blown head gasket

[Z3R0]

How long does my mom have till....

My mom owns a 95 3100 (GASE) and coolant is just disappearing. At times she has to refill it with whole bottles of coolant. I think she might have mixed the dex-cool, with the green stuff. I heard that it will accelerate the breaking down of the coolant chemicals....anyway i think it is leaking into where the oil is but when i check the oil it isnt all nasty and corroded<--(spelt wrong). But at the same time there is no coolant under the car. I understand that these cars have a LIM gasket problem? I keep telling her she should get it checked out but she just doesnt care or doesnt wanna listen.

[ForcedFirebird]

My mom owns a 95 3100 (GASE) and coolant is just disappearing. At times she has to refill it with whole bottles of coolant. I think she might have mixed the dex-cool, with the green stuff. I heard that it will accelerate the breaking down of the coolant chemicals....anyway i think it is leaking into where the oil is but when i check the oil it isnt all nasty and corroded<--(spelt wrong). But at the same time there is no coolant under the car. I understand that these cars have a LIM gasket problem? I keep telling her she should get it checked out but she just doesnt care or doesnt wanna listen.

You should fix your mom's car for her. The entire gasket kit is around $28 for the Fel-Pros, and will take a couple of hours if you're mechanically inclined.
EDIT: And do a coolant flush .

[tractorman]

Actually, it's A LOT more trouble than a couple hours, and you'll be looking at $150 or so in parts to do the job right. Just the same, it needs to be done right away or your Ma will have to spring for a whole engine. I wouldn't tell my own Ma that she needs to get it checked- I'd tell her that she shouldn't drive it at all until it is.

For what it's worth, my Pa told me a while back that coolant was disappearing from their '97 Lumina. Turns out the water pump was leaking, and he's just blind.

[ForcedFirebird]

Actually, it's A LOT more trouble than a couple hours, and you'll be looking at $150 or so in parts to do the job right. Just the same, it needs to be done right away or your Ma will have to spring for a whole engine. I wouldn't tell my own Ma that she needs to get it checked- I'd tell her that she shouldn't drive it at all until it is.

For what it's worth, my Pa told me a while back that coolant was disappearing from their '97 Lumina. Turns out the water pump was leaking, and he's just blind.

More than acouple of hours? Does it take longer to get to the lower intake manifold on a FWD? I've had mine apart three times in the last six weeks.

[tractorman]

It's a six hour job- more or less.

[ForcedFirebird]

It's a six hour job- more or less.

Just changed my rockers (back from 1.7 to 1.6 ) yesterday, took 3.5 hrs. Started at 2:30 and finished in time for dinner with my children at 6:00. However, tools can make a difference - got air? Actually thinking about it, I've glued all my gaskets to one mating surface and had the manifolds off a few weeks ago (cleaning the gaskets off properly can take some time).
First time doing something like this with hand tools I'll agree with tractorman.

[tractorman]

Glad to hear that you can do part of the job on a different version of the engine in a completely different vehicle in 3.5 hours. Tha more power to ya'.

Being realistic, though... this is a 6 hour job, more or less. Less if you've done it before- more if you haven't.

[ForcedFirebird]

Glad to hear that you can do part of the job on a different version of the engine in a completely different vehicle in 3.5 hours. Tha more power to ya'.

Being realistic, though... this is a 6 hour job, more or less. Less if you've done it before- more if you haven't.

Not to mention the LIM requires the removal of a lot more parts, not trying to be a wiseguy.