Yes, Either Heads Cracked Or Gasket Blown - Can I Do The Repair?

[foggys916]

Hi,

First time caller here.

Brought my 1997 (imported) Estima Emina in May 2008. Odd shocks have needed replacing and it has been a good (if not slightly thirsty) work horse for a family of 5. But back in June this year the expansion tank went pop! This cost £250 quid to replace (!!) but this clearly was the prelude to the cylinder head issues. Last month I got the tell-tell chuggin at starting and the steam and blue smoke mix out the exhaust.

Now as everything else on the car is OK, as I don’t need this fix by tomorrow (got another car to use) and as I’ve done clutch changes and removed cylinder heads in the past, a few questions to you great and goodpeople.

I was thinking of dropping the engine and gearbox out to have the head off. Is this a good idea?

Anything I should look for, in particular, when doing this job in general?

If the head is cracked, is there something I should specifically look at on the replacement head?

Hope these are reasonable questions, any info you folks might have would be very helpful.

Steve