Hi all, had a bit of an issue with my 1999 1.9 pre face-lift z3. Serpentine belt came off while driving on motorway, long story short, the car overheated, lot of smoke, then lost all power. It no longer starts and a recovery mechanic took one look under the bonnet and told me the head casket or crankshaft is ruined and uneconomical to repair. I don't know too much about technicals in the engine so dont hold me to that. I'm looking for some advice or anyone that has had a similar experience. Is it worth repairing or replacing the engine or is it time to break the car for parts? If replacing the engine is feasible, would it be wise to replace with another M44 1.9 or is this an opportunity to swap for something bigger? For context the car is on 55k, I've owned it for 6 months and am about 3.5k invested this far in. I've found many helpful answers thru this forum so hoping for some more here. TIA
Is my Z3 gonners?
- Thread starter 1.9GDE
- Start date
Head gasket is relatively straight forward job. At 55k miles it would preserve the originality of the car and perhaps help retain it's value for future years. You'd need to investigate the reason for the failure.
Why did the belt come off? Did one of the tensioners or a pulley fail? Did the belt break? Did the water pump fail?
Can you do the job yourself? I would guess a garage would want around £1k to change a head gasket. You could speak to a mobile mechanic who could do the job at your home which means you wouldn't have to transport it. You might be able to do a labour only deal and you supply all the parts. To regrind the head will cost around £150, ( I paid £110 for my 2.8 head to be flattened in 2020) Head gasket set and new head bolts around £100. Then you'll need a new drive belt and whatever other parts have failed. Good luck
Why did the belt come off? Did one of the tensioners or a pulley fail? Did the belt break? Did the water pump fail?
Can you do the job yourself? I would guess a garage would want around £1k to change a head gasket. You could speak to a mobile mechanic who could do the job at your home which means you wouldn't have to transport it. You might be able to do a labour only deal and you supply all the parts. To regrind the head will cost around £150, ( I paid £110 for my 2.8 head to be flattened in 2020) Head gasket set and new head bolts around £100. Then you'll need a new drive belt and whatever other parts have failed. Good luck
Update: reason for overheating was the water pump that failed. Car is now back on the road, water pump, air filter, and a few other bits replaced and a full service. Glad to be driving it again and now my focus returns to all of the interior odd jobs, such as heating controls, speaker replacement, OBD fix, loom of doom, list goes on...
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