The Energon Pub

Thu Feb 05, 2009 1:40 pm

My son was on his way home the night before last. He called to say that the car overheated and he was at the ball field. So my husband went up there and added some coolant to the car and brought it home. Yesterday he said there is anti freeze in the oil. Does this always mean a cracked head? Oh I hope not. We have to wait for a day off to take the car in to be looked at. Having one car around here is going to be the pits. My husband works an hour away and we are in the country.

News Credits: 1 · Thu Feb 05, 2009 6:16 pm

It might not necessarily be a cracked head, more likely it could be just the head gasket that's split.

Anyways, once you've got it to the garage, they'll be able to tell you in better detail...

Thu Feb 05, 2009 6:48 pm

They told us that it will cost at least 1,000 dollars to just tear apart the engine to find out. Oh well at least it is still cheaper then a new car.

News Credits: 104 · Thu Feb 05, 2009 8:09 pm

Mechanic work is always so expensive...

Thu Feb 05, 2009 9:31 pm

By the way, it seems you have a cat, and you probably already know this but if your car is leaking antifreeze keep your pets as far away from it as possible. They will smell the antifreeze, they will lick it up and it will kill them.

News Credits: 4 · Thu Feb 05, 2009 11:40 pm

Im no mechanic.... but to me its sounds like u have a blown head gasket.

Fri Feb 06, 2009 3:06 am

could be an intake gasket leaking. does it look like a milk shake?

News Credits: 349 · Fri Feb 06, 2009 3:22 am

Had this happen with my 94 Grand Prix. The head gasket was shot, but there was a good chance that the engine was damaged in the process.

So rather than pay an extra $800 or so to fix the gasket, only to possibly find out that the engine was shot too, I decided to go for the full monty and spend $1000 to completely replace the motor with a rebuilt Chevy Lumina engine ($500 for the engine, $500 for labor).

So if you have connections in the mechanic/auto industry, I'd look into a whole new motor as it's only going to cost a little more, but you know for sure that there won't be any problems after the fix.

Fri Feb 06, 2009 3:43 am

Fender Bender wrote:Had this happen with my 94 Grand Prix. The head gasket was shot, but there was a good chance that the engine was damaged in the process.

So rather than pay an extra $800 or so to fix the gasket, only to possibly find out that the engine was shot too, I decided to go for the full monty and spend $1000 to completely replace the motor with a rebuilt Chevy Lumina engine ($500 for the engine, $500 for labor).

So if you have connections in the mechanic/auto industry, I'd look into a whole new motor as it's only going to cost a little more, but you know for sure that there won't be any problems after the fix.

good call on that decision. did your 94 GP have a 3.1 liter? just asking. 2.8, 3.1, and 3.4 liter engines from GM are notorious for at least having intake problems. they are all basicly the same engine.

Fri Feb 06, 2009 1:45 pm

I am trying to talk my husband into paying off our Kia and taking advantage of these awesome car deals. Yes his car is a 2000 and very nice but he puts 100-150 miles on it every day going back and forth to work and running errands while he is in town. I would think a new car with a new warrenty would be better. He wants to just fix trhe car saying how it will be so much cheaper. I will tell him about the possible motor damage and see what he says. Too bad the car is so new. He knows how to tear into the old engines and fix anything that is wrong. It is all these computer things on these new cars that make it impossible for him to work on them.
Yeah we have a cat but they never go out. I do not think the antifreeze leaked onto the ground but all went into the engine. There was no puddle on the ground but the oil was green.

Fri Feb 06, 2009 5:27 pm

Fender Bender wrote:Had this happen with my 94 Grand Prix. The head gasket was shot, but there was a good chance that the engine was damaged in the process.

So rather than pay an extra $800 or so to fix the gasket, only to possibly find out that the engine was shot too, I decided to go for the full monty and spend $1000 to completely replace the motor with a rebuilt Chevy Lumina engine ($500 for the engine, $500 for labor).

So if you have connections in the mechanic/auto industry, I'd look into a whole new motor as it's only going to cost a little more, but you know for sure that there won't be any problems after the fix.

I do agree with Fender Bender. Besides R@R guarantees the engine will be OK, cause they do compression tests before they send Engine to a customer, or the Shop.Engine R@r is a relativelly easy process also.

Mon Feb 09, 2009 11:49 am

I had a talk with my husband about damage in the motor due to the overheating and the antifreeze and water in it as well. He was still talking about fixing the gasket and praying nothing else went wrong. So I did the sneaky thing and took him to the car lot. He found a Grand Prix he likes. He is picking it up right now :grin: