Head Gasket Replacement - Cost, '91 Acclaim, worth it?

Speaking of head gaskets, I'll ask for my own 3.0 'clunker' right now.
A few months ago it was determined that the car's overheating problem
(this was in connection with a failed fan relay) was due to a leaking
head gasket. It's an old car, but still drives fine. As it is, I've
put more money into new shocks/struts, timing belt, fan relay... oh,
and of course it's suffering from Paint Woes. It was even in an
accident a few years back. Presently the driver side window likes to
refuse to go down frequently, one of the hubs was damaged after my
sister drove it over a curb (ergo I've got a slow leak and as I'm not
totally vigilant, the tire wears a little unevenly)... At any rate,
most everything in the car has been replaced once already (except the
head gasket.)

Well, despite all this, I do happen to like the car. If it weren't for
the seemingly endless problems its had this last year, I'd have no
problem investing in having the roof professionally repainted. But the
leak is definitely burning off oil at a good rate and I'm worried
about damaging the engine if I keep driving w/o replacing the head
gasket.

I'm definitely not a mechanic; relays I can replace on my own, and I
handle all the small stuff, but I really don't have the tools or
know-how to feel comfortable replacing the head gasket myself (I
wouldn't even know where to begin looking for a gasket) So I'm looking
at having this done in a shop, and at this point I'm worrying about
how much this is going to run me, and at this point given the problems
I've already got with the car, whether it's worth it.

Oh, and if anyone got some advice for what to watch out for taking the
car to a shop to have this work done (ie, good questions to ask to
make sure I'm not gonna get ripped off), I'd be greatful.

- D

 

H'mm. The '89-'95 Spirit Acclaim (and identical '90-'94 LeBaron sedan) are
excellent cars, to be sure, but at this point it sounds like you've got a
tired pony on your hands. Seems to me the better idea is to find a
lower-miles example of a similar car and get it -- they're not expensive
on the used-car market.

There *will* be other stuff found that makes no sense not to do while
they're in there doing the head gasket. Some of it will be little, some of
it will be not-so-little, but it will add up quickly, and it really won't
make sense not to do it.

DS, who now has an extremely nice but *very* overly-invested-in '89 D100
pickup...

 

Make sure you dont just have a bad electric cooling fan.Mine would work
intermitantly It would run very slow or stop, even a junkyard fan did this
so i finally forked over the $180 for a new one and the car does not
overheat at all anymore.This was after replacing everything else cooling
system related.

 

Heh, actually this was what led to the head gasket diagnosis - the fan
wasn't kicking on when the engine temp got way up there, so I took it
in to an auto repair place that shall remain nameless. They in turn
blamed the overheating on the head gasket despite the fact I asked
them to check the fan itself. Their reply to the fan was "we can't
check stuff like that" which is rather ridiculous given at the very
least they should have been able to use a voltmeter to check the lines
and relays and to ensure the motor was working.

At any rate, I took the car to a family friend and we ran through the
electrical system to the fan - aside from the relay, the fan works
fine. Picked up a new relay, snapped it in, and the fan's been working
beautifully since - even took the car on a 300 mile round trip and it
kicked on every time it was needed.

I just feel a little nostalgic towards this car, plus in the last year
alone the shocks, struts, battery, and front brakes have all been
replaced. Other replacements/rebuilds/fixes in the past have included
radiator, air bag, automatic transmission... you kinda get the idea
The peeling paint I can at least fix myself, and it also has a broken
gear selector indicator, but that's just a minor nuisance; I've driven
the car for so many years now that I shift by feel I guess

If I were to buy a used car - and I can guarantee it'd be an Acclaim
as I'm very happy with how the car handles in the snow and its
performance overall - I'm just worried I'll end up inheriting the same
problems a year or two down the road. Avoiding that by just going
ahead and getting the head gasket replaced (and possibly the other
"while we're at it" replacements pending how much money I can put into
this) just seems like a better idea. I just figured I'd ask here and
get advice from other people rather than go with the gut emotion

- D