My head gasket is on its way out, I've taken it to a garage and they agreed. They said that it would need skimming as well as a new gasket. Is this generally the case?

If not, what circumstances means you need it doing or not?

My head gasket is on its way out, I've taken it to a garage and they agreed. They said that it would need skimming as well as a new gasket. Is this generally the case?

If not, what circumstances means you need it doing or not?

Yes, sometimes when the head gasket goes they skim the heads as well, I don't know the technical reasons, but probably because the oil and coolant mixes and makes a mess?

the head may need skimming for a couple of reasons

the first thing is that you have overheated the engine by running it with low/no coolant , this generally warps the head , hence the need for a skim

the second thing is there maybe some corrosion or pitting on the head surface which may stop the new head gasket from sealing , skim needed

not a lot of material is removed , just enough to get the head flat or remove the corrosion/pitting

So is that usually the case then? Or would you say it's not all that common?

The reason I ask is, I was hoping to get hold of a gasket and do the job myself. But if it needs skimming then I guess I need it done elsewhere.

If you decided to do it yourself you would still only pay around the £20-25 for a head skim. Not too much !

Good luck:thumbup:

So is that usually the case then? Or would you say it's not all that common?

The reason I ask is, I was hoping to get hold of a gasket and do the job myself. But if it needs skimming then I guess I need it done elsewhere.

When the head gasket went on our 1.4 mpi the garage simply fitted a new gasket but it went again in a matter of weeks. They then had another go but skimmed the head as well. No more problems in the 3 years since it was done.

Getting the head skimmed might be a good investment.

I know cost is not unnecessarily the issue, but if you don't mind me asking, do you remember how much it set you back?

I know cost is not unnecessarily the issue, but if you don't mind me asking, do you remember how much it set you back?

It happened shortly after I had bought the car. The supplying garage did me a deal as a courtesy, it was only £100 or so, but did the second foc as it was only a few weeks later. Not a lot of help I'm afraid.

a head skim is usually quite reasonably priced and doesn't take too long to do , maybe make arrangement with the machinist to drop it off with them first thing in the morning then collect it in the evening on the way home

In addition to the skim it should also be pressure tested to ensure that it is free from cracks. At the end of the day you expect a guarantee for the work from the garage, if you limit their options they may not guarantee it.

Ah, thanks for the advice guys. I got told by 2 separate people that it would cost hundreds to get sorted you see.

I'll see what I can get the skimming done for then