I've got a 2002 with a V6. Head gasket blew under warranty. I suspect
it's
gone again. Tell tale sign is radiator coolent in oil.
"rm" <nnnnnnn@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote in message
news:bYYgj.48006$_m.7195@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> I'm helping a neighbor who overheated his 98 Rodeo (3.2L V6, I believe).
> 198,000 miles, well maintained. He had a hole in the radiator and the
> temp gauge was pegged. He limped down the shoulder of the freeway to a
gas
> station. The engine was making clicking/popping sound, he said, along
with
> lots of steam from under the hood, obviously.
>
> He had it towed to a shop closer to home. They didn't even open the hood
> and told him his engine was cooked, and for $3500 they could put in a
> rebuilt one.
>
> He knows very little about cars, so he gets in and drives home from the
> shop(!!!)....even on the freeway. The car runs fine all the way home.
>
> Tonight I got some tools and went to the vehicle. Besides the big hole
in
> the top of the radiator, it looks normal. Oil looks OK.
>
> The car has been sitting outside for a couple of weeks, but I was able
to
> start it with took LOTS of cranking. It was running real rough and blew
a
> bunch of water va**** out of the tailpipe. I thought, yep, engine toast.
> BUT, after shutting the engine down for a bit, I restarted it and it's
> running ABSOLUTELY PERFECTLY.
>
> ...BUT, after a few minutes of idling, the exhaust started slowly
getting
> steamier, and steamier, till it was clearly blowing va****. Head gasket,
> correct?
>
> If engine has good compression and the oil is not milky, should he get
the
> head gaskets done and keep driving it? I plan to swap the radiator, run
a
> compression test,inspect the plugs, and swap the oil/coolant, followed
by
> a cooling system pressure test.
>
> Do these cars tend to crack heads, or just blow the gasket? How much
would
> a shop charge to pull + service the heads and swap gaskets?
>
> I'm tempted to do the job, as I've done lots of head gaskets, but the
wife
> may change the house locks if I did, and the bench in the garage is not
a
> good place to sleep.
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