New here and glad to find this site.
This has been in the family since new, and I'd like to keep it going for a while longer. It has 185,000 miles on it, and never needed engine work until now.
It leaks at the front corner of the head on the driver's side. A small piece of the HG appears to be displaced outward a bit. There's no water in the oil, or oil in the water, or bubbling in the radiator..
When cold, adding water makes it begin to leak out without any pressure in the cooling system, but when warmed up and under system pressure, the leak is very small.
I'm tempted to try to pull the T-stat, do a good flush, let it cool and add coolant wth something like Bars Leaks-then start the engine and hope the stuff can get to the leak site while it's still cold.
Has anybody had this problem, and does my scheme have a chance to work?
Thanks,
Ray Mac.
Ray-
I am guessing with 185K on the clock it is not your daily driver. I would pony up for the head gasket and bolts on do it. You know where the problem is. If you have a service manual, you will see it is not really that big of a job.
I did it
Thanks.
I've had 6 Cavs but never had to do a head gasket. It's not that I thought doing this one would be so hard, but that it might bring on other problems.
I go back a few years and it used to be thought in the old days that if you did the top end it would not be long before the bottom end would need work too.
It would not be for a daily driver, I have a car for that. The Cav would only be for a backup to be used around town.
Ray Mac.
Ray-
Understood. There is always that chance. I have heard that before also. I just like to wrench so I am an easy sell on a teardown.
Paul
Doing the head gasket shouldn't be a problem if that is all you are doing and as long as the oil has no coolant in it before you do it. Problems start when you have a coolant leak in the oil and all all u do is the head gasket. U can't get the coolant out from between the rod and main bearings and thats what eats up the bottom end.
I have done the head gasket on mine and it's not a huge job. If you have done it before it may be a saturday project.
