Vehicle is 1987 505 Liberte, XN6 Engine. Bosh K Fuel Injection. 126,000
miles
I've had the car for 2 years. Initially I thought I had excessive
condensation in the oil since it is mostly a city driving car (Yes,
Portland is now a "city" with extensive commuting times). Shortly after
I got it I cleaned the air filter (oil bath type - boy was it a mess) and
the crankcase ventilation screen. However now it is getting worse with
very noticible water condensation on the oil dipstick and I am "using"
antifreeze (@ pint in the last 2 months - since radiator cleaned out, new
water pump, and 3 fan pully woodruff keys (3rd was successful - thanks
Lew). I'm using Castrol 5w50 Synthetic; changing between 3 and 5k miles
(since 105,000 miles when I bought it). I haven't checked the
compression, but performance is ok and getting about 26mpg highway, 20mpg
city. I've always felt the car is underpowered, but other than that have
no mechanical complaints (I'll address the electrical in another post
sometime).
Here are the quuestions:
1. How do I confirm my diagnosis? Could this be something other than
the head gasket?
2. Will simply changing the head gasket cure the problem?
3. On the suurface, a head gasket change looks "relatively" straight
forward. Is it? Anything special to watch for?
4. The dangerous question: since the head is off, is there anything
else I should check for or do while I'm at it?
5. How much accelerated wear on bearings/rings am I subjecting the car
to while I procrastinate fixing it?
TIA
Charlie Lincoln
Portland, OR
503/636-1154
clincoln@spiritone.com