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BLOWN HEAD GASKET

14K views 43 replies 12 participants last post by  FlNiro 
#1 ·
I had a 2017 Kia Nero. In March of 2020 it blew a head gasket. At the time the car had 189,000 miles on it.

The cost of the repair was $4500 or for $5000 I could get a new engine. I opted for the new engine.

October 31, 2020, at 40,000 miles it blew the head gasket again.

I was told I have a better chance of winning powerball then blowing 2 head gaskets in 8 months.

Has anyone else had a head gasket issue with their Nero?
 
#2 ·
I had a 2017 Kia Nero. In March of 2020 it blew a head gasket. At the time the car had 189,000 miles on it.

The cost of the repair was $4500 or for $5000 I could get a new engine. I opted for the new engine.

October 31, 2020, at 40,000 miles it blew the head gasket again.

I was told I have a better chance of winning powerball then blowing 2 head gaskets in 8 months.

Has anyone else had a head gasket issue with their Nero?
You are the first I've heard having a head gasket issue. How did they diagnose the problem?
 
#4 ·
I'm having a major problem with your 2 posts. While I understand your choice to go with new vs repair old engine, I would be surprised if you could get a new complete engine installed for $5000. Did you just get a new short block with the old cylinder head? A new head gasket and labour should not cost $4500. If you did not get a complete new engine, block and cylinder head then I could see an underlying issue causing the head gasket to blow again. These engines are not known for head gasket issues or major engine issues in general.
 
#10 ·
I'm having a major problem with your 2 posts. While I understand your choice to go with new vs repair old engine, I would be surprised if you could get a new complete engine installed for $5000. Did you just get a new short block with the old cylinder head? A new head gasket and labour should not cost $4500. If you did not get a complete new engine, block and cylinder head then I could see an underlying issue causing the head gasket to blow again. These engines are not known for head gasket issues or major engine issues in general.
I think it might be possible for a reman engine. We just had a Ford V-10 replaced new (reman) in an F-350 for a touch over $10000. As I recall, the engine itself was about $7500, and that was a complete engine except for the accessories (no alternator or A/C compressor). It had everything else for that price, and it came straight from Ford. I could see this engine being about $3500 and another $1500 in labor. It's a lot of work to replace an engine in newer cars.
 
#13 ·
I just looked under www.kiaparts.com and it said remanufactured sub engine for a 2017 Kia Niro LX is $1626.25 Not sure was is all included but it would leave me to believe it should be the whole engine but without the assesories.
This is great info for others on this forum but I don't think Bigmike is going to find it helpful at this point in time as he is out $5000 and now has....
In hindsight, he would have been better served finding another used car with low miles and hopefully many years of service.
I'm not sure it will go anywhere, but I think his mention of litigation is an option as the original repair facility made an error in diagnosis and subsequent repair - in my licensed opinion.
 
#12 ·
Yeah, not much of a description. But that does seem it should be a complete engine less accessories. I'm not going to second guess the $5000 installed price, as some cars are extremely difficult to remove/replace the engine. Labor adds up. Plus that $1626 is a sale price that might not have been available at the time.
 
#14 ·
I had a 2017 Kia Nero. In March of 2020 it blew a head gasket. At the time the car had 189,000 miles on it.

The cost of the repair was $4500 or for $5000 I could get a new engine. I opted for the new engine.

October 31, 2020, at 40,000 miles it blew the head gasket again.

I was told I have a better chance of winning powerball then blowing 2 head gaskets in 8 months.

Has anyone else had a head gasket issue with their Nero?
Really you solved the consequence (the damage) but the mechanics didn't identify the real cause, then changed the engine but they didn't changed the parts involved in the thermal control of the engine.
In the future you should verify apart the cooler fluid of the engine the following parts:
  • Engine water pump if is working ok, if it is not clear change it by a brand new pump
  • The water valve that manage the hot water from the water heather mounted in the exhaust pipe
  • The water thermostat that control the flow of water through the water radiator.
A question. The water radiator are ok, or it is jammed?
regards
Willyam
 
#16 ·
Hello,

My sincerely opinion is to do an inspection of the water hoses. (!!!!!WITH THE ENGINE TOTALLY COLD IN ORDER TO BE SAFE AND PREVENT ANY BURNING!!!!!). Using a small mirror and one flashlight start to inspect the cooling system looking for some small leaks of coolant in the parts of the hoses that are nearest of the clamps that press them with the intake pipes. The coolant when start to leak, after the engine is hot, the temperature dry the coolant let in the hose a footprint as a white powder. You can indicate to your mechanic the change of the water hoses and the clamps.
This inspection of the exterior parts of the water radiator is important too. If the water radiator was not hit by a small stone of the road, then is important to inspect the junction between the side black plastic pipes with the aluminum cooling panel that is in the center.
Normally in those cases when the car has 5 years old I prefer ask to the mechanic to change the set of water hoses including the clamps and inspect the thermostat. Is better expend only one time instead to had the headache frequently.
Regards
Wilfredo
 
#22 ·
Oh Techy, you made the light bulb go off in my head. I was thinking a bad head gasket led to the coolant loss like the old GM diesel issue. My old Chevy school bus (little bus based on the vans) were notorious for blowing head gaskets I didn't even think about the losing coolant issue from the heat exchanger. Your the man LOL. I guess the moral of the story for us Niro people is don't drive the car if your losing coolant and to keep an eye on your coolant.
 
#27 ·
Yes, if you notice the coolant level dropping or completely gone and no visible external leak than the likely culprit is the heat exchanger in the catalytic converter. The exhaust system burns up the coolant and you might have noticed a puff of white smoke from the tail pipe. Most people do not see the puff of smoke.
Like I said, if the dealer does not replace the converter, the problem is likely not fixed.
 
#34 ·
Matt: I hope your 1st 168K were trouble free as a number of owners have reported here. Sorry to hear about the coolant issue which a few others have reported, most with far fewer miles. Unless you drove a long distance with no coolant, this certainly should not require a new engine. Techy gives great advice.
Please keep us posted on how this plays out for you.
 
#35 ·
@ bigmike4899K : your last post was 2 months ago. In it you said your second head gasket went October 31, 2020.
Why did you almost 3 yrs to post this.
What is the latest on your Niro or have you moved onto another car?
 
#43 ·
I had a 2017 Kia Nero. In March of 2020 it blew a head gasket. At the time the car had 189,000 miles on it.

The cost of the repair was $4500 or for $5000 I could get a new engine. I opted for the new engine.

October 31, 2020, at 40,000 miles it blew the head gasket again.

I was told I have a better chance of winning powerball then blowing 2 head gaskets in 8 months.

Has anyone else had a head gasket issue with their Nero?
Yes, pretty sure mine is blown. It's also a 2017 with 87k miles on it and white smoke started coming out of muffler a couple days ago. It was leaking coolant for a while and I just kept putting more in. Probably should've gotten it looked at earlier.
 
#44 ·
Just make sure it really is the head gasket not the coolant thing that leaks going into catalytic converter. If you search here you'll find a lot of discussions about it and solutions. This is why I've gotten into the habit of leaving the engine temp. displayed on the instrument cluster so I can see if ever my engine is running hotter than normal.
 
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