Mystic95_Z

On my way to class yesterday I was about to pull into the parking lot when I noticed a unfamiliar red light out of the corner of my eye. I look down and it's the "check gauges" light...so I look over at the temp and the needle is pegged. I start to freak out and I pull into the lot and shut her off. Well I dont have time to deal with it at the moment so I went to class and came back in about 3 hours.

I pop the hood and check the coolant and it seems to be low, I checked the oil and their didnt seem to be any coolant or water in it. So I start it up to see if it's still overheating. It runs for about 3 minutes before it starts to climb rapidly. So I called my dad and he brought some coolant and we topped it off and made it to the local chevy dealership. We dropped it off yesterday about 1:00 and I got a call from my dad this morning at 10:30 saying they called and said it was at least the left side head gasket. My dad told them to go ahead and replace both ($1900 ) They said they werent sure if it cracked a head or anything yet?

I had just checked the temp gauge less than 1 minute before it overheated, so im sure I caught it rayher quickly. My question is...would it have had time to crack a head or do any damage other than pop the headgasket? Also wouldnt something else happen to make it overheat? Do head gaskets just randomly go bad? IDK what were doing yet...he wants to fix it but he wont listen to me about trying to find somewhere cheaper than the dealership.

Eric_96Z

Make sure you get your radiator flushed, a similar thing happened to me..the radiator had gunk in it which made it over heat and warp the head, the head gasket never came apart.

Mystic95_Z

Well when we dropped it off yesterday my dad told them to flush the entire coolant system before they began to do anything else...so IDK if they did or what. My dad has basically left me out of this, he is relaying info from them to me so it's hard to say for sure what they have done so far. I really hope it's not a cracked head b/c if it is, I will no longer be the proud owner of a Z28

JAB

Yeah, when it happened to me a couple years ago the thermostat had hung up. If it decides not to open, it will let the engine heat up in a real hurry because no coolant will be flowing.

speed_demon24

I can't believe you are paying them $1900 to change a head gasket.

jsetzer

$1900 for a part that costs less than $100?

96 mikez28

$1900 is way too much for BOTH gaskets. I know dex-cool seems to wear gaskets out, had to replace the head gaskets in my truck.

LiENUS

Don't forget theres labor, and with aluminum pretty much anytime it blows a headgasket the head warps too so you need machining, 1900 may be a little high but it definately will cost a lot more than 100$

2000GTP

No kidding, for that much you could almost buy an LT1 in good working order and have that transplanted in there. To the original poster, hope everything works out for ya and you didn't crack the head.

BUBBA

It's very nice for your dad to take care of it. If I were you, I'd just keep my mouth shut---because you don't even know whether you have a blown head gasket or not, do you?

Do not trust anyone, including dealerships, when they tell you what's wrong, unless you can witness it yourself. Why? Because they are all in the business of making money and not all are completely honest.

And....good luck. I hope that you have a blown head gasket and that is all.

Mystic95_Z

Thats exactly why Im not saying anything to him...I just wish he would listen to me b/c I know I could make it a lil cheaper on him. I appreciate everything he is doing, im just trying to help him.