Cracked head, Please Help!!

[BunkerBilly]

Hi,

I purchased a 2006 Leon 2.0l TDI off eBay, test drove, and drove home (20mile) fine, the next day coolant light flashed and stayed on. I looked under the bonnet and the coolant was low so I topped it up, and the light went. Next couple o days same thing happened etc., so I went to get it checked at a local VAG garage and they have told me that I have a cracked head .

I got a quote from them and they quoted me £2000 ( their words " not much change left from £2000" so I take it as £2000) to fix. they said that a new head will cost me £1080. and the rest is head gasket bits etc.

so my question is, where is a cheap place to buy a new head from and how much has anyone else on here had to pay?

 

[tommy12]

I would have a look on eBay they seem to range from £350-£500 with 12 months warranty !!

 

[Dopedpanda]

Hi,

I purchased a 2006 Leon 2.0l TDI off eBay, test drove, and drove home (20mile) fine, the next day coolant light flashed and stayed on. I looked under the bonnet and the coolant was low so I topped it up, and the light went. Next couple o days same thing happened etc., so I went to get it checked at a local VAG garage and they have told me that I have a cracked head .

I got a quote from them and they quoted me £2000 ( their words " not much change left from £2000" so I take it as £2000) to fix. they said that a new head will cost me £1080. and the rest is head gasket bits etc.

so my question is, where is a cheap place to buy a new head from and how much has anyone else on here had to pay?

I would be extra cautious of buying a used head, you could risk the cause of it also having the same defect again, and maybe be bend or out of shape (both at sealing face and cam face) so you could potentially risk of it doing more harm than good.

My point being; don´t just go down to the nearest scrapdealer and find a head, find a dealer that is trusted, and bring someone who knows a good head for a bad with you to buy it.
Seen a lot of horrors stories when people buy a warped head and the dealer just saying; "you torqued it down wrong. maybe you dropped it, that's not my fault? its the block who is damaged and now you have ruined the head" and so on.

 

[BunkerBilly]

I would be extra cautious of buying a used head, you could risk the cause of it also having the same defect again, and maybe be bend or out of shape (both at sealing face and cam face) so you could potentially risk of it doing more harm than good.

My point being; don´t just go down to the nearest scrapdealer and find a head, find a dealer that is trusted.

yeah i ruled out the "Second hand" head as i dont want the problems again, ive just read on other forums that people have got them for £600 (doesnt state new or SH) but was wondering if anyone knows anywhere were i can get a new one from for less that quoted price.

ive got a few people asking around, they work in dealerships across the uk, but thought i would just ask out see if anyone has had the same problem.

Thanks.

 

[tommy12]

Look on eBay as I have said plenty on there from reputable company's and the one I looked just also offered fitting!!

 

[BunkerBilly]

Look on eBay as I have said plenty on there from reputable company's and the one I looked just also offered fitting!!

Cheers Tommy12

are you able to PM me one of the links you have just looked at, i had a look the yesterday but could only find 3 from the same person and they were reconned.

 

[tommy12]

http://bit.ly/17O5n9R

 

[BoostHard]

This seems quite common, A friend bought one a couple of years ago and had it done under warranty

 

[tommy12]

http://bit.ly/17O5O3T

 

[BunkerBilly]

yeah, they made 3 different heads an "A", "B" and "C". A's go quite often, B's go sometimes and C's never go (read on the net)

 

[tommy12]

How come your so against a recon head surely it's not worth spending nearly 1300 more that you could get it done for ?

 

[unsheenashashin]

How do you check what head is on your car?

 

[Rosskie]

Did you ask specifically if the engine is OK? If they knew it wasn't, and they clearly did, and you ask that specific question and were lied to you have the law on your side. That's certainly the case with other private sales of cars, i assume eBay will be no different.

 

[BunkerBilly]

How come your so against a recon head surely it's not worth spending nearly 1300 more that you could get it done for ?

I'm not 100% sure, I guess it comes down to how well it has been reconned, because it might go again and then it's a waste of money, where a new one would have full warranty, and I know it won't go as it will be the "c" version. But tbh I haven't really looked into the recon ones, I just thought "why buy a repaired when I can buy new".

How do you check what head is on your car?

Look on the head to the top-right ( when facing the car) it should be stamped in there.

 

[BunkerBilly]

Did you ask specifically if the engine is OK? If they knew it wasn't, and they clearly did, and you ask that specific question and were lied to you have the law on your side. That's certainly the case with other private sales of cars, i assume eBay will be no different.

How would I prove that he knew? He could just play dumb and say he had no idea..

 

[Rosskie]

Ha ha, indeed. You would also have to prove you asked too. It was advice on one of those consumer tv shows recently. Might be worth looking into.

Also I think most rational people would conclude that a car sold on ebay that ran for 20 miles before showing signs of a serious problem was sold for that reason with the owners knowledge.

 

[BunkerBilly]

Ha ha, indeed. You would also have to prove you asked too. It was advice on one of those consumer tv shows recently. Might be worth looking into.

Also I think most rational people would conclude that a car sold on ebay that ran for 20 miles before showing signs of a serious problem was sold for that reason with the owners knowledge.

Yeah, I have read a few pages on it and some people say it's not worth it because he could deny all, others say you ware money with legal stuff which could be spent on repairing and others say that they have won. It's a tough one TBH.

 

[@udi A3]

Are the 2l and 1.9 heads different?
I have a good 1.9head, although it needs valves, its not cracked.
Otherwise try darkside developments, they break tons of cars up and specialise in tdi.

 

[unsheenashashin]

so what are the odds of a pre facelift 58 plate having an A series head? is it a case of early models had the A, and as the years went on the other heads were used?

 

[BunkerBilly]

so what are the odds of a pre facelift 58 plate having an A series head? is it a case of early models had the A, and as the years went on the other heads were used?

My understanding is that the first lot upto 1st half 2006 had the A head, then 2006/2 upto 2008/1??? had B then the rest had C ( not 100% remembering off the top of my head from another post)