Hello,

I have a 95 talon esi with 97,000 miles. I took it for inspection in Pennsylvania and they tell me it has a leak in the rear part of the head gasket. It will not pass inspection because the oil is leaking onto the exhaust. It uses about 1 quart of oil/month and gets 30 +/- miles per gallon.
The garage is telling me that it costs $1000 to $1600 to replace the head gasket. That seems like a lot of money. They also say that taking the engine apart may expose other problems that will cost even more money to fix.
Has anybody had their head gasket replaced? How much did it cost? Were there any other parts that needed replaced with the head gasket?


I also have one other problem. The drivers side headlight lens is clouded and does not allow enough light through to allow the car to pass inspection. I called the Dodge dealer to see how much the replacement light case was. They tell me its $360. Are they just trying to screw people over or what. Anyhow, if anybody knows a good place to get used parts like this, that would be great.

Thanks a lot.

1. you have the infamous leaky headgasket syndrome(a contributing reason for me throwing a rod) $1000 is not just an anal raping but that's no lube and sandpaper wrapped around the jimmy while he's giving it to ya. DON'T pay more than 500. hell the dealer here in ohio quoted me 600.

2. rub some Mothers wheel polish on your headlight and it should take the cloudyness off.

Chris Dishmon
chrisdishmon@hotmail.com or
chrisdishmon@yahoo.com (pretty original, huh?)

http://www.threebrain.com/weeeeee.html

1990 GSX (14.1 in the 1/4 mile, so far)
1997 RS (it just looks neat)
http://www.homestead.com/klipzracer/index.html

yeah that does sound like way to much...
that really sounds fishy too about the leaking on the exaust not being able to pass emissions... almost sounds like you cant have a dirty car when you get it inspected..


for the headlight.. also try some turtle wax finishing compound on it.
-Jason



95 GS

short air ram - custom grill - removed front license plate - custom stereo system - 2 Kenwood 10's powered by Kenwood amp - Hiper Blue Headlights - F&R Upper Strut Bars - 2 fan mod

-Jason

97 Talon ESi-T (forever in progress...)


95 GS (Gone)
16.74@83.18mph
119.8 whp - 113.3 lbs/ft


2GNT #677
My Wiki Page: www.2gnt.com/index.php?d=Iamnotwhoiam
Pictures: http://picasaweb.google.com/iamnotwhoiam/Talon/

HOW does it not pass inspection because of a LEAK??????? NEVER heard of that. Are you sure the guy who runs the inspection station doesn't have a brother in law who works at the dealership?

In Missouri, when we have a dispute with the inspection , we can go to the Missouri State Highway Patrol and have it rechecked/verified. Check on who you can see about that and have them show you the law that says it flunks because of the leak.
Good Luck

I forgot to mention one thing. The reason that they tell me it won't pass the state inspection is because it is "an extreme fire hazard".
By your responses, it sounds like I had better get it fixed anyhow before I get antifreeze in the oil or something like that.

Thanks all for your responses.

Screw the mechanic and his 1000.00 bill. Just hacksaw off about 1/4" of length from your #7 bolt(not positive if its the number 7 but its the drivers side corner closest to the fire wall). I got up early in the morning and got all geared up to do my first head gasket install and at the last minute decided to go the lazy route and sure enough, it actually worked. What do you know for once in my life laziness has paid off. I haven't had an oil leak since. One thing though, the head gasket that is on there feels like its metal which makes me think that the previous owner might have had the gasket replaced but didn't have the #7 head bolt trimmed down.

Dean.

Where you at in Missouri DSMLVR? I'm currently in Pittsburg, Kansas give me some mail at Eclipseturbors@yahoo.com maybe we can hook up one of these days.
Hah no emmissions over here! BTW about 600 is right for a head gasket.

Shit is all apart. Typical...