QuestionQUESTION: First off, thanks so much for sharing your knowledge! That's very generous of
you.
I am considering buying a used 98 S70 T5. I ran a scan which revealed codes
of P0303 (misfire cyl 3) and P0118 (hi coolant temp). The seller mentioned
that antifreeze has been mysteriously going away.
Later, after thinking about it for a while, I became concerned that it might
have a blown head gasket or a crack. I thought I smelled antifreeze and there
is some oil mist on the turbo pipe. I didn't think to check for water or foam in
the oil. I didn't see any smoke or vapor and the car runs strong. Do you think
all these things are related?
If it is a head gasket, how hard are they to replace for a decent amateur
mechanic? Otherwise, what should an independent charge?
Thanks
ANSWER: Spot,
There are many special tools required to work on this car. The tools to hold the cams in place so all stays in proper alignment are the most critical. Some shops or people may say that you can do this without those tools and while it is possible, I would not recommend this. How will you know that everything is aligned the right way by just using marks that you make along the way? If a shop does the work depending on what parts are needed you are in the area of $1000.00.
Look inside the car heater cores go bad often.
---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------
QUESTION: I did inspect the carpets, under the dash and the floor looking for signs of
leaks. So would you suspect a cracked head or blown gasket?
AnswerSpot,
With out being able to preform tests I can not say. There are ways to test for coolant in the oil and also combustion in the cooling system. That oil mist that you said it had might be just a leaking turbo return pipe seal. That is a common leaking area.
As of now I have not had a vehicle like yours that you can not identify the leak or on that had a crack in the head. So that leaves the head gasket. Generally speaking if coolant gets in the combustion chambers there is white smoke that will be visable from the tail pipe.
