TurboRob
Enthusiast
\'98 GTS - New Owner, Weird Problem, Head Gasket or Not?
I just picked up a '98 GTS two days ago from a guy in Chicago. Drove it home (300 miles) and no problems at all. Yesterday, drove it to work, and got on it a couple of times. Shifted at 5500, ran it up to about 100mph, that was it. Pulled back in the parking lot and smelled coolant. Popped the hood and the crankcase hose was blown off the airbox, coolant was dripping from it, and steam was coming out of it. The oil looked milky, and was overfull.
Today, we did a compression test (all plugs looked okay and equal in color). It was 160-165 on every cylinder. Next we put the pressure tester on the radiator, pumped it up, and you could slightly hear the hissing of air through the throttle blades when you opened them. But no coolant coming out anywhere noticeably. The radiator did not hold pressure.
Being a '98, isn't this odd? Is there any other way coolant could get into the oil pan...like timing cover, water neck housing, etc?? I'm just having a hard time believing that it's got a blown head gasket with that type of equal compression on every cylinder. And more importantly, if it IS a head gasket, what could have caused it?? I hate repairing something without knowing the original cause.
The car is stock with 29,000 miles on it. The side of the engine block is dated 7-14-98.
Thanks in advance.
I just picked up a '98 GTS two days ago from a guy in Chicago. Drove it home (300 miles) and no problems at all. Yesterday, drove it to work, and got on it a couple of times. Shifted at 5500, ran it up to about 100mph, that was it. Pulled back in the parking lot and smelled coolant. Popped the hood and the crankcase hose was blown off the airbox, coolant was dripping from it, and steam was coming out of it. The oil looked milky, and was overfull.
Today, we did a compression test (all plugs looked okay and equal in color). It was 160-165 on every cylinder. Next we put the pressure tester on the radiator, pumped it up, and you could slightly hear the hissing of air through the throttle blades when you opened them. But no coolant coming out anywhere noticeably. The radiator did not hold pressure.
Being a '98, isn't this odd? Is there any other way coolant could get into the oil pan...like timing cover, water neck housing, etc?? I'm just having a hard time believing that it's got a blown head gasket with that type of equal compression on every cylinder. And more importantly, if it IS a head gasket, what could have caused it?? I hate repairing something without knowing the original cause.
The car is stock with 29,000 miles on it. The side of the engine block is dated 7-14-98.
Thanks in advance.