2009 Sienna with 155K miles with a very bad Internal head gasket leak. The estimated cost to repair the head gaskets is almost $10,000 and the cost of a replacement engine(used) is almost $12,000. This seems on the rather high end to me and I'm not able to justify putting that kind of money into a vehicle of this age and mileage. I'm in central Indiana. Any opinions?
Does this repair estimate seem high for Head Gaskets?
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Both are high damn. Unless it's a brand new short block.
But a brand new short block according to car care nuts. YouTube says they're around 4 or 5,000 only. Plus labor of course
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Last time I had one swapped was $6500 for a junkyard engine. Yeah, 12 seems a bit high.
Shop for tools. Seriously, if you have a place to do it. Last year a blown head gasket on a 4 cyl cost me $45 in parts. Nine years ago a blown head gasket on a V6 cost me $40 in parts. Worst case you may drop a grand and 35 hours labor. If for some reason, you screw it up, oh well. But if you succeed you'll never be prey again.
10k for head gasket JOB LOL. No fricken way.
First off, are you SURE it's the head gasket ? milky oil, white exhaust, low compression ? did you get a second opinion (a MUST) ??
TRY THIS FIRST: https://www.amazon.com/Blue-Magic-1...+gasket+sealer,aps,137&sr=8-3#customerReviews
it's $16 and it might actually work
if not, slap in a used engine. Probably $2k plus labor, probably $4k is realistic.
another smart option: Sell the car as is, buy a new car.
Please PLEASE don't spend more than $2k for a head gasket job. another more would be a rip off. RUN FAR AWAY FROM THAT SHOP/QUOTE !!!!!!!!!
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We went through the same thing after overheating the engine and popping a head gasket. I wouldn't trust a mechanic to change a head gasket on this motor. It's so expensive to get the engine out. The cost of changing a head gasket is so high in this complicated engine (valve train and timing chain and timing cover leaks, anyone?), that if they don't do the head gasket right, you're going to be way behind the cost of a good used engine.
We searched all over the DC metro for a good engine and found empty promises and bald-faced lies. I can't understand the scams in this day and age. There's a member on here that just got sold a 250k xfer case that was supposed to have 75k (in Oregon).
We finally called LKQ, and they shipped a primo used engine (2011 Camry) from LKQ. Now we buy all our used auto parts from Keith R. at LKQ (currently ordering a Crown Vic 35k driveshaft for $50 and a 100k axle assembly for $560).
LKQ ships their parts to regional salvage yards for free. The engine, driveshaft, and axle are all shipped to a local yard for free.
Shoot me a PM and I'll send you Keith R's phone number.
We searched all over the DC metro for a good engine and found empty promises and bald-faced lies. I can't understand the scams in this day and age. There's a member on here that just got sold a 250k xfer case that was supposed to have 75k (in Oregon).
We finally called LKQ, and they shipped a primo used engine (2011 Camry) from LKQ. Now we buy all our used auto parts from Keith R. at LKQ (currently ordering a Crown Vic 35k driveshaft for $50 and a 100k axle assembly for $560).
LKQ ships their parts to regional salvage yards for free. The engine, driveshaft, and axle are all shipped to a local yard for free.
Shoot me a PM and I'll send you Keith R's phone number.
There are three possibilities here... First possibility is that was a quote from a Toyota dealer. They are quoting you a book rate and will be happy to charge you that. Second is that the shop is a small shop and, while the repair (engine removal and replacement with a used engine) might only take 10 hours, it will require that you bring your van into their garage bay and totally block that bay from use for almost 2 full days, meaning they can't get money from any other customer. As such, they need to take all their profit from you. A slight variation on this is that they really DON'T want to do that job, so they high bid it, figuring, if you pay the money, they'll be happy to take it. The third possibility is that someone, who has no idea what they're doing and have no capacity to do an engine swap estimated the cost of labor PLUS the cost of a new crate motor and then added 30% to the cost because they're going to call up another shop, provide the van and motor and take a profit on top of the actual repair bill.
