Saab - 9000 :: 1995 - Leaky Head Gasket
Feb 8, 2013
Am wrestling with the ever-present value/worth question. My '95 Saab 9000 Aero developed a leaky head gasket at 155,000 miles. I had it replaced (after driving it several hundred miles over a week or so). The engine then became and continues to be hard to start. It idles roughly, and even stalls out when decelerating for intersections. The shop says that two cylinders have low compression. (no details on why) They suggested adding injector cleaner to the fuel, which did not solve the problem, or installing a new (used) motor.
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I have a 1997 Saab 9000 CSE Turbo. It has been a great car overall. Last summer, our water pump died while cruising on the highway, leading to a major overheat, leading to warped head. We decided to roll the dice on a rebuild, which was done by a reputable import specialty shop that has worked on many Saab 9000s. Since we got the car back 5000 miles ago, we have lost a few miles per gallon, and we hear a rough noise in the engine (particularly when it's cold). In the last few thousand miles, we lost a lot of coolant, apparently because the new water pump is faulty (the shop looked at it and agreed to replace under warranty). In the last 1000 miles (but no evidence of it previously), we have begun losing oil like crazy and occasionally (but not most of the time) smelling burning oil (the heater is on, moving air around). We are now adding about a quart per 200 miles. When we inspect the block, there is some small evidence of oil leakage, but not a lot, and there are never drips on the driveway.
Where is all that oil going? I showed it to the shop, we put it on the lift, and there is no spray on the underside, leaking oil pan, etc. I suspect the new head gasket is leaking, but there is little enough residue on the block that it's hard to be certain. What other explanations are there, and is it fair for me to blame the repair shop and insist that they redo the head gasket? The shop is a 6hr drive from my house, so I can't just drop by to discuss it with them.
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I've been having trouble with the cooling system of my 2005 Kia Sedona (about 90,000 miles) and a couple months back I had the system flushed, coolant added and thermostat replace. Not long after this the overheating started up again. After the first five minutes of driving, the thermostat starts creeping up above the half way mark and within about ten minutes it hits the H. My vents also don't blow heat. After ten minutes the heat SOMETIMES suddenly kicks in after the needle hits H, but it's kind of inconsistent and sometimes I get no heat even after hitting H and sometimes I get a little heat and then it goes away. I only drive it 15 minutes each way so am not sure what would happen if I kept driving.
Anyway, I took it back to the shop and they did a pressure test and said they thought it was a leaky head gasket and that they couldn't do the repair and I should take it to a Kia dealer. I picked it up and on my way home I noticed I was getting heat from the vents immediately and the thermostat stayed at the halfway mark. No overheating. Is it possible they are wrong and the pressure test knocked some air out of the system and that the test actually fixed the problem? Can a pressure test give a false result?
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My 2004 Subaru Outback has had the head gasket replaced, the O2 sensor replaced, spark plugs replaced. Still I cannot go up big hills anywhere near the speed limit. I think it may be the catalytic converter is bad from driving it with a leaky head gasket.
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A local mechanic tells me I have a blown head gasket on my 2003 Saab 9-5. He also said there's coolant standing in one cylinder. If this is due to stretched head bolts, might I remedy the problem by replacing the head bolts and torqueing to specifications?
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I recently bought a manual 92 saab, and in the past few days I have been having trouble with the 5th gear. The fluids are all fine and I have not put any real strain on the trans since I've had the car. It worked fine when I bought it but now when I try to put it in 5th there is a loud grinding noise as I let the clutch out. The shifter then pops back into neutral. I tried holding the shifter in 5th to see if that would work, and as I release the clutch the grinding noise gets louder and the gear does not engage at all. I am really hoping it is just a worn down part, and doesn't need a complete transmission overhaul.
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I recently replaced the head gasket on a 95 Geo Prizm. Now when I tried to start it, all I get is the starter clicking. I tried tapping the starter solenoid, to no effect. The only electrical that I messed with during the head gasket replacement was to disconnect the battery.
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I just bought a 95' 3.0 V6 4 runner that had overheating issues that caused head gasket to fail. I fixed all the reasons it was blowing the gasket with a new radiator & thermo. Now, temp no longer an issue but the automatic trans is slipping but has been getting alittle better as I drive it more. I noticed the trans fluid was pretty burnned when I replaced radiator..so will replacing the trans fluid & filter fix this issue ? Or could there be another issue ? My check engine light is also on, I will check the codes soon. I am getting horrible gas mileage, but probly from the slipping trans I guess.
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My 95 Ranger has been a good truck in the 6 years I've owned it. I had to pull the heads to replace a leaking head gasket and wound up having the heads rebuilt due to weak valve springs and worn valves. I replaced the gaskets, installed the heads, get it all back together.....won't start. Fuel pressure is good. Found that there is no spark. While putting the crankshaft position sensor connector back on I noticed it didn't look too good. I replaced the connector and that's all I did and no spark. Long story short, after a lot of research, the coil pack, cps and coolant temp sensor were replaced and still no spark.
