Hey guys went to the store after work today heard fans on in the car. Low coolant light on. Drove the car home drained oil and chocolate milk horror show? Weird parts car seems to run fine? Am I screwed? I've already convinced myself I'm looking at a new block. Any ideas?

 

Probably porous block failure. If it's an updated block. Then look for other things. Either ways. Start saving.

 

^ this. Head gaskets aren't real common problems on lnf's especially on stock turbo.

 

oh boy. How many miles on the car?

 

what year is the car and whats the mileage??? sounds like porous block to me. i went through 1.5 gal of coolant in 36 hours lol

 

08 so that fits. 105000 miles. Thought this was a problem that would show itself early.

 

Fatigue failures like this show at any time. 95% chance your block is toast. Welcome to the club. Swap isn't too bad to do yourself.

 

Any easier pulling out the top or should I drop the k member. I have no lift.

 

Some say the top is easier but I think they're loco. Put the rear wheels up on other wheels (4-6" extra lift), then lift the body from around the center over the engine. Worked great for me.

 

I think it is easier to drop from the bottom because you can leave most of it together and remove all of the components once it is out in the open and easy to work on.

 

Good ole porus block

 

Try a good block sealer. Remove the upper rad hose from the engine side, drain a good amount of coolant out and pour it into the engine. Top everything off and go for a short drive so it can circulate well. Remove the cooling fan relays. Let the engine get to 220F in Park at a good 2000 RPM off idle speed so everything opens up for the sealer. Put the relays back in and let the fans cool it down before shutting it down.

I worked on several doing this. One had at least 3-4 quarts of coolant in the crankcase. Unless it is hemorrhaging into the crankcase, flush the crankcase first with some Rislone crankcase cleaner or equivalent before doing. Out of all we did this to only 1 still looses maybe a cup of water in a month or 2.

 

Thanks for the help guys. I'm not much of a witches brew , magic bottle of solutions kinda guy but I did try a block sealer. Car appears to no longer be losing any coolant or miniscule amounts. I have the money to buy a new block but want to continue saving for my electric motors and the parts needed to build it. I knew I named her Christine for a reason.

 

May as well get everything out of it you can. Glad it worked for you. I'm kind of the same way about that stuff but I used K-seal for a head gasket once and it actually fixed it and it held up well. Some of that stuff actually works. It might have some negative side effects but when your alternative is the cost of a new motor vs. make the one you have run longer it's definitely worth a try.

 

My thoughts exactly.

 

That's about the only place that type of sealer is good for. Any other type of leak should be properly repaired. Porosity usually doesn't get worse.