Possible cracked head gasket on a Hyundai

16 years ago

I'm not sure that I'll remember all the facts since the car has been at the mechanic's since late 2006. We have a 1996 Hyundai Elantra station wagon. Last year we replaced the radiator - used a new mechanic because the one we'd used for years shut down & we didn't know where he went. This mechanic couldn't find a radiator so I called places like Advanced Auto Parts, O'Reilly's, & Autozone. One of the places he called but the other 2 weren't on his list so he didn't call them, I did. I finally found a radiator & he put it in for me. I paid the mechanic on a Friday & told him I'd pick it up the next day when I'd have my husband there to drive it home. The next day when we got there, the mechanic was there (he had told me he wouldn't because they were closed). Seems someone broke into the vehicles. Luckily, all they got from our car was a battery which the mechanic replaced. Not that this has anything to do with my problem! LOL! Anyway, I'm driving my sister's car & my husband is driving the Hyundai. We get about 40 miles away & my husband calls my cell phone to tell me the car's running hot. Remember, this is Saturday so not much is open. We get some water in it but it's going right through it. We finally get it home & park it. Monday I call the mechanic & we baby the car back to him (having to stop every so often to add a gallon of water, it took FOREVER!). He said it was a cracked head gasket & that it was too big a problem for him since he didn't have any help. Soooo, we took it to another mechanic & told him no rush because we were borrowing my sister's car. And we didn't have the $600 he said it would take to fix it.

Now, my husband says this is just ridiculous to have the car that long & he wants to get it away from this mechanic & see if someone else will (a) fix it, (b) fix it cheaper, (c)fix it sooner. The car goes through water (we don't bother with antifreeze because it goes straight out) so it will have to probably be towed. I say leave it & have it towed to whoever he gets to work on it, not tow it home & then tow it to whereever.

My husband is not a mechanic (he didn't know what was wrong with our truck, turns out I paid $20 to have a fuse put in) so I don't have any hope that he'll fix the car on his own. But he has heard if you put liquid glass in the radiator or where the crack is & sawdust somewhere that he'll be able to drive the car until it falls completely apart. We've known the transmission is slipping but we were still driving it when all this happened. The car is paid for. Right now my truck is our only transportation & I'm desperate for him to have his own ride. We don't have the money right now for another car loan.

Anyone know or have experience with the liquid glass and the sawdust? I'm thinking the sawdust is for the transmission but I don't remember. He needs a reliable ride, not something that's going to fall apart...

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Comments (2)

kalining
16 years ago
Are you insane ? Why didn't you take the car to a rad shop and have them recore it ? They take a big pair of snips
and cut off the core size you need from stock and reconnect your own upper and lower tanks. You now have a new rad. $100.00 plus tax. So, where is the water leaking from ? The rad or the engine. Makes a BIG difference. If the head gasket is leaking that bad you ain't driving the car. Something else is wrong. your first mechanic went away
probably because someone or government was looking for him.
Bottom line is, you got a PROBLEM. Find someone that actually knows what they're doing or send it to a dealer.
Spend the money. Mind you if the trans is slipping send it to the press. You have what is called a disposable vehical.It's done it's time. If your husband is thinking of putting liquid glass or saw dust into the engine
"somewhere" you might want to slam his testicles down on the toilet seat. It ain't going to work. Actually i'm wrong. It should work and get it off the driveway if you sell the car. I feel sorry for the buyer. Good luck.
bill_h
16 years ago
as a hyundai owner, i have to ask why do anything to it, its a 96, it has a value at the auction in good running condition, of maybe 200 bucks. sell it for whatever it brings, and get something else.
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Possible cracked head gasket on a Hyundai

Comments (2)

kalining

bill_h

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