Hi
My car is in the garage right now for the second time in a few weeks. Went in as I was losing water and the temp gauge was reading very high. Initially my garge said my radiator was corroded and I agreed to have it reconditioned. After receiving it back, within 48 hours my temp gauge went to maximum on a short drive and after the engine and radiator had cooled I discovered there was practically no water in the radiator (it was full when I collected it from the garage). It is now back with them and I have been told it's my head gasket (early stages of failure as no white smoke, no mayo on the dip stick, but water being pumped out of the overflow in the radiator due to pressure). My apologies for the long story, but I am am hoping someone can 1) let me know if they think the garage is right? 2) if it is HG, do you think it's worth paying for the repair (car has done 95K miles)? 3) is this the start of a long list of garage bills - ie, should i give up and buy another car?
Thanks very much!
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HG is not unusual on a Micra of this age, so the correct diagnosis I think.
Whether its worth fixing depends on the condition of the rest of the car and the cost to fix. Should be fairly cheap on one of these though?
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quoted £300 to £400 - no experience here, so not sure if this is good or bad? Pretty sure that apart from this issue and rust, everything else in the car is great. Gear box certainly still seems ok. Jsut a nagging worry that if I have this fixed, something else, then something else might go wrong, etc. Possibly just being paranoid!!
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£300-400 is about right. Have a new waterpump at the same time (£30).
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Thanks. Is there a specific reason I should get a water pump at the same time? Sorry!
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The cambelt on these engines is tensioned by the waterpump. If the belt's off to do the headgasket then it makes sense to change the pump as it's so cheap. If the pump bearings fail then the belt can come adrift leading to costly valve damage. On a car of this age it would almost definitely mean it's off to the scrap yard.
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Get rid of the car, put the £400+ towards your next car.
A quick thumb through autotrader produced the following:
">Manual, 59,000 miles, Nissan micra, M reg, 1.3 mannual, light green, 59000 miles,first time start, power steering, central locking, twin electrical windows,air condition, face off stereo, electrical adjustable rear mirrows with both sides e/heating, fog lights, immobiliser, full service, seven months MOT, four months Road tax, excellent condition. urgent sale needed, 525 ono. £525. ono<"
Plenty more out there.
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Thanks very much Micky. Will take a look as suggested. Sadly I am an Auto only driver though! but I'm sure if you found that ad quickly, I'll be able to spot an auto that might suit.
Cheers
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Ah, yes, auto does restrict availability. Good luck!
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