Thread: So fix HG on a 2007 GT or shop for new car?

Appreciate all comments and suggestions.

Subject: 2007 GT 140k miles.

Nice car, original owner, been relatively problem free. Starts running hot 2 weeks ago, same week I'm having arm surgery.

Take to mechanic; tell him where I see it leaking it could be the radiator. Calls me back the next day; it's the water pump. Replaces the water pump and it's still leaking. Now he says it the head gasket. Drive it home 1 mile and I lose a 1/2 gallon of coolant. Mechanic says it will cost $1500 to replace. Probably not far off as a dealer quoted $750 for my daughter's 3.4 Grand Am intake gaskets. At the end of the day, it's probably a $2,000 fix on a $3,000 car.
Not a job I would do myself even with two good arms.

I can't even drive it to a dealer to get a trade in. I don't want to do any damage.

Choices:
1. sell to a scrapper; which seems like a waste.
2. have someone on the world's most foremost GP forum who knows how to do this with their eyes closed fix it at my or their location. Maybe someone isn't working at the moment and could use some money. I lost all confidence in my mechanic when he started throwing parts at it.
3. Sell as is to someone that could fix it and use it a few more years.
4. Take to a dealer and take out a second mortgage.

Nothing out there that really excites me; most are bland and the GT was nice comfortable car. Everything out there is white or silver; neither I can handle. "New" car to me means a 2012-13.

http://s292.photobucket.com/user/Spr...?sort=2&page=1

I'm leaning towards #2 or #3.

Joe

headgaskets on a 3800? ^^^^ what he said. more like plastic coolant elbows.

If you lost a 1/2 gallon of coolant in 1 mile, you should be able to see where the leak is coming from?

Pull your disptick first and check for signs of coolant in the oil, it will look milky

Check the coolant elbows on the engine, passenger side below the alternator, two plastic elbows, if the mechanic was working in that area he could have cracked one as they become rather brittle over time, easy fix and you will see coolant on the ground along the passenger side of motor

Look along the bottom of the rad where the lines connect in as they may be leaking there as well, I doubt you would lose that much coolant, but who knows

Your coolant is going somewhere at an alarming rate so it shouldn't take too much investigation to find out just where it is going

I would also have to ask if the mechanic got all of the air out of the system after replacing parts, did you try bleeding the air out of the system, loosen the bolt on the top of the thermostat housing and bring up to temp and leave it open until coolant comes out, these systems are hard to get all the air out of

All of these tips are worth your 20 minutes of time investigating before you write the car off (so to speak lol)

Well since the "mechanic" misdiagnosed the issue and replaced the water pump, chances are he didn't look hard enough because the coolant elbows are above the water pump and those are notorious for breaking.

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you could consider option 5: change intake manifold gaskets and coolant elbows and be on your way. a head gasket failure is unlikely.

Mechanic is the busiest shop in town; which is why I'm not a regular customer. You drop it off, says he'll look at it, and you might not hear from him for a day or two. He is also the closest which is why I went there.
I stayed away from a dealer as I thought an updated carfax would make my trade an uh-oh. No dealer would keep this on their lot, but a carfax is as common as a test drive anymore.

Mechanic did a pressure test, suspected the elbows but did not replace when he did the water pump, changed the thermostat (which I did a year ago) but did not look at radiator, hoses or cap. I'm sure there is air in the system as I need to fill it anytime I drive it. I have been limited in being able to check the source since my surgery (Thank God I don't have a hood prop - try doing that with one hand). Fans are a good suggestion, might run hot in traffic, but it barely warms up when I turn it off. Small trail of coolant runs down the driveway after I park it. Hopefully I can get under car this weekend. But I may take it to dealer.

If you feel like taking a drive I am about 6 hours north of you if you want to take a cruise on the weekend? Would be happy to give you a hand looking things over, but with it leaking fluid like that it may not be the best option for you

If the trail of coolant is on the passenger side of the car it is probably the coolant elbows, like I said they get brittle and crack very easily. Best to replace with the aluminum one so you don't have to worry about it again, and not that much more expensive, it's a fairly easy job when you have two hands but with your situation it would be rather difficult. Here is a link to the coolant elbows I am talking about

http://zzperformance.com/3800/engine...nt-elbows.html

Thank you for the offer, however my passport expired a few years ago.

If the coolant elbows became clogged, could that put pressure on something else? I remember I had to cut both heater hoses to flush and backflush the clogged heater core a few years ago. That's when I changed from Dex to Prestone AMAM.

Yes if the coolant elbows are plugged, or any other part of the cooling system there would be an issue, more than likely it would be seriously overheating as the engine temp would not go down, it would a little bit with air flow while driving but you would still overheat.

Never heard or seen coolant elbows get clogged on a 3800.

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