My car overheated on a very cold day after only driving 8 miles round trip. When I got home and it cooled down, there was this nasty brown gunk all inside my coolant tank. It seems oily. It looked foamy and when I tried to rinse at least the cap off with water it just went right over it. It looked like vomit or baby poop.

Can someone please tell how much parts for a blown gasket would cost if I can get my ex who is a good mechanic to fix it. I want to make sure he's not pulling my leg to get me to fork over more for labor.

A head gasket set runs $300, head machining runs around $1,000, and labor runs $2,500+. Refill the radiator with a 50/50 mixture of G-05 antifreeze and distilled water. Make sure you read your Owner's Manual on how to properly refill the radiator, to prevent air pockets from forming in the cooling system. If it has a degasser system, it does it automatically.

A head gasket set should not be more than $125.00 , If the head does require machining, it can be trued up for less than $300, if your ex is willing to do the work for you, if he charges you more than $500 for labor, you are getting scr#$ed. The entire job at a reputable servicer(not a dealer )should run you no more than $1500.
TxGreaseMonkey, do people actually pay those kinds of prices?? Someone is getting awful rich screwing customers.

Also... does the vehicle run OK? If the vehicle does run OK(it wouldn't with a blown head gasket) it is possible that one of the transmission cooling coils broke inside of the radiator housing. Replacing the radiator is about a $600 job.