Finally found out today where all my coolant has been going. Me and my dad decided to work on it today and we rented a pressure tester. Pumped it to 18 pounds and it held fine. Started the engine up once it got around operating tempature white smoke started pouring out of the exhaust. My car has been like this for about a month and I havent noticed it smoking before at all. Sucks on 61 thousand miles on the car too
So what kind of kind of damage is done and what kind of money am I looking at?
Btw there are no signs of coolant in the oil. I don't know if that means anything or not.

 

Sometimes it's hard to see coolant in the oil, so there's a pretty good chance you have coolant in the oil anyway. Don't worry though, it's not a death sentence to the bearings like some would have you believe it is. I drove in an oil coolant mixture for probably about 6-700 miles Not on purpose of course, but when I took the motor apart the bearings looked fine *and* that was the second time I had gotten coolant in the oil (long story).

Just take the heads off, take them to a machine shop and have them checked for straightness or even milled a little. Put some new headgaskets on there, new head bolts and button the top end back up. It's a bitch tearing the top end down with it in the car, but it will save you a heck of a lot of money.

 

I swapped head gaskets 3 times right in a row (due to a POS torque wrench) It's not really that hard. You will spend about $150 on gaskets and bolts.

You need head gaskets, intake manifold gaskets, and head bolts. I would check http://www.cmotorsports.com for the best prices and they have everything you need.

 

$150.00 is right on the money, as long as she didnt get hot, or killed a bearing you will probally be fine.

Best of luck to you! Keep us updated

 

I think the whole reason I blew a head gasket is because it overheated. One day my check gauges light came on and the guage was in the red so i pulled over and the tempature started dropping right away. Somehow air got in the system. I replaced the thermastat and it seemed to stop but then I started losing coolant and it overheated a few more times OUCH. My dad wants to just take it to a mechanic and let him do it. But i'm willing to do it myself.

 

Hey I see you are in Mt. Juliet. If you need any machine work you need to take your parts to Revolutionary Performance and Machine on Lebanon Road- they do great work. If you've never attempted anything like this before, and your dad is willing to help you out on having a mechanic do it, I'd honestly just do that.

 

Yea i've heard of rpm and live pretty close but i've never been there. My dad is defintly going to help me out since right now i'm kind of low on money. I'm waiting on a job that pays 9. Better then working at mc dee's and only getting 5 sumthing. So i'm trying to hold out for that job that way i'll be able to make more money and now i'll be able to pay my dad back faster if I get it.
Any ideas on how much a mechanic would charge to change a head gasket? Also how do i find out which head gasket it is?

I appreciate the fast response's and helpful info.

 

You'll need to replace both headgaskets, regardless of which one is blown. It's a labor intensive job, probably at least $1200 with all the parts and labor involved I'd say.

 

yes, but if you have the area to do it, i suggest doing it yourself. Its always best to know every inch of your car, use it as a learning experiance.

 

Yea I guess we'll just have to let a mechanic do it. I really rather do it myself but our garage isnt being built for a few more weeks. So that's bad timing. I really like to work on my car myself. Sucks when stuff is messed up but it always feels good to fix it yourself.

 

sorry to hear that

good luck on the rebuild tho' remember this is a kick *** time for mods, because some good modable parts are coming out

Just a thought!

 

Yea it sure is a good time to upgrade but I just don't have the money. I'm only 17 so most of my money goes towards insurance and gas. It would be nice be able to know I could beat a bunch of these 4 cylinders around here. There's just too many around here that can beat me and most of them are my friends. Freakin honda's