Improperly installed head gasket?

We have a saying in the UK, 'There are no friends in business'. Because he is a friend and did you a 'favour' you can't insist he puts it right. He may be a mechanic but he also may not be a good mechanic. Head gaskets generally fail for a reason. Usually warping of the surface. Did he check for warping? You will never know, but I think not. Take it into a Chrysler dealership and get it done properly. Yes it will be costly but it will carry a guarantee. Which is what you didn't get from your friend.

There is more to repairing a cylinder head gasket problem, than merely removing and replacing the gasket.

Check whether your city library or local community college library has an online subscription to Alldata. Look up your exact car and read about replacing the cylinder head gasket. Often, the cylinder head gets warped in a serious overheat. This is often why a cylinder head gasket fails. This needs to be dealt with properly. Also, many modern engines use cylinder head bolts that can only be tightened ONCE. So a cylinder head gasket replacement would include a new set of cylinder head bolts.

Probably installed incorrectly. There's more to in than just slapping on another gasket. The gasket surfaces were not thoroughly cleaned of old gasket material and crud. Could also be that the cylinder head bolts were not torqued to specifications. On some engines, you might not get oil to the camshaft (oil passages to the cam shaft come through the head gasket).

Hi so the other fact that could be the cause has not occurred to you then. that this engine had a more serious issue which caused the head gasket to blow. warped cylinder heads are the most common cause of a blown gasket. yes time and time again this subject always comes up. head gaskets don't just blow something is the cause. a warped cylinder head is the most common one a burst hose can be the root cause.

a car of this age must have needed a lot of money spending on it to keep to on the road something many young people are unprepared to take on board when buying old cars. design life is just 8 years after which many become money pits needing constant supply of spares and garage time which costs money.

Besides being trued by a machine shop, a majority of engines require new head bolts Too bad he did you a great favor. Live and learn, and sometimes the lessons are expensive.

NOT use NEW HEAD BOLTS or check the COOLING FAN SWITCH! NEW HEAD BOLTS are required to do a proper repair on nearly EVERY ENGINE! Once an engine overheats and blows the head, there is a CAUSE for this and new head bolts are required as they are OVER STRETCHED And no longer useful! GO BACK and have NEW HEAD BOLTS installed WITHOUT removing the head and replace the COOLING FAN SWITCH !use ONLY MOBIL ONE 0W-30 oil and FACTORY COOLANT and not the GREEN stuff or generic JUNK coolants out there! If you were in MICHIGAN< I would do this for you! GOOD LUCK with this thing! <<<YOU MUST FIND THE CAUSE OF THE OVERHEAT FIRST>>> if you do NOT, it will overheat again and again! The Usual cause is corrosion or that bad COOLING FAN SWITCH or a bad FAN CLUTCH! SEND ME A CHECK if I am right! I will send you my address! EMail me BACK thanks

When some DIY bozo tries playing mechanic it doesn't matter just what was done wrong...the bottom line is he messed up your vehicle! You probably could have taken the bus for a long time with that money you paid him with.

Probably that the head is slightly warped and should have been planed or "trued".

Either he did it wrong, or you cracked the head the first time.