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Not able to keep my cool
Howdy, y'all. Long time no post. I've been out of the 60V6 game for a long time, but I'm back in it now.
I acquired a 1996 Buick Century wagon quite recently—this past Monday, February 25th, to be precise. The price was decent ($1500, book is over two grand) and the body and interior are in good shape. It drove well from Ontario, CA, back to Las Vegas, and got 26 mpg. Not what I was expecting for a 3100 V6 in a relatively light car, but still pretty good. Like any old car, it needs some lovin', some maintenance that seems to have been deferred, like brakes, shocks, struts, oil change, transmission service. You know, the usual stuff people mostly ignore. All in all though, a pretty nice deal.
Fast forward to last night. It popped the upper radiator hose. Luckily it happened about two blocks from home. Unfortunately, I had to push it those two blocks, and, not kidding, nearly died from the exertion. Was dizzy, light-headed, tingling in the extremities, all that. Today I put on both rad hoses and a new cap, and said "fuck that" to the thermostat because of its location and the things that seem to need moving to get to it. I couldn't bleed the system, so I took it to a shop to have them do it. Said shop tried to take me to the cleaners. I was given a prognosis of a blown head gasket (despite the lack of telltale white smoke from the exhaust), and told that it would be more cost-effective to put a new engine in, for a nominal fee of course. I politely told them to give me back my car and left.
A couple miles later, the temperature gauge was pegged and the heater was blowing cold. I had the car towed back to my house courtesy of a friend's roadside assistance. He's something of a mechanic as well, and after fucking around with it, he says it needs a thermostat and maybe a radiator. This is based on the fact that the temp gauge is pegged, the engine is hot, both hoses are warm but not hot, and the radiator is ice cold. It's probably clogged, and/or the thermostat is stuck. Does that sound right?
Here's a picture of it, if that helps.
I acquired a 1996 Buick Century wagon quite recently—this past Monday, February 25th, to be precise. The price was decent ($1500, book is over two grand) and the body and interior are in good shape. It drove well from Ontario, CA, back to Las Vegas, and got 26 mpg. Not what I was expecting for a 3100 V6 in a relatively light car, but still pretty good. Like any old car, it needs some lovin', some maintenance that seems to have been deferred, like brakes, shocks, struts, oil change, transmission service. You know, the usual stuff people mostly ignore. All in all though, a pretty nice deal.
Fast forward to last night. It popped the upper radiator hose. Luckily it happened about two blocks from home. Unfortunately, I had to push it those two blocks, and, not kidding, nearly died from the exertion. Was dizzy, light-headed, tingling in the extremities, all that. Today I put on both rad hoses and a new cap, and said "fuck that" to the thermostat because of its location and the things that seem to need moving to get to it. I couldn't bleed the system, so I took it to a shop to have them do it. Said shop tried to take me to the cleaners. I was given a prognosis of a blown head gasket (despite the lack of telltale white smoke from the exhaust), and told that it would be more cost-effective to put a new engine in, for a nominal fee of course. I politely told them to give me back my car and left.
A couple miles later, the temperature gauge was pegged and the heater was blowing cold. I had the car towed back to my house courtesy of a friend's roadside assistance. He's something of a mechanic as well, and after fucking around with it, he says it needs a thermostat and maybe a radiator. This is based on the fact that the temp gauge is pegged, the engine is hot, both hoses are warm but not hot, and the radiator is ice cold. It's probably clogged, and/or the thermostat is stuck. Does that sound right?
Here's a picture of it, if that helps.
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