Oh God, what do I do?

[SBMIII]

This follows on from my radiator/head gasket problem. (I'm sorry I know it's not a GTI, but I could really do with some advice)

The mechanic has just phoned and told me that there is a chunk missing out of the cylinder head.  Yes, that's right, a chunk.

So my options are;


Find a new cylinder head and get it fitted (plus the rest of the pallaver that goes with it)

Find new engine and swap it

Strip the car down and sell it's bits and buy another one (I would like a GTI)

I've had the car 6 weeks, I can't believe this has happened, I just have the worst luck with cars!  It's a shame, the body has 1 speck of rust and some scratching and the interior and upholstery are immaculate.  I am so f****d off it's untrue!

Also what happened to the chunk that has come off of the cylinder head? Where did it go?

Any opinions would be gratefully received, what would you do in my position?

Sarah
 

[Neaty]

Unless you can fit the new head yourself, it is going to cost you are arm and a leg at a garage same with fitting a whole new engine.

I would be tempted to start again, you said you wanted a GTI so this might be a blessing in disguise.

[VW_08]

what car is it? 1.4 or something?

[Paul86S2]

Not good news, I have had similar experiences straight after buying cars and know how annoyed you must be.

You are halfway there with the car stripped down, I would try to source a good secondhand cylinder head and get the car put back together.
Secondhand engines could well be in as bad condition unless you can get a guarantee.

I would guess the previous owner has had the broken cylinder head put back on and then sold it on. I presume you didn't buy it from a garage or trader, if you did you should have certain rights even after 6 weeks, if you bought privately it will be sold as seen.

Try the VW breakers for a second hand head, or online spares searches like breakeryard.com or 247spares.

Good luck with whatever you decide.

Paul

[mark3valver]

yeah what paul says is your best bet i think...^^

[Len]

Depending on how big and where the chunk/hole is it could be ally welded.
I know one place down this way that can do that kind of work - South Cerney Engineering.

As the head is off you may as well look at getting it fixed or source a new secondhand head.

[MowatGTI]

Get a Gti

[dubmad]

get a gti. but take someone who knows about cars. as i bought one about 12mths ago.it was only sposed to av a water leak from one of the water pipe housin attached to the block. .i ad to wait for water pipe housin to be orded . and once i fitted new one thats wen the trouble started. head gasket ad gone.over £600 spent on engine since i ad it. and im still spendin on it now.as i just found out it av had a bump. i'll never bye a car blind again. so beware of wat you buy.

[SBMIII]

what car is it? 1.4 or something?

It's only a 1.6, I've found a cylinder head, just waiting for the mechanic to give me a price for the work before deciding what course of action to take. 

get a gti. but take someone who knows about cars. as i bought one about 12mths ago.it was only sposed to av a water leak from one of the water pipe housin attached to the block. .i ad to wait for water pipe housin to be orded . and once i fitted new one thats wen the trouble started. head gasket ad gone.over £600 spent on engine since i ad it. and im still spendin on it now.as i just found out it av had a bump. i'll never bye a car blind again. so beware of wat you buy.

Ha!! I've just had the thermostat housing replaced because it started leaking! Once that was fixed, the radiator went and well the rest is history. You may well be seeing bits for sale on here in the near future!!

I would guess the previous owner has had the broken cylinder head put back on and then sold it on. I presume you didn't buy it from a garage or trader, if you did you should have certain rights even after 6 weeks, if you bought privately it will be sold as seen.

I bought it from a garage near Bournemouth, and I had to sign a form because he gave it to me as a "trade" deal, I would guess I have no recourse because of this.  I'm not signing one of them again!!

[Rmachines]

Had a similar problem come in to the garage a while back, bloke came in with a car, payed £150 for an S reg astra but the head gasket had gone, turned out it there was a chunk missing..  He was going to scrap it but i said try a bit of chemical metal, Seing as he said he wanted the head back on anyway i put a bit on it and then skimed the head and he came in a couple of months ago saying he has done 7000 very happy miles on it. 

This wouldnt always work, i guess it depends where the problem is.