Head Gasket Replacement Cost

The car is a complex machine and owning one comes with a lot of maintenance work and regular servicing jobs. When you buy it, its pristine shining metal glory amazes you and fills you with pride. However, once the machine is driven in the big bad world outside, there is bound to be wear and tear in the machinery as heat, dust and friction have a go at it. Unless lubrication, maintenance and repair are undertaken regularly, replacing parts is always on the cards. A head gasket is one of the components that plays a vital role in the functioning of the engine. If the head gasket is blown, engine efficiency goes down. If it's beyond salvage, its replacement is the only option that you have. This Buzzle article talks about head gasket replacement cost and gives you a rough idea of the expenditure you might expect.


Before I provide you with an estimate of head gasket replacement cost, let us understand the role played by it, in the functioning of the car and why is it important that it gets replaced as soon as possible, if its broken or blown.

A head gasket is positioned between the engine cylinder and the engine block to tightly seal the combustion chamber. The sealing provided by the head gasket, is essential to maintain high pressure inside the cylinder for compression achieved by piston action. It also ensures that the engine oil and coolant do not leak over into the combustion chambers or cylinders. The head gasket's function in the engine is something like that of a gasket in a pressure cooker. To maintain high pressure inside the cooker, it's essential that the pressure cooker has a gasket. The head gasket does the same thing for the combustion cylinders in the engine. Therefore it's essential that the head gasket is in place and intact. In case it's blown, the engine efficiency goes down due to lowering of pressure in the cylinder and mixing of coolant or engine oil.


Sometimes, due to various problems like structural defects or high pressure, a head gasket might get blown off. Most of the time, it's beyond repair and replacement is the only option. There are certain blown head gasket symptoms you should know, which can help you diagnose the problem. The things to look out for are chronic engine overheating, coolant level drop and white smoke from exhaust. For a more detailed analysis, refer this article detailing blown head gasket symptoms.


Let us look at the replacement procedure for this important engine component. A significant part of the cost involved in head gasket replacement, is the labor involved. An overview of the basic head gasket replacement procedure will give you an idea about the labor fees charged for the job. First part of the job is gaining access to the head gasket. Before one can do that, the battery of the car needs to be disconnected, the coolant fluid needs to be drained. The fuel hookups must be disconnected. Next a lot of car parts need to be removed to gain access. This includes air intake, the carburetor and coolant lines.

The piston of engine cylinder needs to be set to the position of top dead center (TDC) and consequently the timing belt needs to be removed. There is an elaborate process to set the piston in that position, which I will not go in to just now. Next, the headers need to be disconnected, timing covers, push rods, rockers need to be removed, then the head bolts and finally you must remove the engine head. Then the old head gasket should be removed and the new head gasket is put in. Once that's done, everything needs to be put back as it was in reverse order (phew!). As you can see a significant amount of labor is involved in replacing a head gasket and it reflects in the repair price, that you are charged. The gasket itself costs only a few hundred dollars depending on the car model. The total cost involved in getting a head gasket replaced may be anywhere between $800 - $1200. A large chunk of this cost (about 80%) will be the fee charged for seven to eight hours of labor. Here is table with a rough estimate of head gasket replacement cost in some car models, derived from quotes provided by repair centers all over the country. The cost provided here is inclusive of labor and price of car parts.

Car Model	Total Cost of Head Gasket Replacement
Jaguar XJ12 (1981)	$880
Subaru Forester (2006)	$750
Honda Odyssey (1999)	$720
Ford Mustang (2001)	$1000
BMW 325Ci (2004)	$780
Dodge Durango (2000)	$860
Chrysler Voyager (2000)	$900

Car repair can cost you a lot unless you have it covered by insurance. Being watchful and engaging the car in regular servicing can save you a lot of money later. Hope this article has given you a good idea of the head gasket replacement cost.