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Head Gasket Questions

48K views 110 replies 47 participants last post by  JetLS 
#1 ·
To those Legend owners who is in denial or not sure why they are having issues with their coolant/radiators/fluctuating RPM/overflow reservoir/hot-cold air, here is a video that might explain your problem/s.

 
#109 ·
My apologies for necroing an old thread. I just purchased a 93' LS sedan for about 350$ off of craigslist. When I bought it it wouldn't start, owners said they didnt want to spend money at a shop on it which is why the price was low. They said a friend mechanic said a headgasket issue *it smoked apparently before they parked it*

Well I replaced the battery cables (corrosion) and spark plugs as well as topped off the radiator and it started right up. Some smoking was present, but i attributed that due to it sitting for a few months. Hasn't smoked since. Was wondering if my changes (spark, coolant) could have somehow temporarily fixed a small headgasket leak. Should I still have the HG replaced? 141k miles. Pretty sure it's never been changed before.

It runs and idles great till it gets warmed up, then the idle dips 100-200rpm gently. not enough to cause issues though. (cold idle is upwards of 1800rpm though till warmed up.)

I only had one overheat issue, which I caught immediately. Was caused by an airbubble at the thermostat, I relieved the pressure.. refilled the radiator and haven't had any issues since other than slight coolant smells when warmed up (my assumption is the overflow)
 
#110 ·
A bad head gasket won't stop the car from starting, so you likely fixed whatever that small issue was. In the early stages of head gasket failure on these cars, they can run just fine for a few days at a time until enough exhaust gas escapes into the cooling jacket to cause a spike in the temperature gauge - the probe is on top of the thermostat housing near the cooling system bleed screw. Over time though, the leakage worsens and it starts indicating erratically or hot all the time. By the time the leak is really bad, your cooling system will have enough rapidly accumulating pressure to start stressing any weak links like rotting hoses or a weak radiator, and you end up stranded on the side of the road.

The high idle issue is likely a separate problem.

Sorry for the bad news, but I don't think you're out of the woods yet. :-(

Best,
Dave
 
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