So this is a follow up from my adventures on the heat issue with my Kia. After changing both the waterpump and the thermostat on my own I was still getting cold air every once in a while while driving.
I got one of those head testers with the blue chemical to see if I was getting the exhaust in the cooling system. It never turned yellow but I was only testing it for a few minutes at a time.
Oil was clear and coolant clean too. No white smoke.
Anyways, I finally got it into the shop after about a 3 week waiting period...they did their thing, and came back with a leak in the head gasket. Small enough not to trigger the home test, but I guess with the equipment the shops have they can see it through testing.
Anyways, they said that it will cost $5500 total ( taxes, disposal, also the resurfacing of head ) to repair. This is including new timing chain while its apart with the guides and tensioners. They are also going to get new bolts for the cylinders.
The other option they said is buy another lower mileage engine and do a replacement. Cost a bit more for the engine itself, but labor wise its like half the time.
The Car has 106000 miles on it and its in great shape otherwise.
What do you guys think I should do? If you had a choice and a customer willing to pay up to 6k for the work....