My car has antifreeze leaking into the engine, but do I really have to have all the cylinder heads replaced?

Question

I have a 1998 Buick Century, bought with 75,000 miles and now have 109,000 miles. My mechanic told me that because the antifreeze is leaking into the engine, it is going to ruin the engine and I would therefore have to have all the cylinder heads replaced, at an estimated cost of $1,500. I don't have that kind of money! Isn't there any other alternative; can't I just fix the antifreeze somehow to stop it from leaking into the engine and get a new head gasket put on? I know mechanics sometimes think "hey, there's a woman, she'll be mechanically stupid so I'll just charge as much as I can" and I can't afford that right now, any suggestions would be appreciated.

Answer 1

You have to know what your looking at. If antifreeze is getting into engine your gonna see one of three things or a combination of the three. one, steaming out of tailpipe, two water mixed in oil making oil look like chocolate milk, or three, oil in antifreeze. Problem isn't so easy, that is if the engine has aluminum head and has been over heated than head is probably cracked and you need a new one. If the head is cast iron than usually the gasket blows first. In any case the repair bill is going to be high, but you can throw a few smart words out there to make sure he's being straight with you. One, ask if head is aluminum or cast, two if he is going to take the head off then tell him you want it manufluxed to spot crack in head. if it turns out not cracked will only cost few hundred dollars plus replacement of gasket. I would also recommend taking a nail punch and tapping a few small marks somewhere on the head before letting him do any work so that when all is said and done, he doesn't just replace gasket and try to charge for head. Good luck and I hope I helped.

Answer 2

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There's a simple test to do to see if your car indeed has a leaking head-gasket. Any mechanic has a Stant Cooling System Tester or something equivalent. A hand pump is used to force pressure (20 lbs.) into the cooling system through a specially built radiator pressure cap. The test involves watching the pressure gage on the side if the plunger to see how fast the pressure bleeds off. Ideally the pressurized system will hold 20 lbs. pressure overnight. If not, a complete external visual inspection will be done. If it has an internal leak the plugs will be pulled to see if there is coolant inside the cylinders. They'll pull the dipstick and check the oil for antifreeze contamination. If so, the cylinder head must be removed and cleaned up. A valve job is highly recommended here. The block and cylinder head should be checked for flatness with a machinists straight edge. At a minimum if the head is warped it must be re-machined flat again to prevent repeated head-gasket leaking. Be aware of this: The water-pump forces water under pressure to the cylinder block not the radiator. The radiator receives circulated water last on the food chain at the bottom where it circulates back and fourth till it reaches the top. Granted newer cars may have the thermostat near the bottom of the radiator or somewhere between the bottom and top.

Answer 3

Let's look at a few things.

1. Never spend $1,500 on a car that's worth about $2,000.
2. It's true that if coolant leaks into the cylinders a steam explosion will bend the connecting rod and the engine will then render the car worth a lot less than $2,000.
3. The cylinder head gasket needs to be replaced to stop coolant from leaking into the cylinders.
4. Don't drive the car or even start the engine until the problem is repaired. If it's too expensive to repair (try to get several estimates) sell it before it's worthless.

I know these things because this is what happened to my Ford F-150. This was a manufacturer defect and was corroborated by hundreds of other victims (on a website - google it) who purchased 1997-98 Ford F-150 6-cylinder trucks.

Best of luck.

Answer 4

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RE:
My car has antifreeze leaking into the engine, but do I really have to have all the cylinder heads replaced?
I have a 1998 Buick Century, bought with 75,000 miles and now have 109,000 miles. My mechanic told me that because the antifreeze is leaking into the engine, it is going to ruin the engine and I would therefore have to have all the cylinder heads replaced, at an estimated cost of $1,500. I...

Answer 5

antifreeze leaking into the engine? in which way? into the combustion chamber? Is it burning antifreeze? does it white smoke or does the exhaust smell sweet when the engine's running?, or, is the coolant leaking into the crankcase of the engine- is the underside of the oil fill cap have a milky residue on it? when you pull the dipstick, does it look like frothy milk on the dipstick instead of oil?

