Hello, I just purchased a 1997 Avenger ES for my daughter for her 1st car. Nice, aren't I? The head gasket is out and we have tried the gasket seal in the radiator but to no avail. How good is it to repair the head gasket? Is this a permanant fix or will it happen again down the road? tehre is also a pretty bad hake coming out of the front, I assume it is the brake rotors. Will they stay true if they are replaced or do they also get bad with time? This is really a nice car but for those 2 problems, and she really likes it. Please help with advice, I am completely new to this kind of car, I run a Cummins! Thanks for your help.
Head gasket replacement isn't too bad. I would make sure to get the updated replacement from Chrysler as they had some problems with the non updated ones leaking out the back of the head on the drivers side. As far as the rotors go, as long as you get some quality rotors you shouldn't have problems with them warping and causing a shake. My first set on my avenger had that problem and I got some premium rotors from NAPA and never had the problem again. Dodge does like to underbrake their vehicles from what I have seen so don't skimp on anything related to brakes.
Good choice on a purchase for your daughter, if you take care of it it will last you a long time.
Thanks for the replys. I'm leaning toward getting it fixed, do you all think I should do something with the head? Are they usually OK or do they need replacing too. I've never had a car with a "bad "engine so this is new territory for me. Thanks for all your reply's. Matt
No, you do not need to replace the head. But yes, depending on the mileage on the engine say over 75,000 miles you may want to have the head machined. This is an aluminum head and heat is not forgiving to aluminum, so yes your head's face needs to be flattened again. Most machine shops will do this for around $60.00 and will rework the head worse case $250.00, worst case being a cracked head. Prices my very depend on your place of residence, I live in the South and things are cheaper hear but I don't think that it will be much more then that. I'm specking from experience, I just replaced my head gasket a month ago. I would use a good stainless Steel head gasket replacement.
For your brakes, it only makes noise when you turn right. Are you sure it's not your baring, kick your tire and if there is vibration it's the baring if it is firm then it is something else.
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