This has been honestly the worst possible day....

I have a 97 GST...the check engine light came on yesterday while driving. Since I had the time today to go and get a quick read of the error message @ the local mechanic to find out all hell broke loose under the hood...Oil had leaked into the anti-freeze and was dripping out of the excess tube(the bottle looks like its filled w/ oil), the alternator was pulling itself apart(for the second time), and oil had gotten into the radiator...Now i was going to juss come back on tuesday because i was having my wheel bearing/hub assembly changed because the noise finally got to me. Now I have to get this new problem fixed...maybe...

Why and no one i know knows why, would the alternator be pulling itself apart, the bolts are backing themselves out...

From finding out through the mechanic and other people, there's two ways that could of happened with the oil:

1. someone put permanent anit-freeze in the anitfreeze/coolant bottle and the radiator just needs to be flushed

2. the worst possible thing, i could have a cracked cylinder head...which means i need a new engine and i'm pretty much f***ed

if it is the second one....i'm without a car for the next 4 1/2 - 5yrs... (senior in hs goin to college)

any reccomendations, experiences?

 

you blew the headgasket, thats all. its very common in dsm's. Its nothing new. as for the alternator, put some red lock tight on the bolts, problem solved

 

you sure about that?....i mean i hope you're right, but thats a new one...surprised no one said anything its like a $50 part....better than a new engine...

 

im absolutly 100% sure thats all it is, ive seen it happen at least 10 times before, dont sweat it. just make sure you go with ARP head studs when you do the new head gasket. if you do it yourself you can save ALOT of labor.

 

i wish i could do it myself, but time is the constraint...and i don't want to be the one to screw it up, plus since thats all it is, i'm having a new hub assembly put on the right front, that in itself is a 2hr job....

i was flippin out before.... its like my baby haha

 

haha i know how you feel, i just dropped over $9k into my baby for a new engine. like i said, its a head gasket, just try to get some arp head studs rather than the factory head bolts.

 

thanks for the help

 

how would a mechanic not think that its a head gasket. Because when you have oil and coolant mixed that is the obvious thing. I would not bring my car back to them. Find a better place. Also you can check a couple ways if its a head gasket. Check your oil cap, underneath for a white gunk, and you could do a compression test on the cylinders and if two concecutive get low #'s then its the gasket

 

yeah, that sounds about right to me, not that anything is ever going to be 100% without looking at your motor, but most times its the cheap little things that fix a motor, not alot of money. I remember when my dads brand new f-350 broke down the other day, He was hauling a gooseneck, and a dc80 bulldozier. He pulled up to a stop light, and the damn thing just died. Wouldnt do nothing but crank. He was all ready to send it back to ford, but I convinced him it was a fuse. Well, he checked all the little ones visually, but didnt bother to look at the cartridge fuses, and sure enough one blew. Saved him alot of time and hassle.
more often than not its no-big deal.