Hi guys, I'm looking for another to be a daily. There's an EF with what I've been told a head gasket that leaks water, apparently only into the cylinder, the oil is fine.

I'm going to have a look at it this arvo, but I just wanted to know what sort of life I can expect out of this and what other people have had out of a car with a screwed gasket.

Of course I realise it would have to do with previous treatment of the car, where the gasket has failed (most likely the common area towards cylinder 5 and 6) etc.

I just want a car that will travel about 360 kays a week, mostly highway travel with a little peak hour traffic and hills.

I remember my first car had a leaky head gasket and from looking and driving it you couldn't tell, if this drives like that and still has an acceptable level of compression I reckon it'll be pretty right for a while..?


I'm just looking for some feedback and opinions, the EF is only $600 and needs very little for rego, I really need a cheap daily to substitute my ute which needs some attention, my DC will be back in action very soon too. So it doesn't have to last the ages.

how long is a piece of string?
you might get up the morning after you buy it, go to start and it will be hydralocked, or it might last forever and a day.
i got a month out of mine when it was leaking into a cylinder, but that was with 2 weeks of it being locked nearly every time i went to start it.

Thats really a very stupid question.

It could last another 10 years or it could last until Sunday. Depends how the gasket feels and whether it wants to play ball.

If its leaking its already past its use buy date. Sounds like a cheap car so buy it and expect to fix it straight away.

Yeah thanks peoples, I did say I'm aware there's no specivif answer, I was just looking for peoples opinions and previous experience.

Never gets hot in Tasmania so should be able to run it without water. lol.
600 bucks is cheap for an ef so buy it and be prepared to fix it straight away. I drove mine for six months before i got sick of putting water in every other day.

Yeah haha. An air cooled engine..

I'm going to see what sort of all-round condition it's in and see about it. I'm still very keen to get an AU wagon, or maybe something nice will pop up in the paper or online.. Positive and opportunistic thinking

My experiance is bargains come along when you dont need them or can't afford them.

Yeah, I wish I never traded my old daily AUII for a turbo EF (which I got sick of and sold a month later).

I paid $2000 for that, and it was awesome dark red colour..


I'd really like an AUII or III wagon in the same dark red with a BA XT or XR front end conversion and AU Fairlane dash with full black leather interior.

But I doubt I'll be able to pick that up within my current budget