Okay, so Saturday I took my car in to have it serviced. I took the car to the local Chevy dealer and he tells me I have two major problems. First, the final drive on my tranny is shot. I have a leak on the passenger side output, and there's a lot of play, which likely means the internals are going bad and it's more than just a seal.

Second, there's a lot of rust in my coolant, and according to them, this usually happens when the head gasket is bad, and lets combuastables into the coolant (their words). The coolant needed to simply be flushed in my opinion since I have neglected to do that in quite a while, but they say that's not the problem.

Okay, I knew the tranny has issues, but I just thought the synchros were shot, no biggie, I'd just fix it when I have the money. But the head gasket I don't get. The car runs fine, good compression, no apparent leaks between the block and head, no ECU codes, nothing to suggest the head gasket is shot.

Just wanted some other input on this.

I wouldn't do anything about the head gasket yet. Keep flushing radiator until it's clean. The tranny for 1997 was Isuzu I think. Parts to fix manual trannies are usually high $$$.


God bless America.

Yeah, I know the tranny would cost more to rebuild than it would to get one from a junk yard. I'm seriously considering jsut saying f*ck it and do the Z24 swap. That'd take care of both problems and I'd have a better motor to keep going on. But I'm wondering what a junk yard would charge me for all the parts. It may be cheaper to actually fix the motor and replace the tranny with a stock replacement.

Rust in the coolant is nothing to be concerned about--just flush it and add some DexCool. OIL in the coolant (or visa-versa) is something to be concerned about. Might as well replace the thermostat while you're at it...especially since you said you haven't flushed it in a while.

Sam


Ban low-performance cars, not high-performance ones.

That was my thought, too. I was just planning on flushing it. But this guy was trying to tell me that the rust was caused by "combustables in the coolant". Which makes no sense to me. That would mean that the gasket is allowing fuel or oil in the water jackets. And rust could easily be caused by the fact I haven't flushed it and there's maybe too much water in the mix. I mean, sriously, does this guy think I'm ignorant? Did the custom intake and exhaust lead him to think I don't know anything about engines? I mean, I'm no mechanic but damn.

Also, depending on the severity, blown head gasket b/w the cylinder and coolant passages would produce white smoke in your exhaust, from the coolant/water mixture being sucked in evaporated by the combustion process. The more white smoke, the bigger the leak. I definately know the green coolant does that at least, i would imagine dexcool is the same. Now don't get me wrong, there will be a little water vapor in the exhaust from the gas and air becoming CO2 and water vapor from the combustion process, especially when its cold out. If there are no performance issues and no oil in coolant or vice versa i wouldnt worry about it. Rust will be visible in the coolant - its an iron block, it will rust, just a little oxygen in the system from air that gets sucked in when the pressure cap equalizes the pressure when the engine cools. dexcool is supposed to prevent rust but nothings perfect, thats partly why we gotta flush every once in a while (that and it breaks down). only thing i would be concerned about with the rusty coolant would be water pump. could be going (last two j bodies i did waterpumps on made the coolant pretty yummy) but you said you havent flushed in a while so if theres no leaks you should be fine.

Mechanics can be sneaky a$$holes like that, thats why i do my own work now.

& thats my 2¢


Hellraiser and Lil Lightning

Have a look at the coolant when you drain it out. Does it have a "tint of black" in it? If it's only kinda rusty orange looking, flush change the thermostat and re-fill with 50/50 Prestone or your favorite anti-freeze. (avoid dex-cool it's crap). If the coolant does have a "hint of black" in it, that's exhaust gases escaping into the coolant. Then you may have a head sealing problem. I've been messing with GM cars for over 25 years, if you don't have a milkshake for oil, steam out the exhaust or black coolant your head sealing is fine. Any of the above and your ready to tear-down & new gasket time.
Don

I drained out some of the coolant out the petcock last night and I couldn't see any tint that would indicate oil in the system and there was no indication of fuel, either. And no, I've never had any indication of a problem with the exhaust. And just for my own peace of mind I did another compression check and again no indication of a problem.

So when I get a chance, hopefully in the next couple weeks I'm going to flush the coolant and changet it over to the green stuff. I hate Dexcool with a passion. Does the entire system have to be flushed under pressure to get all the old stuff out? I've heard if the two coolants mix it'll turn to sludge or something. I never felt compelled actually test the theory.