I have a leaky head gasket on my 1987 300D. The dealership quoted me at 700-800 dollars to replace it. This seems sort of absurd.

How hard of a DIY is this? Are there any special procedures or special tools for this? I realize that I'll have to remove the intake and such, but other than that, is there anything extraordinarily difficult when replacing a head gasket?

Thanks!

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1987 300D wvo on the way!

It's not absurd, have you ever removed a cylinder head and put it back on? It's VERY involved. Takes a long time.

You need to keep the chain from falling. Remove upper chain guides. Remove turbocharger. Intake. You need a special head bolt too, I have one but if you want one they're $30.

If you're asking how difficult it is, honestly I don't think you should get into it.

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I'm not a doctor, but I'll have a look.

'85 300SD 245k
'87 300SDL 251k
'90 300SEL 326k

Six others from BMW, GM, and Ford.

Liberty will not descend to a people; a people must raise themselves to liberty.[/IMG]

$800 is a good deal for the dealership. I'd bet thats labor only, though. Parts would be another $100-200 for gaskets and shop supplies. Check with some independent MB shops and you should find a better deal.

The head gasket is about the #2 hardest thing for an at home DIY'er, #1 being rebuilding the engine.

Yea, but doing a HG is A LOT easier than rebuilding an engine.

you also need a good torque wrench. head gaskets on inline engines are not too bad. v format engines are more of a pain. I did my first HG w/ a friend helping, in 2 afternoons. If you have trouble changng oil,dont try it. $800 is cheap to have someone else do it. last two have cost me $300+ ea(non benz's) plus alot of time.

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1984 123.193 372,xxx miles, room for Seven.

1999 Dodge Durango Cummins 4BTAA 47RE 5k lb 4x4 getting 25+mpgs, room for Seven.

I'm suprised the dealer is that cheap. I don't think an indy would be any cheaper. I's go for it!

how bad is yours leaking? im getting a lil bit of oil seeping on mine.. surely not a good sign

Remember that the shop at a dealership is their main profit center. The bigger the job the more they make and everybody gets a piece of the action.

The $700 to $800 the dealer is quoting is just the start and is only for removing and reinstalling the head. His shop rate is probably $100 an hour and that job has to be 7 to 8 hours. (it took me about 10 to R&R mine and it is not the first cylinder head I have done) Most likely you will get a call from him after the head is off telling you that the head is warped or cracked and that the job will cost a lot more. At that point you will be at his mercy and he can reel you in.

Before you do anything you should perform the "hose pinch" test to determine if you have a cracked head. If it flunks that test you can count on spending an additional $2,500 for a new head (complete with valves guides and prechambers). Of course, the dealer will mark that up and he will tell you you need a new chain and tensioner and vacuum pump and...and...and. The prices for the parts you need will be at least twice the price that Phil sells them for. Ouch!

If it passes the pinch test it will still probably have some additional costs. Has it ever overheated? If so the head is probably warped and will need to go to a machine shop for resurfacing and in the process of disassembling it the machine shop will discover that you need some valves, guides, seals, etc.

The first thing that you should do is determine what kind of overall shape your car is in and how much you really like it. A 300D is a great car but it is almost 20 years old so good ones sell for $4 to 5k. That being the case you could easily be "upside down". That's OK if the car is a hobby to you and if you plan to keep it for a long time. If you just want transportation you may want to consider other alternatives.

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Tom Hughes
St. Louis
84 300SD
92 300D
86 300SDL

I would do the hose pinch test as hughet suggested. It would be useful prior to doing that to obtain a cooling system pressure tester to make sure you have no leaks. If you have significant pressure leaks the results of the hose pinch test would be invalid. How do you know you have a leaky head gasket? Do you have any internal coolant loss or coolant and oil mixing? Do you have a hard radiator hose when the engine is cold? My '96 had some residual pressure in the cooling system and I suspected the head gasket as well. What I ended up doing was using the Bar's Head Gasket Repair, and behold, it worked! It totally stopped the residual pressure and I made sure my system was leak-free. It's supposed to seal small head cracks too if you have any. If I were you I'd try this product first. It only costs like $10 and some labor.

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2004 VW Jetta TDI (manual)

Past MB's: '96 E300D, '83 240D, '82 300D, '87 300D, '87 420SEL

Dufflespank, if $800 has you worried and you are saying you are going to convert to veggie oil, then me thinks you should not be driving a very very old MB.

No matter that they are robust, gas or diesel, you will be experiencing some repairs that will make $800 seem cheap by comparison. They are too numerous to list.

If it were me, I would find a locally well regarded independent shop to do this
job. Dealer will end up skinning you.

Maybe you should re-think the logic of cheap transportation and get a used Toyota with a uniform payment.

No offense meant, but these cars really do require a fair amount of maintenance dollars as the miles roll on.

Steve

Where is the gasket leaking?

It's not a difficult DIY but I would advise against a 603 being your first foray into cylinder head R&R. Buy the cheapest running Maverik you can find and replace the head gasket. If you're successful, try a 617. Then try a 603.

Sixto

Not really, don't listen to these nay-sayers.

I don't own a 603, and I haven't done a 617 HG, but I have done a couple of HGs and they weren't hard at all. If you can read, follow instructions, label what you pull off (so it can go back on later), I think you should be fine. Go slow and ask questions if you need to.

I think the fear is that you will mess something up on a very expensive engine. I think the fear is based in the cost of parts, not your ability.

I highly encourage folks to do their own work. I have no professional training yet I manage to keep my cars running.

I admit I stereotyped dufflespank as a newbie. Hints like taking his car to the dealer, his reaction that $800 is a lot for a dealer to change a head gasket, and not having a shop manual suggest to me that he has not been around MBs very long, and he doesn't do a lot of his work. Couple that with folks whose first forum posts are "I've been a Diesel mechanic for 30 years but this is the first time I work on a 300D..." and I don't know how to not sound patronizing.

Sixto

$800 is cheap to change a head gasket. That price is way to cheap, MB dealers charge $100 an hour labor. Labor on a head gasket job has to be close to 10 hours.

Also remember this is a 603. Do you pull the head and just stick it back on, or send it out to be checked for cracks while its off. What about the T chain and tensioner, and guides? Those are probably due of they are original.

I just don't see how this job can be done the right way for $800 really.

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1999 SL500
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2007 Tiara 3200

If you're going to pay for 8-10 hours of labor to pull the head you might as well take a look at the head, valves, timing chain, etc. I don't know how many miles you have on the engine, but I agree, you will probably end up spending closer to $2000 by the time your done. If I was going to have the head pulled on my car, I would just have the top end rebuilt at the same time.