So I took my car to the dealership today to finally find out why my S2k was misfiring and it came down to a leaking intake valve in cylinder 1. The compression numbers were something like 190-190-190-130. They offered me 2 options. First (the one they recommend the most) is that I get an entirely new cylinder head and they say since they don't make them anymore they'd need to buy it in parts and rebuild the head, quoting me about 11,000. The other option is to send it to a machine shop to have the valves fixed. They didn't recommend this option because they said since the heads are aluminum its hard for machine shops to work on these. This option was quoted for about 3-5000.

This car is my daily so I would like to get it back on the road ASAP. I'm planning on getting quotes from other shops because these prices don't seem right... but I'd like some feedback on how much this job would usually cost. I am leaning towards rebuilding the old head and just replacing all the valves.

Any help is much appreciated.

Thanks!

-Jo

 

What a racket! yeah run away from that place. They should be put out of business for that kind of recommendation. Crooks!

Sounds like you got a bent valve. Labor to remove and re install head - and assuming just the one valve and no other damage, replace this along with the valve guide, seal. Should be $1500-$2000.

 

yeah, that's completely false info from that shop. A machine shop will have no issue doing the work. There is no need to replace all the valves, but the machine shop can assess that when they remove them. Cost for R&R of the head along with the machine work(valve/seat cutting) should be ~1200-1500.

 

Just out of curiosity, what year is your car? Mileage?

BTW - if it were me I would find a highly regarding mechanic with lots of experience with S2k and stay away from the dealer for anything of consequence. That is, unless the dealer has a mechanic who is experienced with s2ks. Or, I might just pull the head myself and bring it to a good machine shop for a look see and suggestions. Depends on whether you are comfortable pulling off a head and getting it back on correctly, and whether you have more money than time, or more time than money.

Also, I would be taking a close look at the condition all the valves and seats and guides and if they are marginal I might do more to the head while I have it apart.

 

If your cylinder head is un-torqued properly, there is a 100% chance it won't need to be milled. It will only need valve work. Valves and a possible seat grind.

Have the head pulled, and given to a very competent machine shop. They should be able to pull the 16 valves and tell you want you need to order.

 

$11,000??????????????????

 

No jokes here haha. The dealership actually quoted me $11,000.00 for this fix. They wanted me to replace the whole head because they said that aluminum heads are almost impossible to fix... all according to the dealership of course. Then they said they'd knock off $1000 for me like they were doing me a favor LOL. Did some research and I found a shop that quoted me $1600 for the job.

 

$11,000?????????????????????????????????