oceanboy

Yes, thats all good and well if you have metal to give them.... he has a Hyundai

Godzilla

What went wrong Sanity?

I meant exactly what went wrong, not just it went kaboom.
Seized, head gasket?

If your on a tight budget theirs wreakers around who could install another second hand engine and get it back on the road if its really blown.

Otherwise the headgasket can be replaced.

SystemRat

I had the same problem with the top tank on my Toyota it had a crack about 20 mm long on the top. The material seemed to be a glass reinforced plastic and would not melt for a repair with a soldering iron so I ruffed it up and put a layer of aluminium reinforced epoxy over it – stuff I got from an engineering supply place. That lasted for about four weeks and then fell off. I was not at all happy.

I decided to bite the bullet and buy a new radiator. Toyota wanted $770.00 but I went to Thompson radiators in Moorabbin and managed to get a Nippendesso replacement for $350.00. Interestingly that radiator had Toyota branding on it as they make them for Toyota. I could have had the old one repaired but I was contracting at the time and it would have cost me more to miss a day’s work then buy a new radiator.

Anyway in the July 2008 issue of Silicon Chip magazine in the serviceman column there is an article about fixing electric hair curlers. It mentions some high temperature epoxy resin the details are

Product name: JB Weld

Rated to 315 degrees C (600F)

Said to be available in Kmart for $16.95

Comes as two tubes in a red, white and blue bubble card pack.

J-B Weld Company - J-B WELD Product Information

Be careful which one you get as I notice they also make quickset and other stuff which does not have the high temperature rating

Sanity

I dont have the money to get it back on the road , and in all honesty I dont want to. It was a lesson learnt in what car never to buy.

I got nailed for a fortune on the first service as the entire top of the east-west V6 has to be removed to replace the spark plugs. Yep , you cant just replace them simply. It then blew a power steering hose which I replaced myself and it was an absolute nightmare of a job. Every thing you do on this vehicle has so little room its as if only 5 year old children could get their hands in to the spaces.

Then to top it off , the drivers window shit itself and it is an absooute nightmare to repair. Normally , it is something I would do myself but again , I have never seen a car that is so impossible to work on.

As to the motor , it severly overheated a second time and it in only just got in the driveway before performing a shuddering death. To whats actually wrong with it , I'm not sure exactly. It was making some noises I have never heard a car make before No doubt the head gasket would be blown , the head ****ed ( or melted ).

z80

I know an aussie tech forum that would have given you advice on how to do that yourself with an angle grinder on a firewall.


a common problem...but easier to patch the floor.

Godzilla

Not good to hear Sanity.

I think these cheap Hyundia's and Kia's are more trouble than their worth second hand.

However as a new car with a 3 or 5 year warranty (unsure) i think their great value for the money you pay.

Trick is to get rid of it when its just over 4 years old and still has the warranty on it to attract the next buyer.

I was given a new KIA Rio to drive for a year (ok try to stop laughing at me).

Gotta say i thrashed the living crap out of it daily.

Were talking reving it so hard that the ECU revlimiter cut out the engine as i was that far over the redline daily.
Turning tight corners with handbrake assist.
Front tires didnt grip too well as she could sit and smoke them all day if you wanted (manual).

Survived a year to my surprise with no problems. Dont know how the next owner finds it though.