Everything has the proper voltage to it. After a little more research I found a post with the same basic issue. His issue wound up being the ecm. So I removed the ecm....it's a used one from a salvage yard. I've owned the truck 6 years so I have no idea when the ecm was replaced. It showed up today and will get installed when I get home from work. I also ran across posts about the camshaft sunchronizer and they should be replaced at about 80K miles. Since the truck has 289K I'll replace it. Still no spark. I'm hoping it's the ecm.
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when replacing valve cover gasket, using the cork based one. Do you use any gasket sealant or any kind of silicone or just put it in by its self.
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After taking my 2001 Toyota Tacoma into my Toyota dealer for a routine oil change they informed me that I had a leaky valve cover gasket and that it needed to be replaced. The repair would have been expensive, and since it was just a leak I decided to not make the repair. I have been driving with the "leak" since May of 2013 and have put about 29,000 miles on the truck. I have never had to add oil. There is no oil spot on the concrete where I park the car and I do not smell burning oil when the truck is running. If this thing is leaking, what the heck is leaking out of it? And if I haven't had to add oil or any other fluids do I even need to replace it?
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1995 Saab 900 Turbo. Bought new. Lifetime history of complete battery discharge if not driven at least every 2 weeks. New alternator, multiple batteries of no benefit. Have left on flowmeter for up to 1 week at dealer service center without unusual demand on battery.
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Is this normal or do I have a leak? Noticed this white stuff just like what you would find on the coolant cap, as well as this red stuff too.
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I drove my car after the check engine light came on, stupidly without looking at the temperature gauge. When the car died, I had blown the head gasket, melted the spark plugs and did some other pretty serious damage to the engine. So now I am contemplating replacing the engine instead of buying a new car since I drive very infrequently (I take transit to work and do a lot of business travel by air). The car is 10 years old and only has 72,000 miles on it. The body is in good shape as well.
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I have a 1995 GMC Sonoma pickup truck with supposedly a blown cylinder head gasket. It only has 53K original miles on it. It overheated and I had it towed to a service shop. They put in a new water pump, new coolant, new thermostat, new radiator hose and did an oil & filter change. Well, 100 miles later, I noticed my water coolant was disappearing and the oil pressure was rising. I brought it back to the same shop and after looking at it for five minutes they informed me it was a blown cylinder head gasket. They said they had no way to determine this when they were doing the repairs the first time. So, I ask the following:
1-Was it proper for the shop to do the first repair without checking for a potential head gasket leak?
2-Is there some type of testing that could have been done by the repair shop to check for coolant leaks into the engine oil? 3-Would I have saved money (labor) by having this taken care of at the time of the initial repair?
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My Subaru dealer just told me that my 2004 outback with 88k miles has developed a head gasket leak. I haven't noticed any symptoms, and the leak started sometime between now and my last major service 10k miles ago. How serious is this? They want to charge me for it? If so, when? Is disaster imminent?
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I have a 1998 volvo s70 with 273k on it. I am pretty sure the head gasket is blown. The shop I usually take my car to said i need to take it to a dealer and that volvo usually wants to replace the engine on a car that old. Would you pay the 6k for a new engine or think about a new car?
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I just recently had problems with my V6 accord, is been overheating, I just know that is the head gasket because it has all symptoms, creamy appearance in engine oil cap. vapor and the end pipes after hours of running and multiple misfire, no thermostat and still overheating with no leakages.
I add a block sealer and now the car is working fine (Block Seal, Head Gasket Repair, Bar's Leaks brand).
I would like to replace the head gasket in my V6, but I was told that I need to the surface finish to flat the head and in the lower part too (block), is this correct?
I know that this must be done in the upper part (head) but never heard that this must be done also in the lower part (block).
I have a 2007 accord V6 Engine 4 door sedan SE.
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So I've replaced my head gasket on my 5SFE. But after putting my car back together, my car didn't want start. This is how it sounds like (click on the video to watch it).
So I suspected that my timing was off, so I took off the valve cover to check the timing marks on the camshafts. So the two timing punches lined up like so (I only took picture of one of them)
Though I'm not too sure what the two dots mean on the exhaust camshaft since there are not two similar dots on the intake camshaft.
So I'll assume that I have my camshafts lined up properly But how do I know that it is in time with the pistons?
Could it be the distributor? I am not too sure if I installed it correctly, but I did follow instructions in the Chilton manual.
On the other end, there were two vacuum lines that I'm not sure if I installed correctly. I'm positive that the left two pipes are correct; however, I'm not too sure about the two on the right. This is mounted on the cylinder head.
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I have a 06' JGC with the 5.7L Hemi w/80k and about a month ago I noticed a little smoke under the hood after driving, I found an oil leak and it's running down the passenger side of the rear main seal but the leak is above the seal. I had the shop put die in it and they dont know for sure but they belive it is the head gasket. There is no water in the oil but they said that doesnt matter. Apparently the heads cant be resurfaced on hemi's but they have to be checked to make sure they are in spec.
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As some may remember 11-27-12 my van was down due to a head Gasket seal causing overheating. My B.S. Mechanic had given up on my car and after getting frustrated I decided to get another car but I wasn't giving up on my Venture.
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