Either problem means trouble, but your mechanic should be able to narrow the problem down to either head gaskets or intake gaskets.

this guy's saying that he needs to replace both heads? or both head gaskets?

$1500 for both heads and gaskets is not out of line considering the price of everything now days, but it out of line just for a head gasket job in my own opinion...either way it's still alot of money.

I HIGHLY doubt that you need new cylinder heads unless they're both cracked or severely warped... and the mechanic has no way of knowing that until he gets it apart. even if the heads are minorly warped, this doesn't always mean that you're going to need to replace them.. somthimes you can just get them machined back flat and be ok...

if you've had overheating problems in the past, you could have caused some head damage... but it you haven't, Id say that head damage is unlikely.

Last time I checked , intake gaskets ran about $400, head gaskets about $1000, and head replacement for $1500.

Heck for that amount of money, you can buy a used engine from a salvage yard and probably get it put in for that amount.

If you feel like you're getting the runaround by this guy, take it to a diffarent reputable shop for a second opinion.

that's the best advice I've got

good luck!

Answer 6

Are you certain that the cylinder heads are the problem? Buick had serious problems on their V6 cars with cracking intake manifolds. Since water passages run through the intake, this causes the leak.

IF this is the actual problem, a replacement intake manifold should stop the leak, for a LOT less than $1,500.

I'd take it to another garage for a second opinion. It might not be as expensive a problem as the mechanic you're taking the car to says it is.

Of course, this is an educated guess....but I've seen several mid to late 90's Buicks with this problem.

Good luck!

Answer 7

Also sounds a little fishy to me.
Most times the head gaskets are enough to fix this problem.
One look at the old headgasket by an engine mechanic will tell if it was faulty. The spark plugs should also show which cylinder is burning coolant, and which gasket needs changing.
If it is leaking into the engine combustion chamber you will get lots of white smoke when driving. Otherwise it is leaking externally and just hasn't been found.
I think your mechanic is taking the safe route and just changing everything that could be wrong.

Answer 8

Coolant Leaking Into Engine

Answer 9

Hello: 1972 my Shelby 428 Police Intercepter had blown head gaskets; sooo bad white steam came out the tail pipes. Barrry & I drained the antifreeze. flushed what we could with water. We ran K & W block sealer as directed (for 35-40 minutes) shut it off, let it sit overnight.draiined the liquid let it sit and we filled the cooling system with water (COOLANT was too expensive) The head gaskets were BOTH fixed. I wish Barry was still around: Robin the local nut-job put together our 350 V8 for the 71 Chevelle: Robin's trans job DIDN'T WORK; The head gaskets were somhow put in WRONG: the antifreeze/coolant went into the crankcase and turned th e oil into white crap. I forget how we fixed it; I think it was Blue Devil. nothing but trouble Murphy's law and Murphy as you know was an optimist. Now I have a 2002 z28 SS with LS-1 corvette engine aluminum heads and we're putting Barr's leaks into it. We bought it used 100,000 miles and figure the heads are warped or something kids putting water in an aluminum head engine turns the aluminum into paste. Wee ALL have these irritating problems; keep trying til you succeed. You can buy a long block for $1,000 and have a weekend mechanic help you drop it in. One day out with the old, next day in with the new . Two days tops. Don't use The Engine Shoppee his engine had zero oil psi! And don't use a mechanic named Robin. sheesh this gets old.

Answer 10

It's really sad when someone pee's on your shoe's, and then insults you by saying it's raining outside. This is what's happenening in this case. 98 Buick Century's have a good 3800, or 3.8 engine. A V-6. 6 cylinders, in a V formation, with ONLY 2 head gaskets. ONE ON EACH SIDE. GET A SECOND OPINION. Head gaskets aren't that much to get replaced, even though it's major surgery on an engine. If it's runable, let a SERVICE WRITER at a GM dealership tell you what the problem is. Don't PANIC!! GET a professional opinion first!!