New Cylinder Head

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ct_boy

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Hi all,
I took my Polo 1.4 2010 model (83 000km) to VW after it was misfiring and not sounding good at all. The EPC light kept coming on too.
They came back saying the cylinder head is cracked/broken(?) and it needs to be taken off and looked at. They did a compression test. They say the bottom half is all good its just the cylinders that are an issue. they say worst case scenario is to replace the cylinder head for R30K with labour and parts.

1st. is this a common issue with this car (make and model)
2nd. who would you recommend i take it to in the Cape Town area who wont take me for a ride

thanks
 
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Wow that's expensive. With that price you could almost replace it with a new engine with head. I
 
Ouch 30K these guys really are not scared to charge.
Cylinder heads do crack but VW is not a good place to repair an old car register on the VW forum and ask for a good mechanic on there that wont rip you a new one.
 
Agents are the last place you want to fix this kind of repair on an out of warranty vehicle, a good independent garage can source and refurbish a used head if needs be and at a fraction of VW's price. I'd say conservatively well under R10k.

But sjoe, talk about agents being in the rip off business, R30k for just a Polo head. Sad situation that, would be nice if you could rely on the agents being a bit more expensive but getting the job done properly.
 
Case in point that the agents are only fitters and not mechanics anymore.
They take a new part from the shelf, remove old part from car and bin it and fit the new part.

I wonder what a car will cost if you assemble it from the parts shelf from a dealership? 3x the normal purchase price?
 
thanks all,
I only took it to the agent thinking I still had a last service as part of my service plan (was taking it in for 90 000km service) but i wont be getting this done there that's for sure. I find it hard to find or know who is a reputable mechanic or garage. will never know if they are taking me for a ride or not.
 
I had the head done on a 2005 Polo two years ago, this was after the cambelt snapped.
It cost a around 6000, this was with a new cambelt as well.
 
Cracked head means it needs to be replaced. You CANNOT skimm it.
Also look at engine replacement options.

The labour involved in fixing it might be more than fitting a new or 2nd hand engine.



edit:
Get a 2nd opinion ... I don't trust stealers.
Cylinder heads don't crack easily.
 
spiderz said:
Cracked head means it needs to be replaced. You CANNOT skimm it.
Click to expand...

The agents are speculating, "They came back saying the cylinder head is cracked/broken(?) and it needs to be taken off and looked at."

In order to determine what's wrong you have to remove it first.
 
You can weld a cracked head depending on exactly where the crack it and what it affects. The R30k quote will be for a new head with new cam, valves etc. It's unlikely that you'll need that - a good secondhand head and move all your bits across to it should be much, much cheaper. Giving a high price like that before the actual quote is a good way to prepare you for the worst so that when they come in under that you don't even argue.
 
ct_boy said:
Hi all,
I took my Polo 1.4 2010 model (83 000km) to VW after it was misfiring and not sounding good at all. The EPC light kept coming on too.
They came back saying the cylinder head is cracked/broken(?) and it needs to be taken off and looked at. They did a compression test. They say the bottom half is all good its just the cylinders that are an issue. they say worst case scenario is to replace the cylinder head for R30K with labour and parts.

1st. is this a common issue with this car (make and model)
2nd. who would you recommend i take it to in the Cape Town area who wont take me for a ride

thanks
Click to expand...

R30k for a head?

They farking crazy. Just buy a second hand engine from Jap motors or something. For R30k you can even put in a bigger engine and a new ECU.

http://www.engineden.co.za/index.php/en/component/virtuemart/new-and-used-engines/vw
 
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Too much for that work.

Get a good independent.

Start with s simple exhaust gas test at a place like silverton radiators.
 
ct_boy said:
2nd. who would you recommend i take it to in the Cape Town area who wont take me for a ride

thanks
Click to expand...


try Autowizards in Maitland, I'm sure they would be able to source and fit a head for significantly less than the price quoted
 
Hi, had a similar problem with my 2010 VW polo 1.4i, got quoted 25k by VW, i had a warranty which covered most of those costs. Anyways good luck on your Polo.
 
A barely five year old car with less than 100K kms on it with major engine failure. Which was no doubt bought instead of the Jap or Korean alternative, which was much better specced but of inferior quality. Oops
 
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