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Most of you know I sold my tour 2 years ago for a Malibu cause the tour was having numerous tranny problems and I had already changed it once.

Well, now I have owned my Malibu for over 2 years now and have had no problems.... but just the other day my radiator fluid light kept coming on. I would check the reservoir and would find it empty. I would fill it up. Drive for about 5 minutes and the light would come back on. Pull over, check the reservoir again, sure enough it was completely empty.
So I checked for leaks. No leaks. Checked the oil to make sure it was oil and nothing else. It looked fine. I finally realized that even if I opened the radiator cap while the engine was hot, there was no pressure. So, I figured I would change the cap since there were no leaks or change the water pump and/or thermostat.


Well, I was about to leave work and do so, when I decided to check the reservoir one last time and see if I needed to refill before going to the parts store. I opened up my reservoir and noticed a dirty green foam. I was pissed, I knew what happened. Sure enough I pulled out my dipstick and it was covered (completely covered) with the orange dex cool crap, water and a little oil. Obviously, my head
gasket or lower manifold gasket warped or a seal is broken.

So, I havent even started the car since I found out the coolant and such leaked into the engine, so I dont even think I drove it like that. Any suggestions on what it could be. I am thinking of buying an engine and replacing it. I found one with only 16k miles for $850. Any help
would be appreciated. I am going to get it fixed, well I have to, I owe too much on it to just get rid of it.
Even if you dont have any comments, thanks for reading my rant

My reply: Don't buy american!!!

f-that. don't buy american. yeah, screw supporting the economy! (thats sarcasm by the way). stuff happens regardless of the make of car! and i don't see very many cars from another country that was made before the 60's.

I would suggest that before you get a new engine, you actually have the thing checked out. You may have fried the engine, but then again, maybe you didn't do irrepairable damage... Just have it checked and hope for the best...

I recently had a scare myself.. Although I couldn't here it from inside my car, when I got out of it to check on the lights (to maek sure I hadn't blown any bulbs), I heard a ticking in my engine... Needless to say, a ticking engine is a ticking bomb! I took it in, hoping that I hadn't blown anything major, or broken a valve, etc... All it turned out to be was a loose sparkplug.. I've never heard of a loose sparkplug causing such a noise, but I was sure glad when I learend that...

So all I can say, is expect for the worst, and hope for the best...

Pray for a gasket. Those motors aren't notorious for blowing head gaskets. get it checked first then worry about replacing the motor.

Later,

Eric

Thanks all. Good and bad news for me

Good news, I took out my roadside assist card to get the number to call for tow. Just my luck, I noticed on the card, I forgot I still had a 75000 mile extended warranty! I have 73,776 miles on the damn thing.

I had it towed to an authorized shop that will take the warranty. They havent started on it yet since they got the car late Friday afternoon. I dont care how long it takes as long as it is covered....but hopefully it will be covered.

Bad news, well the only bad news is that the mechanic I want to work on it is out until today, so it just sat there the weekend, but if that is the worst, so be it.

Thanks for the help again. Oh by the way BB, you suck
I somewhat agree on not buying domestic, but again, I have seen all cars have problems, not just domestic vs. import

Not smoking enough

I seriously thought the warranty was up to 72000, thats why I didnt even bother looking. Well, my eyes deceived me, it was 75000. Leave me alone, I'm getting old!

Just an update, the warranty company is willing to put in a "used" engine (not rebuilt) and eat all the costs. The other option, repair my current engine which will run up to about $3850 since my crankshaft was scoured (sp) and some bearings were shot (explains knocking). The warranty company said they would pay the majority of that but not the whole thing.

Any opinions?

I think I am gonna go with the replacing with a used, although not rebuilt it will make me happy I guess, I hope.