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Date: Tue, 09 Nov 1999 09:34:17 -0500
From: "James H. E. Maugham" <CaptJHEMnopsamNOT.waterw.com>
Subject: Re: White Smoke form my 900?


danny morrow wrote: > > While I am not sure how the inside of a Prelude looks, I do have a fair idea how my > engine goes. Pretty much the same as the SAAB, four cylinder, twin overhead cam HO engine, although naturally aspirated. > I might point out that my gasket itself cost $80. I also had some other > work done, since my coolant system wouldn't hold a vacuum anymore (probably the cause > of the blown gasket, along with a highly tuned turbo, and 12 years of driving), so the > total cost might have been $800. The head gasket for the Honda was $65, so there's not a lot of difference there. I'll read the "hold a vacuum" as hold pressure, which is the preferred method of controlling boil over. :-) The state of tune is comparable. The Honda engine has a higher compression ratio and revs higher than the SAAB. > But, Saab work is expensive. It always has been. I > would ask other readers, but thats how much a head gasket repair costs. Perhaps your > daughter had valve cover gasket damage? My sister had such damage on her 90 900S, and > thats about the price it ran. No, it was a blown head gasket, complete with white smoke and water washed piston! > I too would have done this myself, if I had the tools. Or the machine shop to > recondition my cylinder head, which had become warped because coolant wasnt flowing > properly. Or a dedicated work shop. However, this is not a weekend job from any angle > I can see it. There are no special tools needed to yank a head, a good set of sockets and combination wrenches will do the job. If the head needed to be decked because it was warped, that's a whole different problem and would have added to the cost, but not enough to bring the repair up to the $1K mark IMHO. Replacing the head gasket is certainly within the capabilities of any relatively competent weekend mechanic. As to decking the head, while that is not a home project, it's something you can drop off at a shop to have done. The only caveat to the above is that possesion of a torque wrench is absolutely mandatory to put the engine back together. But, as a torgue wrench (click type NOT beam type) is the third purchase you should make after a good socket set and a good set of combination wrenches, I know you've already got one. :-) If time was of the essence in that you needed the car repaired ASAP, then dropping it off for repair was probably your best option in light of the machine work that was necessary. > Or stop me if I am wrong? No right or wrong here Dan, I was just concerned that you may have paid a bit too dearly for the repair. I've done a number of head gasket repairs over the years. On SAABs, several times on my old 1.85L 99 engine when I was attempting to add a turbo to it in the '70s and twice on the Turbo 2.0L engine I replaced it with (primarily because I had the boost turned WAY up). I also just recently replaced the head gasket on my son's Prelude just before it met it's demise (and yes, both son and daughter had Preludes). Took me about half a day and the hardest part of the job was getting a seized EGR pipe off! However, I was fortunate in that the head wasn't warped on my son's car (yes, I checked it, not assumed it) and it was a very easy job. I got a full set of engine gaskets (head, intake, exhaust and several carb gaskets) from PEP Boys for $112.00 Regards, James the Elder

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