I do believe I'm done with the LS.

Hundred44Spokes

Hundred44Spokes

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It's gotten to be too much, which is a shame because I love this car. But I just put the new transmission in and now my Head Gaskets went out 3 days later. That's like 4200 bucks in 4 days. I just can't do it anymore. I'm gonna be trading it in and buying some reliable Honda or something. I think I'm still gonna hang around here, just because I can't see myself not doing so.

I just had to vent, gah.
 
How exactly did your head gaskets go and how do you know this? Do you beat the ever-loving piss out of your car to have a trans AND HGs go?
 
NYC LS8 said:
How exactly did your head gaskets go and how do you know this? Do you beat the ever-loving piss out of your car to have a trans AND HGs go?
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I wish I knew how the transmission went. I lost my 4th gear. My friend Eric who is on here too lost his second but he has a heavy foot. I baby my car man, when I first got it I was heavier on the gas but that's just because of what my old car was, I wasn't use to the power. I mean, I drive a decent amount. I think I've put on almost 25-30k over the past 9 or so months I've owned it.
 
It's what the dealer told me, if it wasn't dark and cold right now I'd go look for myself.

I'm having a long talk with my dealership tomorrow, if I've been :q:q:q:qed over I'm gonna be pissed.
 
I'm going to have my friend look at it tomorrow before I take it in. Maybe even have the shop on my campus take a look at it.

Other than the fact it's driving weird my check engine light is back on.

Well, I mean I actually took it to the dealer for the overheating and all the dying it was doing. Originally, 7 months ago.
 
Have the codes read at an AutoZone for free and either Google the trouble code number, search here or post it. Have a leakdown test done and pressure test the cooling system first. You wouldn't get a check engine light if a head gasket goes. Maybe if the temperature went too high or something..? Which brings up another point...the head gasket(s) could have went if you drove long enough at too high a temperature to warp a head, thus needing new head gaskets and new (or milled stock) heads.
 
AutoZone is actually on my way to the dealership. Right now my latest long drive was only 150 miles total and that was the other weekend. It also happened to be 43 degrees the whole drive so I don't think temp was the problem.

The light came on after I accelerated lightly (I really can't do anything but that with the new tranny) in the morning on my way to my 8AM Class.
 
continually overheating will warp the heads and cause the gaskets to go... sorry, but this is a result of an overheating problem that was not fixed, and perhaps a small part due to you not preventing it from overheating (I don't know the situation so that's a guess). I keep a pretty close eye on my temp gauge when driving.

These problems are not "normal"
 
Well I nabbed the overheating problem, hell I'm ALWAYS watching the temp gauge. The one time I didn't 6 or so months ago my car overheated going uphill at 1 in the morning.

I know I'm most likely at fault, but everytime I took it to one mechanic he'd fix part of the overheating problem. I finally took it to the dealer and fixed everything. Maybe because of all the overheating all that time ago it was ready to go?
 
Well white SMOKE stays around for a long time, plus it smells funny, not like regular exhaust. White STEAM, which is normal in the cold, goes away pretty quick.
 
Before you cough up more money, here are a few things you can do yourself.

Are you using coolant?

If yes, it is either going into the crankcase (oil) or out the exhaust.

You can pull the plugs and check to see if one plug looks cleaner than the rest. It will probably look whitish around the electrode because the coolant will be cleaning it.

After that, pressure test. Get a cooling system pressure tester. Pull the plugs, crank the pressure tester up to 20-25 psi and let it sit for a couple hours. Put some paper towel over the open plug holes and crank the engine. The bad cylinder will push the coolant onto the paper towel.

Check the oil. The oil will turn into a frothy type milkshake. Check the oil when the car is warm. Pull the oil pan plug and drain the oil. You can always put it back in. It it looks like a milkshake, not good.

In the exhaust, it will exit as a sweet smelling steam.
You can take a sample of the coolant to a radiator shop and they can test it for hydrocarbons.

Or fill the coolant bucket to the brim. Start the engine and rev it. If you have a leak the exhaust gasses will go into the coolant and the gasses will then push the coolant out of the bucket.

After you do these tests, you can always ask the stealership for their opinion. LOL.

And it doesn't hurt to go to Autozone and have the codes read for free. Might be a bad coil, who knows.

If you are really desperate, you can use some K&W engine gasket sealer but it not such a good idea in winter as you will have no freeze protection while driving around with that stuff in the motor.
 
If you are really desperate, you can use some K&W engine gasket sealer but it not such a good idea in winter as you will have no freeze protection while driving around with that stuff in the motor.
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Then go to the stealership and turn it in.... :) :)
 
Contrary to popular opinion, transmissions break and headgaskets blow in.... ahem......asian cars too.

I say better to have an interesting car that is a percentage less reliable than a boring one that's supposedly more reliable. I've been through this with my SVT Focus, and I'll be right up front about it. This car has been unreliable as hell, in part to the design, but just as much to the maintenance practices of the stealership. However, it's a brilliant car and a blast to drive. I can't stand the other cars in it's class so I stick with it and it never fails to reward the driver.

I hate to be the one to suggest it but when this heating/head gasket issue occurred on my Focus it cost me an engine. It could happen in your case, obviously the worst case scenario. I stuck with mine and put an engine it. It's 30K later and I still have the car and have had some great experiences with it. Better these circumstances with the unique car I wanted in the beginning than likely lesser ones with some characterless asian clonemobile.
 
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Just f.y.i. (in case you dont already know).

when any car begins to overheat..meaning, when you see that needle begin to creep up..turn the a/c off and turn the heat on full blast IMMEDIATELY. Oftentimes this is enough to temporarily keep the engines temp in a safe zone until you can find a safe spot to pull over, shut it down, and further assess. This is particularly true if you are moving at least 30mph or so. The combination of wind smacking the front of the radiator and the heater on full blast will usually keep things safe. (unless ALL of the coolant has leaked out).

Again, just an F.y.i
 
Rodewaryer said:
Contrary to popular opinion, transmissions break and headgaskets blow in.... ahem......asian cars too.

I say better to have an interesting car that is a percentage less reliable than a boring one that's supposedly more reliable. I've been through this with my SVT Focus, and I'll be right up front about it. This car has been unreliable as hell, in part to the design, but just as much to the maintenance practices of the stealership. However, it's a brilliant car and a blast to drive. I can't stand the other cars in it's class so I stick with it and it never fails to reward the driver.

I hate to be the one to suggest it but when this heating/head gasket issue occurred on my Focus it cost me an engine. It could happen in your case, obviously the worst case scenario. I stuck with mine and put an engine it. It's 30K later and I still have the car and have had some great experiences with it. Better these circumstances with the unique car I wanted in the beginning than likely lesser ones with some characterless asian clonemobile.
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I'll have a warranty with the Honda. If I had a warranty here I'd keep the car.
 
Love this car

I've owned both foreign and domestic cars. The foreigns has their problems too. I think the jap cars were the most reliable. Got them over 200K without major trouble. This LS is comparable to the high end luxury cars you get for $50k, but we pay much less, so figure about $6k in repairs when you buy it. Overall its a great machine once you get it all repaired and working.:D
 
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