Bad times for the Max

[maxhopper]

I recently noticed that I've been losing coolant. When I started my car up today to go to work, I noticed a small amount of steam coming from underneath the hood. I jumped out and opened the hood; I could see a bit of steam coming from the rear by the firewall, and it smelled like coolant. So I immediately thought F*** I've lost a head gasket.

I get to work and one of the guys was nice enough to take a look at it for me. He checked the right head with a mirror and flashlight, but couldn't see any leaks. Then he pressurized the cooling system, and sure enough, the coolant is leaking straight into the cylinder and out the exhaust.

I checked out the published labor times to replace the head gasket - 18.3 hours for one. The only positive I can come up with at this point is that the gasket is only $37.

[MinisterofDOOM]

Wow...ouch.

I wish I lived in L-ville where I could help out. Just hold a Maxima garage day. You could get it taken care of on a saturday.

[NSR_s30]

That sucks Hopefully the damage isn't too severe.

[Loki2daMax]

That Sucks Kid. Bright side is you save $$ on taking it to the shop. 19 hours though isn't that bad if u look @ it that way. Good Luck with it Kid!

[nismo1219]

that sucks man! hopefully you can get that taken care of asap! when are you planning on coming back down this way??

[Beancooker]

Damn Scott, that blows goats for dimes. Sorry to hear that.

[maxhopper]

Well desperate times call for desperate measures. I did something I swore I'd never do...I used a stop leak product.

I talked with the master tech that looked at my car earlier; and he said that the leak was pretty small due to the rate of the pressure drop. The parts department had some, so I said what the hell. Maybe it'll stop the leak long enough for to get my G20 running reliably so I can still get back and forth to work.

Ben: It'll probably be the big July meet before I'm down your way again.