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[kentman99]

Ive just been quoted £280 for doing the rocker cover gasket and changing the plugs and leads. Does that sound reasonable?

[Kumamoto]

Sounds excessive.....
Went to local vauxhall dealers and they quoted me £125 to do rocker cover gaskets. Decided to have it done cheaply. Bought parts from ebay for £7.50 and my local mechanic did it for £20. Saved myself £100.
yes £280 is abit much even with the plugs and leads.

[TheBoy]

Ive just been quoted £280 for doing the rocker cover gasket and changing the plugs and leads. Does that sound reasonable?

Only if the mechanic knows what he is doing.  I doubt he does, as they all over tighten the cam covers (then claim there are warped) and use sub standard gaskets.

[kentman99]

That was a quote from a local place that claims to be vauxhall specialists. I have tried another fella ive used and he quoted £90 for labour with me supplying the bits. My local vaux dealer say there are two types of gasket and are checking which one I need but they reckon it'll be about £35 plus another £35 for the O rings???

[TheBoy]

That was a quote from a local place that claims to be vauxhall specialists. I have tried another fella ive used and he quoted £90 for labour with me supplying the bits. My local vaux dealer say there are two types of gasket and are checking which one I need but they reckon it'll be about £35 plus another £35 for the O rings???

All Omega v6 gaskets are the same, and around £25-£30 per bank for main gasket and o rings. About £5-£7 for the BLACK sealent.


The Vauxhall Specialists, are they using genuine or pattern gaskets?

[kentman99]

Whitmores my vauxhall dealers quoted me £33.64 for each gasket and said i'd need two. The O rings are 18p each and I'd need 16. They mentioned that sometimes the rocker covers (£100 each) themselves are distorted so changing the gaskets isn't always the answer on there own. If I wanted them to do it the labour is £215.05.  

[amba]

I was in Whitmores yesterday and tend to agree with them most of the time.
You will find that you can save some money using a TC if you have one ,otherwise I am happy to help out as could meet you there at sometime.
There labour charge is not unreasonable for a main dealer but it is a reasonably straight forward job only requiring basic tools and could be done with ease in a day and you would save yourself a considerable sum.The actual covers would only distort if they have been tightened down excessivley,but once you have them removed you can check them with a flat steel bar.
If you read through the maintenance section you will find an excellent "how to guide" which might make you feel able to tackle them .
Drop me a pm if you need to make use of my TC,however ABS are registered on the data base with Whitmores.

[kentman99]

Thankyou for your kind offer amba, does the TC offer much of a discount? I did want to buy some coolant, plugs, leads aswell but wasn't sure if it was buying them from vauxhall. I think the whitmores price being that they're a main dealer is pretty good.  It's not a job i'd feel confident doing without somebody who knows what they're doing so I'm leaning towards using the guy who will do it for £90.

[amba]

On most "standard service s.
parts "TC saves you about 25-30% from normal retail parts..so would be a fair saving when buying genuine items ,of which the cam cover gaskets/small "o" rings and sealant would be an essential purchase.
Best bet would be to ring Whitmores with a list of items you want and ask them for the full retail price ,then ask them to give you the Trade Club prices...you will then be able to see what you are likely to save,and if you are totally confident of your mechanics ability then the potential savings you get on the bits will offset some of his labour cost.
I would suggest you print out the how to guide on the maintenance section and give it to the guy to read through.
Then make sure he fully understands how you want it to be done and then he has no excuses for doing it correctly

[TheBoy]

Whitmores my vauxhall dealers quoted me £33.64 for each gasket and said i'd need two. The O rings are 18p each and I'd need 16. They mentioned that sometimes the rocker covers (£100 each) themselves are distorted so changing the gaskets isn't always the answer on there own. If I wanted them to do it the labour is £215.05.  

Ahhh, that myth again.

That is the 'get out of jail' bullshit from INCOMPITENT mechanics, and I will include most dealers in that.  Plastic covers do not distort if fitted correctly.  They distort when brain dead mechanics haven't the IQ to use a torque wrench and overtighten them.

Based on the fact they said that to you, avoid their service department.

[TheBoy]

On most "standard service s.
parts "TC saves you about 25-30% from normal retail parts..so would be a fair saving when buying genuine items ,of which the cam cover gaskets/small "o" rings and sealant would be an essential purchase.
Best bet would be to ring Whitmores with a list of items you want and ask them for the full retail price ,then ask them to give you the Trade Club prices...you will then be able to see what you are likely to save,and if you are totally confident of your mechanics ability then the potential savings you get on the bits will offset some of his labour cost.
I would suggest you print out the how to guide on the maintenance section and give it to the guy to read through.
Then make sure he fully understands how you want it to be done and then he has no excuses for doing it correctly

And you cannot overstress enough, [size=18]8Nm[/size]

[ians]

Whitmores my vauxhall dealers quoted me £33.64 for each gasket and said i'd need two. The O rings are 18p each and I'd need 16. They mentioned that sometimes the rocker covers (£100 each) themselves are distorted so changing the gaskets isn't always the answer on there own. If I wanted them to do it the labour is £215.05.  

Ahhh, that myth again.

That is the 'get out of jail' bullshit from INCOMPITENT mechanics, and I will include most dealers in that.  Plastic covers do not distort if fitted correctly.  They distort when brain dead mechanics haven't the IQ to use a torque wrench and overtighten them.

Based on the fact they said that to you, avoid their service department.

I don't think that is completely fair TB.  Some previous monkey could have ruined them by overtorquing, which they will only know when stripped down. So I think they are right to point out the upside risk in advance.   Much better than ringing up half way through - 'oh by the way its going to cost you 200 quid more than you were expecting, sir..'

Having said that I cannot recall any/many actual reports of warped disks :-?

[TheBoy]

Whitmores my vauxhall dealers quoted me £33.64 for each gasket and said i'd need two. The O rings are 18p each and I'd need 16. They mentioned that sometimes the rocker covers (£100 each) themselves are distorted so changing the gaskets isn't always the answer on there own. If I wanted them to do it the labour is £215.05.  

Ahhh, that myth again.

That is the 'get out of jail' bullshit from INCOMPITENT mechanics, and I will include most dealers in that.  Plastic covers do not distort if fitted correctly.  They distort when brain dead mechanics haven't the IQ to use a torque wrench and overtighten them.

Based on the fact they said that to you, avoid their service department.

I don't think that is completely fair TB.  Some previous monkey could have ruined them by overtorquing, which they will only know when stripped down. So I think they are right to point out the upside risk in advance.   Much better than ringing up half way through - 'oh by the way its going to cost you 200 quid more than you were expecting, sir..'

Having said that I cannot recall any/many actual reports of warped disks :-?

Not sure if overtightening distortion is permenent, fairly certain its not. Though I guess if left in that condition for extended periods, it could become permenent  :-/.  Not that it would be like it for long with oil pissing out everywhere  :-/

[ians]

I know several dealers just quote for the whole camcover regardless which I do agree is outrageous.

When I first had leaky camcovers - long before I joined here - I got a quote from the dealer - £450 quid. They told me the seal was integral to the cover, so could only replace the whole thing.

[Elite Pete]

Sounds excessive.....
Went to local vauxhall dealers and they quoted me £125 to do rocker cover gaskets. Decided to have it done cheaply. Bought parts from ebay for £7.50 and my local mechanic did it for £20. Saved myself £100.
yes £280 is abit much even with the plugs and leads.

They wont last 5 minutes