Replace Head Gasket set -QX4 SUV

[BrokenQX4]

I own a 2001 Infiniti QX4 with 100,000 miles. My wife drives it and this morning she was having problems. Engine was "HOT". I took it to repair shop. Hole in radiator hose, no coolant remained. Mechanic says must replace "Head Gasket Set" , have cylinder heads sent to machine shop to resurface if they are warped, replacing timing belt, water pump, clean values, since the engine is already apart. Then put back together. The mechanics estimate is $3,100 to $3,200. I feel like this is way high. I went on line and found a Head gasket head set for $204 to $257. He said price for the part was $430 for orginal equipment, plus $1,600 for labor , Plus the bill from machine shop.Does anyone have any experience with similiar repair and costs?

[Mr1der]

you're paying for the labor on that....

the parts are fairly cheap...but a beast to actually do the job.

they're gonna have the front portion of the engine torn open to do it...it's fairly time consuming.

my best advice would be to call a few other shops and get estimates.

[Issac]

For that much money I would find a way to do it myself! Sounds insane high, but I have not cracked the engine before.

[MagicM]

3200 is Extremely high for head gasket repair, it should only be in the low/mid 2000's for a QX4. I would run around to several mechanics and ask around.

[fueler]

My timing belt replacement cost me around $600 with ALL parts... even both intake manifold gaskets but not the head gasket... but he did have the engine taken apart to the point where head gasket would not have been much more work I agree, go get more quotes, even at the nissan dealer

[Michael Foster]

You head gasket set got blown? Then it should really need replacement. You can get a good one from . I got mine from there. Mine got blown the other day so I have no choice but to replace it.

[miamiheat3332]

did you guys check www.courtesyparts.com ? they usually have better than dealer prices on most things and your getting OEM parts.

[CanuckQx4]

surprised you guys didnt catch this. If he has an 01 Qx4, hes got the vq35de engine and doesnt have a timing belt, but instead his engine has a timing chain, which never has to be changed for maintenance... ever

But there charging you for "replacing timing belt"

[EsotericImage]

^^
what he said


also, to re-surface heads should be no more then 75-100 and thats on the high side! machine shop can have them both re-surfaced in 10 mins.