In reality, the van is worth, at most, $7k ($8k if it's an XLE). There is no way it would be worth sinking $10-12k into it. Find an independent mechanic who will do the swap on a weekend. You drop it off on Friday at 4 and pick it up Monday morning with a LKQ engine dropped in. You're probably still looking at $2k for the engine and another $2-4k for the work. If you can find some car-guy buddies or have a friend with a lift (more likely to have all the tools/experience), you can probably do a swap in a weekend, with little experience, for pizza and beer. Another potential would be, if you access to military bases, you can often rent a bay in their Automotive Skills Shop (or automotive hobby shop) for a relatively small sum per day. There are usually guys there who can guide you through the work and/or help with the repair.
In reality, the van is worth, at most, $7k ($8k if it's an XLE). There is no way it would be worth sinking $10-12k into it. Find an independent mechanic who will do the swap on a weekend. You drop it off on Friday at 4 and pick it up Monday morning with a LKQ engine dropped in. You're probably still looking at $2k for the engine and another $2-4k for the work. If you can find some car-guy buddies or have a friend with a lift (more likely to have all the tools/experience), you can probably do a swap in a weekend, with little experience, for pizza and beer. Another potential would be, if you access to military bases, you can often rent a bay in their Automotive Skills Shop (or automotive hobby shop) for a relatively small sum per day. There are usually guys there who can guide you through the work and/or help with the repair.
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I would estimate that a good diy with a helper will take 3 days for the swap on a fwd, depending on the amount of rust. One day prep and pull, one day swap, one day putting it back together.
Take your time and do everything else while it's out. (See my swap post)
Edit: here's one of my swap posts: What would you replace when swapping engine in '08...
Take your time and do everything else while it's out. (See my swap post)
Edit: here's one of my swap posts: What would you replace when swapping engine in '08...
On this vehicle, do you have to drop the engine to change a head gasket or head??
I've never heard of such a thing. At least front engine.
Dropping the engine is not for a novice IMHO. And so far no one has ascertained the diy skill level of the original poster. However at this point in the discussion I think there are enough posts to educate the original poster for a plan of action.
Agreed. My $0.02, if you haven’t pulled an intake manifold or replaced a steering rack, replacing a head gasket shouldn’t be your first foray into that level of work. Doubly so if it requires removing the front cover and messing with the timing chain. That’s a solid 20 hours of work minimum for a newbie when you factor constantly checking references and labeling everything you remove that you don’t even know what they’re called. That’s not counting trips to the store for tools you don’t have and parts you didn’t know you need. Very satisfying to DIY but is it you’re thing?
Sixto
‘04 LE FWD 207K miles
Thanks for all the replies! @DC_Dave thanks I'll look into your swap info. Just a bit about myself, I love turning wrenching on cars and I have done head gaskets on a old 3.8L ford, repaired a few upper intakes on different cars, timing job on a 4.6L 2V ford, and replace axle bearings so I'm no stranger to getting my hands dirty. My biggest concern with the Sienna is being able to lower the engine out because I have neither the time, space, or proper tools for such an endeavor but given the cost fixing it I might end up taking DC_Dave's advice and see if I can figure out a way to do it myself though I might wait for warmer weather.
Edit: Spelling
Edit: Spelling
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AND, it may be possible to just change out the front head gasket without dropping the engine, but if I recall correctly, the timing cover removal and timing gear was a real pain with the engine in.
Having a second car makes something like this easier at least from the standpoint that you wouldn't be rushed to get it back on the road. I have done a fair amount of wrenching and wouldn't shy away from something like this if I had to do it. But thinking of all the crap that has to come off to get the heads off dont sound like fun. In the car you almost have to be arthroscopic surgeon to get some of the stuff out of the car.
First timing belt on a PT Cruiser, nightmare, second time cake. Getting all the crap out of the way first and not being squeamish about muscling the engine every which way made all the difference. You'll be an expert when your finished then never again use that knowledge.
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