cracked head? on Astra

[jax]

Sorry, but this is not a Surf question but was hoping someone could help. My son has a Vauxhall Astra (97). It overheated, lost all the water, had steam out of the exhaust and I could see water had come out at the head gasket area. Vauxhall garage says it's £300 to do the gasket, then they can check something else. How would I know for sure if it's the head? Is it the same procedure as a Surf? Should I have changed the rad cap first?

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Jacqueline

[Vagrant No2]

Diesel or petrol engine . If diesel is it the Isuzo engine or the Vauxhall engine ? Most of the petrol ones just need a little skim to sort them out plus a new thermostat . I done quite a few of them . Sometimes if the antifreeze was allowed to go to low a mix the heads would errode away . I have had the heads welded and skimmed with NO probs .

[chunkymonkey]

I doubt if the head is cracked - it is more likely just the gasket or if he ran it really hot - the head may be warped - I had an astra that overheated - I managed to warp the head on it - I got the head skimmed for £75 and put it and the gasket (which is about £8) all back together... you could get a recon engine for an astra for £300!
The astra does have a pressurised cooling system not sure what you mean about the rad cap - it should have a pressure valve in the cap - you need to make sure the system is not overfull....

[jax]

It's a petrol engine. I just presumed it had a rad cap, didn't look at that bit! Can the system be pressure tested? So £300 is way over the top then? Where do I find a garage that skims heads? The garages are pretty c**p round here


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Jacqueline

[Vagrant No2]

Yes you have a rad cap but it does not look like the Surf one . It is the one on the expansion bottle and is plastic and is either yellow , blue or black depending on the pressure cap fitted .
Parts required : Head gasket kit , head bolts , thermostat , antifreeze oil and filter . And head skim ( definatly required )
£300 , you pay what you think is fair ?

I would do the job for you but the travel costs would be a little high !