Belvedere

Within the past six months, my radiator, thermostat, water pump, timing belt, valve cover gaskets, have all been replaced as well as fixing a small coolant leak in a housing unit near the rear of the engine. Now my poor car is overheating. My mechanic ran a cooling system evaluation and found no leaks anywhere. He tested for a blown head gasket and once again the results came back negative. I'm at a loss for words. Any pros out there that might be able to help? any info would be greatly appreciated.

Drive 4 fun

Not a pro, but do you smell coolant when you open the hood, hot?

00Red_SiR

pull your spark plugs and see if any of them look abnormally clean compared to the others.

ivan93egreppin210

Mine did the same thing. It was a bad HG. Does your have a hard time starting?

Belvedere

yes it is hot when i open the hood, i smell something not sure if what i smell is coolant though.

Belvedere

i pulled the spark plugs, none seem abnormally clean. once again thank you for taking the time to answer my question

Belvedere

nope it starts right up every time.

Drive 4 fun

Coolant has its own odor. Have a mechanic or friend smell it. If you smell hot antifreeze, then there is a leak even if you do not see it. Going into and through the engine will not give a smell in the engine compartment. How much leak, how much fluid in how many miles?

Belvedere

It actually varies if i were to drive the engine short distances to and from work, I will not notice any drop in coolant, however if i drive a 10 mile trip, my car will overheat and i will be able to put almost a full gallon in after the car has cooled down.

negusjuda

did you make sure the cooling system didnt have air in it. air in the system can cause the car to overheat also just throwing out a idea especially since it started after replacing everything

OH_1fstgsr

iTrader: (2)

What kind of test was this? I did a leak down test on my car, three of the cylinders where ok one of them was at 5%. When I pulled the head you could see the water path into the cylinder.

Drive 4 fun

So drive the car until warm, and then leave it running and start looking for coolant leaks. A gallon in 10 miles has got to show up somewhere.

Drive 4 fun

Are you using hydrocarbon test for exhaust leak. They are not foolproof. Friend did not find his leak with the kit, but did finally see bubbles in his exhaust and replaced HG and solved.

Belvedere

So I had the car tested today again and low and behold.. I have a blown head gasket. Every place that I called for a quote in my area said around $2100. Any suggestions? Or is it time to just get rid of her?

anothersickhatch

Sounds like a complete rip off. head gaskets changes shouldn't be anywhere near that expensive. I remember the last time I changed my head gasket it was in a parking lot at 2 in the morning. I think the total cost was the head gasket, some copper spray, and fluids. Maybe you should consider having one of the guys on here change it for you if you are uncomfortable with doing it yourself. It shouldn't take more than a few hours.

OH_1fstgsr

iTrader: (2)

You have 1996 TL listed in your sig. Is the $2100 for both heads?

Drive 4 fun

From your first post, you just had a lot of work done. This os on the TL, not a 4 cylinder? I have a 97 and my daughter 96 TL. What you had done is a lot of service, $. Look at the rest of the car. You will be upside down by book value. Body parts are about impossible to find and command a premium since only 2 year of that style. Try to find a headlight, front fender, or bumper. Auto tranny, and if so, what shape. 5 cylinder or 6? If the head gasket is done are they decking the head(s) and doing valves. You are going to have to drive it a while to get near that value. Have you had a recent CEL and then EGR service or will that be next? They are not cheap to own. You could part it out. 225k miles and counting, and daughters about the same.