006, 06:54 PM
Should be able to get one for under 500.00, including shipping. If you have a local Co. you may be able to get it for less (or they could have the price jacked up also, I currently live in TX and had to order one out of NY, saved 3 to 5 hundred over the local price)
leonbentz
01-25-2006, 11:34 PM
Yea, I agree sbiddle Check and see how good of condition things are and have the head resufaced. How many miles are on it? Does it run good?
I have 181k on mine and I'm impressed with the power it has. Doesn't smoke but does have funny rattles about it. Oil pressure is great too. Check out that in yours as well. If you got to hear it run and it runs healthy, then it might be worth a head gasket job and another 50+ thousand miles.
How good is the body? That's another good thing to consider. Some cars are nice enough to just buy a JDM and start over from scratch. JDM's are good for almost another 200k, if treated right from the beginning.
Myself, if the car is in nice condition and it's fairly low miles, I would just replace the head gasket AND buy a JDM, while you can buy them cheap. You should be able to do both for about 500 - 600, if you shop right.
I plan on doing a complete rebuild on mine, this summer to where I can guarantee at least 200k of service. I drive about 50 miles a day or more. Nice to drive, for less than 20 bucks a week and drive comfortably. lol
I have 181k on mine and I'm impressed with the power it has. Doesn't smoke but does have funny rattles about it. Oil pressure is great too. Check out that in yours as well. If you got to hear it run and it runs healthy, then it might be worth a head gasket job and another 50+ thousand miles.
How good is the body? That's another good thing to consider. Some cars are nice enough to just buy a JDM and start over from scratch. JDM's are good for almost another 200k, if treated right from the beginning.
Myself, if the car is in nice condition and it's fairly low miles, I would just replace the head gasket AND buy a JDM, while you can buy them cheap. You should be able to do both for about 500 - 600, if you shop right.
I plan on doing a complete rebuild on mine, this summer to where I can guarantee at least 200k of service. I drive about 50 miles a day or more. Nice to drive, for less than 20 bucks a week and drive comfortably. lol
carpenter_jai
01-27-2006, 12:36 AM
What does JDM stand for? In what way is it better than a standard engine.
I just checked my compression, and I got 150, 130 and 130. I know that is rather low. Is my car a candidate for a new engine? It's a 95' 3 cyl manual with 120k and gets about 35 MPG. Thanks.
I just checked my compression, and I got 150, 130 and 130. I know that is rather low. Is my car a candidate for a new engine? It's a 95' 3 cyl manual with 120k and gets about 35 MPG. Thanks.
Metro Mighty Mouse
01-27-2006, 12:38 PM
JDM = Japanese domestic market
Japan has significantly different laws concerning cars. They are required to rebuild or replace the motor approximately every 50,000 miles so they started shipping those motors to the states as cheap replacements. Since they are already shipping the motors it is easy to also ship good transmissions along with them. So we get to buy low mileage good motors and transmissions for a very reasonable price.
The gas mileage is definately a little low. The compression is also on the low side but should be good enough to run well. The question you have to ask is; is your money better spent on a head gasket and the work involved and hope the rings hold, or do you want to do the rings also which increases the cost and work, or do you want to spend approximately 300.00 to 500.00 dollars and do the work to swap out the motor and have the whole thing with only 50,000 miles on it. Most of the time it's pretty clear that the JDM motor is the easier and cheaper way to go. As an added bonus you could probably get a transmission at the same time for a better deal than normal and have the whole drivetrain be low mileage.
Japan has significantly different laws concerning cars. They are required to rebuild or replace the motor approximately every 50,000 miles so they started shipping those motors to the states as cheap replacements. Since they are already shipping the motors it is easy to also ship good transmissions along with them. So we get to buy low mileage good motors and transmissions for a very reasonable price.
The gas mileage is definately a little low. The compression is also on the low side but should be good enough to run well. The question you have to ask is; is your money better spent on a head gasket and the work involved and hope the rings hold, or do you want to do the rings also which increases the cost and work, or do you want to spend approximately 300.00 to 500.00 dollars and do the work to swap out the motor and have the whole thing with only 50,000 miles on it. Most of the time it's pretty clear that the JDM motor is the easier and cheaper way to go. As an added bonus you could probably get a transmission at the same time for a better deal than normal and have the whole drivetrain be low mileage.
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