Head gasket blown. What is approximate cost to

erratic compression indicates a cam lobe problem or cam follower problem
with that many miles on it , the cam shaft will have wear on it but the rest of the motor will have considerable wear including possible ring problems on the numbered pistons
If the body is rust free consider a new -out of the box engine as a cheap plug to stop the repair waste of money

$1000 plus the costs to do head gaskets, bearings (remember, antifreeze in the lubrication system means cam and crank bearings), you are talking about a rebuild, since it's out and apart you may as well do the rings too (150,000)...align boring, deck the block, heads...with the misc. items you will end up doing, you might be better off looking for a low mileage junkyard engine instead of going through that one.

first thing is. why did the gasket blew? overheated, detonation or preignition, was the headgasket replaced before, does the car has alot of miles on the engine, did you squeeze everything out of the engine power wise? these are most common causes of a blown headgasket.

the first thing you need to do is find an OEM or reinforced gasket and replace it. if you never done it before take it to a mechanic or someone who is good at it. also check if the head and possibly block is warped ( if the surface where the gasket goes on is bent). if it is take it to a machine shop or replace it.

if you will do it yourself make sure to remove the head studs in correct sequence. and when putting it back together put it the correct sequence and use torque wrench to tighten the studs correctly. approximately 60-75 ftpounds.

It depends if you really like the car or not how much it costs.and how many original miles your engine has on it now. It might be less expensive to find and put a good low mileage used motor in there instead vs. replacing the Head Gasket and rebuiling the Head.

White smoke usually indicates a blown head gasket.

I replaced my whole engine foe $500.00 with a 90 day warranty from junk yard motor ran great and it only had 40,000 miles on it do not wast your time with just the head if you plan to keep the car . good luck

I would change both, as well as use new head bolts. Make sure your heads are not warped or cracked, especially the one that is leaking. There may not be any need to change the head if it is not cracked. These are prone to blowing a gasket especially after 150K miles or so. It will not cost a huge additional amount to change both head gaskets since the engine will have to be disassembled down to the heads anyway. Hope this helps you, Rick

It has been My Experience that Most Repairs on this Vehicle ARE PRICEY and it is Not Worth the Maintnance Cost For Instance To Replace the STARTER One Must Remove the Engine Mount This tacks On an Axtra 80 Dollars to Lobor To Replace The Engine Labor ALONE is Around 1,500.00 Cmopared to 6-8 Hundred on Most other Makes & Modles I Personaly Would NOT own One.

Was the car using much coolant before you forgot to replace the coolant bottle cap?

The clinking noise you describe - that may be 'pinking'.. a noise caused by an incorrect air/fuel mix .. and also a symptom of a blown head gasket. Another symptom of a blown head gasket is white smoke (steam...) from the exhaust.

First, check your engine oil on the dipstick. If the oil is a creamy grey colour this indicates a blown head gasket. The creamy grey colour is caused by coolant finding its way into the oil system.

Fill up your coolant bottle with coolant. Leave the cap off, and start the engine and let it tick over for 10 minutes. As the engine warms up air will escape from the coolant level - keep topping up as necessary.

Keep your eye open for extreme bubbling in the coolant bottle - violent bubbling in the coolant bottle is caused by exhaust gases finding their way into the cooling system via a defective head gasket.

If there's no violent bubbling, replace the coolant bottle cap when the engine has ticked over for a few minutes..

... and then begin to look for leaks as the engine ticks over. Look under the car to see if there's any falling fluid. Check around the radiator and the hoses. Check that the coolant bottle itself isn't leaking.

You say your car isn't overheating - that's a positive. One symptom of a blown head gasket is overheating.

However, your coolant is going somewhere and you should try and find out where ... If it isn't a leak from somewhere, it may well be the head gasket.

Prices? To have a cylinder head gasket fixed costs around £500 - £1000 British pounds. A coolant bottle costs around £30 (look on Ebay)

If the head gasket is leaking/defective you can try a modern sealant/repair, which I am told are now quite good. Have a look on Ebay:

3 229results for cylinder head sealant

The most likely cause is a blown head gasket. If that is the case then it may be priced from 500 to 1500 to fix the vehicle.