Should my mechanic have replaced radiator when he knew cylinder head gaskit was gone and car scrap value?
I have a 523 auto 1998 which used to run beautiful. The car started running really rough, my mechanic said it needed a new radiator. He charged me £275 for a new radiator and when I picked the car up, after I had paid, I noticed there was clouds steam and smoke bellowing from the exhaust to the extent it was not fit for use. He then told me the cylinder head gaskit was gone and that it would cost £800+ to fix and that I should not drive the car in that condition. The car is only worth £1,000 while working. Should he have replaced the radiator in a car which was obviously unfixable?
Thank you!
Nope, he should not have replaced the radiator without first determining the cause of the poor running condition. Here's what likely happened; Head gasket blew causing a loss of compression in the cylinder affected by the blown gasket. Combustion stopped occurring in that cylinder which caused the rough running condition. At this point however, I'm surprised you didn't see steam from your exhaust. The blown gasket causes a coolant loss and the radiator level decreases. Why the mechanic replaces the radiator one can only guess, maybe he saw a leak which may have caused your engine to overheat which caused a condition that blew the head gasket. But, the low coolant level and radiator leak in themselves would not cause the engine to run rough, which brings us back to the cause of the poor running condition should have been identified first. A compression test would have revealed the dead cylinder, and ultimately the head gasket. If this repair is authorized first, a good mechanic would have quoted the radiator as the final part of the overall repair.
