jrockw01

89 L98 146,000 miles

A short history: Was running very rough, injector impedances tested bad, replaced injectors, dramatic improvement but has gradually deteriorated since. Seems to run a bit rich (smell when starting), starts good cold, but warm have to grind, sporadically idles rough, seems to miss sometimes. It does have a persistent heater core leak that was forcing me to add coolant every couple of months, pretty slow. Over the past 2 weeks deteriorated significantly, now clearly burning coolant, temp fluctuations ... lovely.

Clearly I have stopped driving it but Questions are:
- assuming I can't fix it immediately (like possibly a month or more) is it smart to start it occasionally and let it burn off whatever has leaked?
- if I limp it to the mechanic (about 20 miles) am I likely to do any serious additional damage? assuming I watch the temp and coolant level
- it is coming strongly out of both exhausts, does this tell me anything? (intake/head) especially when first started, but now also when running

I will read the old threads to find tests I should run etc, but in the short term can not devote the time and wanted to check my best 'do no damage' strategy.

desertmike1

If I understand you correctly, you smell anti-freeze in the exhaust...

jrockw01

Well, I can definitely smell it. The white clouds billowing out the back is sort of a hint too

JrRifleCoach

Head gasket. Pull the plugs to identify location.

Occasional starting will not help the problem only to keep from rusting up a cylinder if you don't hydraulic lock and hurt the engine further.

Time to get it to a mechanic.

jrockw01

Thanks for reply.

I am thinking of doing the gasket myself (I did the intake gasket before and it was successful for years). Head gasket has never been done, intake gasket has been done twice since 89. Problem is I won't be able to get to it for about a month. In the meantime I want to prevent further problems.

So from your comment it seems I would want to start occasionally to prevent rusting however I have a risk of hydro lock.

I read the following on hydraulic lock: http://www.chicagoengines.com/tech/b...aulic-Lock.htm

It seems the issue is that fluid gets into the cylinder and then on compression - fluid does not compress so well - something has to give.

So I'm in a bit of a catch 22. I want to start to prevent rust, but don't want to start at the risk of serious damage.

Best course is to at least rip it open to get the fluid out of places it shouldn't be and prevent rusting. then I can take some time to put it back together?

Any other advice out there?

ghoastrider1

agree with head gasket post. Sealant will not help here. make sure coolant isnt getting into oil.(.it will look like brown sludge on dipstick or oil fill hole/cap). I doubt if it is, but check. Yes, if you gotta drive it to the machanic, it can be done but keep close eye on temps , carry extra coolant, keep fingers crossed. If coolant is in oil, dont drive it, have it towed.Hell, have it towed anyway, if hydraulic lock happens (always on start up), you will bend a rod..at best. I usedf to have to remove a spark plug (from leaking cylinder) turn it over and squirt water out of cylinder, reinstall plug, just to drive/start it..NOT recomend you do this. Pulling plugs should tell you which cyclinder is in trouble, the plug may have water on it.

jrockw01

Thanks, all good advice. i'll tow it rather than f it up, if it's not already.

I got a kick out of "I usedf to have to remove a spark plug (from leaking cylinder) turn it over and squirt water out of cylinder, reinstall plug, just to drive/start it" Next step was to just push the car around when you had to go somewhere haha.

Thanks men.

jfb

Buy Fel Pro teflon coated head gaskets, they last a long time. Uncoated head gaskets do not. Ask me how I know.

BevoVette

Pull the oil filter and if it is not a pain, pull the oil pan. It is good to see what you are up against. If you have a lot of water in the motor, your mains are in jeopardy. That means a tear down.

Don't go cheap on the head gasket. Buy the best one Fel Pro makes. And while the heads are off, have the machine shop check them for flatness, even if they are iron. It will not cost much and beats the heck out of doing this all over again.

And while youi are at it, invest $75 bucks in some new ARP head bolts. If you reuse the old ones, you may be doing this again as well.

My best 2 cents worth. Good luck!!!! :>)

bwiencek

Here's my take on it FWIW:

Pull the plugs and pull the distributor power wire, spin the engine over with the starter to purge any water that's in the cylinders out. Then use a good fogging oil and liberally spray down the cylinders with it and then put the plugs back in finger tight (just to keep stuff from getting in there) and then let it sit until you're ready to do the gaskets. Do not start it back up - there is no sense in doing that until you can really get heat into the oil and engine (which takes a load to get the oil temps up to where the contaminates will start evaporating or boiling off)

like BevoVette said - check the oil to make sure you haven't mixed antifreeze and oil - if you did then you're likely looking at wiped bearings (since you drove it like this) and you really should consider a complete rebuild since you're going to end up doing bearings (rod/main/cam) and the headgaskets already and that's about 1/2 the cost of the parts for a full rebuild and 3/4 of the labor on your part...