i know i might sound like a kook, but anyway......is there only 1 head gasket or 2 ???( left bank,right bank)???? in a 98 rs. im thinking of having it (them)replaced ,and timing belt at the same time. just need a little info before i go in there (dealer)and schedule this.... do they pull the motor ?? how long should it take???...anything else i should do while its there???? (leaving it there for 4 days while im on vacation) thanks in advance SD

 

There are 2, one for each head. The head gaskets only need to be replaced if they are "blown" or leaking. It will probably take 2-3 days, and if the car was overheated make sure the heads are machined or resurfaced. The heads could have warped due to the excess heat of the cooling system failing. If the heads aren't machined, and they are warped, they will end up leaking soon after the gaskets are replaced.

 

is your RS a DOHC or SOHC? either way changing them if they have never been done isnt a bad idea, DOHCs blow them internally (overheating, and coolent in engine) and SOHCs blow them externally (leaking from bottom) both sohc and dohc have updated headgaskets, so if you do get them done, you shoudlnt hafta worry about them ever again

 

its a dohc, my car has never gotten to the point of total over heating,,,but i dont think im going to wait until it blows to fix this problem..and i heard of these blowing up regularly(2.5 RS). my car has started to run hotter when im stopped, and there is a little oil in the coolant over flow bottle so im hoping things dont get to ugly in the next couple of weeks.what about timing belt??? (mileage change at) called 3 dealers got 3 different answers ??????crazy!!! thanks you guys