Thread: Diagnosis?

Here's a rundown of where I'm at. I bought a 97 GTP sedan knowing it needs work and I'm cool with that, I just don't want to replace parts that don't need to be replaced trying to find the issue. The previous owner told me that the car overheated on him and that he let it cool down, drove it home and that is how I bought it. I opened the radiator and it's crusty inside and only half full the burp bottle however is overflowing with green and dexcool antifreeze and appears to be missing the dip tube. I know the lower intake man gaskets are leaking but there thankfully there is no coolant in the oil. The car does however have a constant tick that he said developed when the car got hot. To me it sounds as if it has noisy lifters or rockers but the car has no codes and the only dash light on is the "low coolant" light since it's only half full. I have listened to it all over both cylinder heads and the noise appears to be coming from all over instead of just one or two cylinders. Also the oil pressure is fine. Every vacuum hose on the car is toast so I've started replacing the rubber boots one by one. I need to take a video of it running and see if someone can lend a knowledgable ear to this "tick" that it has. Any ideas as to what it "might" be ticking after getting hot?

The coolant elbow under the SC is not leaking, it is however leaking bad where the lower intake manifold meets and somewhere on the back side, there is an oil leak when it gets warmer as it drips oil on the rear ex. manifold. I figure I'll take it down to the heads to fix the leaks. The valve covers have been off before as the seals are not original but not recently. With 175k on the odometer and not sure on the engine, what all should be replaced while inside? Lifters, gaskets, replace the oil in the SC are all on the list. With that kind of milage should the pushrods or lifters be changed as well?