Cadillac Repair: Repair Cadillac, wooddale blvd, coolant level

Question
I own a 1997 Cadillic STS.  I had my spark plugs replaced this week because the engin was missing a little.  I thought it was time since I have never had it done.  I bought the car new.  The car is still missing, but now I am told that I have collant entering the #2 cyl.  I have noticed that I have been adding collant every 6 months or so, for the last two years.  I didn't think anything about it.  Now I am adding collant every day.  I don't know if the Cadillac people are honest with me or not.  I am told that it might be my manifold gasket leaking.  That doesn't sound good.  If this has to be replaced, how much money are we talking about?  I love my car and do not want to get rid of it.  Under the present state it is in I doubt if I could trade it off without giving it away.  If it  doesn't cost an arm and leg I would like to fix it and keep it.  What do you think?

Thank you for any advice.

Frank E. Dedman, 922 Wooddale Blvd. Baton Rouge, La.  Phone 225-927-8196.

Answer
Hi Frank, Unfortunatly unless you had a borescope to look inside the engine or cylinder there is no way to tell what needs to be replaced until you get things apart. Since the service engine message isn't on and depending how bad the miss is you might be able to trade it off and not loose anything at the dealer. Just make sure the coolant level is full in the bottle. Cadillac requires that sealtabs be put in the cooling system everytime you get it flushed out. Maybe someone forgot to add them and by you adding them to the radiator after it cools off it might repair the leak within a week if it isn't too big yet. As far as prices it would be tough to give any because it would be based on what repair is needed and the labor rate that the shop charges. Bill