Dear Tom and Ray:

I'm a retired oldster and I drive a 1985 Chrysler LeBaron with a turbo. I bought it new and it now has 28,300 miles. Shopping, doctoring and occasional visiting are my only driving activities, and I'm now using my neighborhood garage and filling station for needed services. Recently, on a shopping trip, the "hot engine" light came on, and I found I was out of coolant. After refilling the radiator and expansion tank, I noticed what seemed to be steam coming from the exhaust. After my next short trip, the expansion tank was empty again. I added more coolant, and saw more steam out the tailpipe. Our friendly neighborhood mechanic is at a loss. He can find no leaks. He has offered to take the engine down and look for a minimum charge of $300 with no guarantees. What should I do? -- Robert

Ray: It sounds like you have an internal coolant leak, Robert -- either a blown head gasket or a cracked head. And that "steam" you see coming out your tailpipe is your "disappearing" coolant, after it's been vaporized inside your engine.

Tom: So your engine probably will have to be "taken down" to fix it. But before you let your mechanic do that, have him confirm this diagnosis with one of two tests.

Ray: If he pressurizes the cooling system and leaves the car overnight, he can then remove the spark plugs and crank the engine over in the morning. If the head gasket or head is bad, some coolant will have leaked into the cylinders overnight and will shoot out through one or more spark-plug holes when he turns the key.

Tom: He can also use a dye or his emissions "sniffer" to check for the presence of unburned gasoline in the radiator -- another sure sign of a breach in the head or head gasket.

Ray: It's probably a blown head gasket, which will cost you several hundred dollars to replace. But even if the head is cracked and it costs you 1,000 bucks, you're still going to fix it, aren't you, Robert? After all, you've only got 28,000 miles on this baby. And aside from this problem, I'll bet it's in excellent shape, right?

Tom: Besides, this is the perfect car for you, Robert. You've heard of the IROC Daytona, right? Well, you've got the OROC LeBaron. The Official Retired Oldster Car!

Tom and Ray share secrets mechanics don't want you to know in their pamphlet Ten Ways You May Be Ruining Your Car Without Even Knowing It! To order, send (check or money order) to Ruin, P.O. Box 536475, Orlando, FL 32853-6475. You can also order online.

© 1996 by Tom and Ray Magliozzi and Doug Berman Distributed by King Features Syndicate, Inc.

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