Over Heating Please Help

[Billyswife]

We have a 1989 coupe that has coolant leaking from behind the head on the driver's side. Tried a couple different stop leaks but didn't work. One slowed the leak down a little bit but didn't stop it. It got really hot last night and the engine died and wouldn't start. We got a ride home and came back two hours later and it started and we got it home. Now it will die when you slow down at a stop sign and it is hard to start. Does any one know a good stop leak that works? Is something else major wrong? Totally lost any help would be appreciated. Thanks

 

[c4cruiser]

Stop leaks will not solve the problem. Coming from behind the driver's side cylinder head means it's probably a bad head gasket. There is no way to fix that save for replacing the gaskets.

It will also probably time for a complete cooling system flush and refill. Use a good grade of ethelyne glycol (green) coolant in a 50-50 mix. Inspect all of the hoses and replace any that may be soft or have cracks. You might want to remove the radiator and have it cleaned. There will probably be a lot of debris between the front of the radiator and the rear of the A/C condenser.

 

[bill5674]

Dude..fix the problem antifreeze in the combustion chamber will cause lot$ of problems Stop leak is fine if you own a mustang

 

[78SilvAnniv]

Does any one know a good stop leak that works?
Is something else major wrong?

Hi Billyswife,
Stop leak will NOT fix this problem and will most probably only make it worse because it is allowing you to continue operating your engine because you think you've 'fixed it' with stopleak.

It sounds like your head gasket has failed and this is allowing coolant, fuel/air mixture and exhaust gasses into areas that are not designed to handle those specific combinations, compression, or lack of...

My own vette had a problem with wanting to die when slowing down...my problem was due to the timing chain having slack and when I goosed the throttle it allowed the #4 piston to connect with my intake valve, bending the valve and pushrod. This in turn allowed the compression to be wacky and since the intake valve was not closing...where do you think my fuel and combusted gasses were going? Not where they were supposed to, I'll tell you that! (Currently doing a top end job and #4 piston replacement in our garage.)

If you don't replace your head gasket I can almost assure you of even worse problems, like a blown engine, in the near future.
Good luck with your problem and let us know how the repair goes.
Heidi

 

[Billyswife]

Thanks for the input, we only used the stop leak to avoid pulling the heads. Have always been skeptical of anything that says it will stop any leak. Currently the water is not leaking into the combustion chamber, just out of the rear of the head. It is very hard to see exactly where it is coming from. Hopefully it is a blown head gasket and not a cracked or warped head. Does anyone know how long it takes approximately to replace the head gasket?

 

[78SilvAnniv]

Does anyone know how long it takes approximately to replace the head gasket?

Well, if you're going by me and my husband...we pulled it apart in mid November and it is STILL in pieces!:L This is because we have found other things we'd like to fix also, husband works a tiring job and I'm not nagging him enough.

I don't know how long it would take for a C4 head gasket replacement. This would involve removing the top end....$500 was a quote I was given from several shops to do my head gaskets on my carburated 78. I'm pretty sure your C4 is fuel injected and I don't know if that makes the job more or less dificult.

You best bet would be to call several reputable shops and get guestimates on time and labor. If you can contact a local vette club they could possible recommend shops their members have used and trust.

I think that once a leak starts from the heads, stop leak will never solve it. The best stop leak can do is just get you home so you can decide how to best fix the problem properly. Because you are experiencing compression problems, evidenced by the vehicle wanting to die when slowing down, I suspect your head gasket leak is much worse than you think.
Heidi