Nick1994
$100 site donor 2024
Yeah I know, I'm not a good BITOGer... My mom's 2003 Buick Rendezvous AWD with the lovely 3.4L (139k miles) started overheating last spring. I assumed it was the thermostat stuck at first and told her to run the heater when it starts getting toward the middle and try not to sit in traffic. I then realized the famous lower intake manifold gasket leak was probably occurring, I saw some antifreeze dripping behind the engine, so I had her start topping off the overflow with water. It was going through a bit of water and was running cooler but would occasionally get hot, but not extremely hot. I've changed the oil twice since the LIM gasket has started leaking and each time it actually looked great, no milkshake looking oil. (According to my scientific visual test - Lol). Well I changed it again a couple weeks ago and again it looked great, was a tiny bit low from an oil leak too but not too bad.
At the same time from the last oil change I poured a little bit of a bottle of block sealant in the radiator and the rest in the overflow. She said she hasn't really had to add as much water as she used to to the overflow tank, so it must be working quite a bit.
I know this isn't the proper thing to do, I don't like these magic elixirs in a bottle either but she can't afford right now to have it fixed. We just need to bandaid it for a while. The car is a beater BTW.
My idea- This weekend I was thinking of draining the radiator completely and pouring in a bottle of block sealant since I think most of the stuff I poured in it is still in the overflow, then top it off with coolant (which it hasn't had since early last year). I'd also empty and clean out the overflow.
***What antifreeze should I use? I have a jug of 50/50 Dexcool in the garage that's full and probably about 4 years old. I don't have to use this. Should I use green antifreeze, all makes all models, or Dexcool?
Again I know this bandaid isn't correct and I hate doing it but I just want this beater to keep going for a bit longer. It actually runs pretty good.
At the same time from the last oil change I poured a little bit of a bottle of block sealant in the radiator and the rest in the overflow. She said she hasn't really had to add as much water as she used to to the overflow tank, so it must be working quite a bit.
I know this isn't the proper thing to do, I don't like these magic elixirs in a bottle either but she can't afford right now to have it fixed. We just need to bandaid it for a while. The car is a beater BTW.
My idea- This weekend I was thinking of draining the radiator completely and pouring in a bottle of block sealant since I think most of the stuff I poured in it is still in the overflow, then top it off with coolant (which it hasn't had since early last year). I'd also empty and clean out the overflow.
***What antifreeze should I use? I have a jug of 50/50 Dexcool in the garage that's full and probably about 4 years old. I don't have to use this. Should I use green antifreeze, all makes all models, or Dexcool?
Again I know this bandaid isn't correct and I hate doing it but I just want this beater to keep going for a bit longer. It actually runs pretty good.