Hey, I'm Kit. I've lurked on these forums lightly for about a year. Mostly, I just do specific searches when I have a question about something; I don't really check this or any forum every day.
I've got a 99 Alero (v6 3.4L) that I've had for about three or four years now, obviously I bought it used. It's got something like 170,000 miles on it or something ridiculous like that. I'm not here to get tips on how to increase the performance by adding freakish exhaust kits and I'm not interested in even clearing my corners. When I bought the car, it had a deep dent (read:hole), if I had been concerned with appearances I'd never have gotten this car. This was basically my first car, that's all there is to it. If I had the ca$h money to get a new one, hey, I probably would. But I've got this one, and I might as well stick with it, and hey, I might learn some things along the way.
Like I said, the car is a bit old and probably needs quite a bit of repair. The rotors have been a little F'd up since I got this thing, I probably will be replacing them soon as I can. There's some other minor maintenence things to get around to, like a new battery, etc.
My main problem now though, is I've got some kind of leak. I've read and read about LIMG leaks, and even remember there being a guide somewhere (on a grand am forum, I think) on how to replace the gaskets with the Felpro problem solver kit.
I started leaking out coolant quite some long time ago, I took it to my regular maintenence guys who said they could fix it by replacing the coolant tank, well big surprise- that did nothing. No matter how fast I refilled coolant, it would be gone too fast to make it worth doing. So, I've been running without coolant for this winter, which was cold but not freezing this year- thus, I've not really had any problems with overheating, honestly. But summer is coming and I've noticed my engine temp get high when I slow to a stop. Reading about the LIMG leaks, I decided that the most advantageous thing would be to leave the coolant out until I could work up the money to get that effer fixed- again. At least then coolant wouldn't leak INTO the engine and eff me over big time. As I said, though, I've tried to get this fixed before, and I had thought they really did fix it- until a few months later when I began to have the same problems. I didn't know about the felpro kit at that point and by not asking, I could've been letting the mechanic know that it was okay to rip me off.
However, I was searching within the past few days for that step-by-step guide on how to do LIMG replacement yourself, and I came across a thread that said something about head gasket failure, which I had not read before.
Now, I went to the mechanic the other day, and told him that I thought my problem was the LIMG and that I could get the part even if he needed it. He started naming off a bunch of parts numbers probably to impress me. All in all, he said it would be like a 7 hour job. I dont know if I want to give him that much money! Ha! If I've got to spend a bunch of cash, I'd rather just buy the tools and parts I'll need to do the sucker my own damn self, meanwhile learning how to do some car repair. I'm not really a gearhead/greasemonkey, but I AM very mechanically inclined and good at repairing machines, taking them apart / putting back together, etc.
My basic question[s] would be: what the hell am I going to have to replace? Is there a difference between a LIM leak and whatever with the head gaskets? What else exactly should I replace while I've got the engine open, and is there any cleaning I should do while I'm in there?(I've read in seafoam threads about spraying seafoam directly on the cylinders.) I just need help in general in fixing this engine problem. I'm going on a 2300+ mile trip come august, and I'm going one way or another. I'd just like to have my own transportation while I'm going.
Anyway, I'm sure you guys can help me out with this, I know you'll probably need more information which I'd be glad to provide. I'd really appreciate the help on this one. Remember though, I'm not a mechanic, so if you're trying to explain something to me, please don't use an acronym I haven't already used because I probably don't know what it is... Except: PCV, ABS etc.
