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My daughter asked me if I'd do a brake job on a friend's '98 Malibu (poor College Kid story). It was metal-on-metal and the tires are dry-rotted, so they had it towed (called in a favor from another friend with AAA tows available).
I put air in the tires, jumped it (battery totally flat) and got it in the garage and up on stands. Noticed the low coolant lamp was on.
Car has 156K, some body rust but overall mechanically seems clean. The overflow tank was empty; I filled it and ran until hot, then kept filling until it stabilized. I probably put 1.5gal into the cooling system.
Figured an oil change would be prudent too, so about a half-hour later I drained the oil...and that 1.5gal came out alongside.
Observations:
Diagnostic suggestions?
I know these have the intake gasket issue, but the engine only ran for about ten minutes and it seems to have dumped the entire cooling system into the pan. I did look at the dipstick before I added coolant and saw no indication of contamination, i.e. just looked like old oil, no milk or vomit. OTOH, I wasn't looking for it at that time, either - was really just validating that it had oil.
My gut says that much loss that quickly is probably something more serious. I'm gonna go ahead and pull the intakes, but if they're not obviously shot I'm not sure where to go next other than to say "Sorry, kid".
Are blown head gaskets/block cracks common/rare/unheard-of in these?
Thanks for any advice!
I put air in the tires, jumped it (battery totally flat) and got it in the garage and up on stands. Noticed the low coolant lamp was on.
Car has 156K, some body rust but overall mechanically seems clean. The overflow tank was empty; I filled it and ran until hot, then kept filling until it stabilized. I probably put 1.5gal into the cooling system.
Figured an oil change would be prudent too, so about a half-hour later I drained the oil...and that 1.5gal came out alongside.
Observations:
- There is no visible leaking externally, nor any signs of past leaks
- The engine seems to run fine, suggesting to me that whatever the ultimate problem, minimal damage to bearings, etc. has occurred at this point
- There's no sign of previous repair, except the PS pump appears to have had a fitting broken off and replaced with a length of rubber hose and pipe clamps. It's a hack job but it seems to be working (no leaks, steering works properly).
- No codes set beyond brake-related and low coolant mfg 'B' DTCs.
Diagnostic suggestions?
I know these have the intake gasket issue, but the engine only ran for about ten minutes and it seems to have dumped the entire cooling system into the pan. I did look at the dipstick before I added coolant and saw no indication of contamination, i.e. just looked like old oil, no milk or vomit. OTOH, I wasn't looking for it at that time, either - was really just validating that it had oil.
My gut says that much loss that quickly is probably something more serious. I'm gonna go ahead and pull the intakes, but if they're not obviously shot I'm not sure where to go next other than to say "Sorry, kid".
Are blown head gaskets/block cracks common/rare/unheard-of in these?
Thanks for any advice!
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