HI All!

It finally happened....my 92 Festiva with 167k miles on it finally decided to give me some trouble.

Last week, I headed out at 5:30 am toward Kentucky and got about 10 miles west of Baltimore...when the temp gauge needle started heading toward HOT.

I turned around at the next exit and limped it back toward the house...got within 3 miles from the house and the needle edged above the normal range. I got off the next exit, drove 1/4 mile and turned into an Exxon station's parking lot.

I normally carry flashlight, extra coolant, belts, hoses, tools, etc. This time I didn't have the flashlight or the extra coolant...that's why I didn't pull over immediately when I noticed the temp climbing. This little car has been SOOOO trouble-free, I guess I got complacent

Anyway...the car will start and idle, until you try topping off the coolant in the radiator - then it misses and starts pushing the fluid out of the radiator into the overflow jug and out of the junction between the exhaust manifold and tailpipe.

Is it a blown head gasket? Do the symptoms indicate anything beyond that?

Thanks!
Scott

 

well it does sound like it, you could confirm by performing a compression test and also looking at each plug....i think you did pretty good with that car...it might be time to retire it....

 

Retire it??? NEVER!!!

I'm shooting for 300k!!!

 

check th oil for water it will be milky best bet just replace the gasket and change the oil it should take 35.00 and 2 hrs to do pretty easy too

 

you might get away with that.....but if the head has a crack in it , then the same problem will show again, its best to do it right from the git go, like having the head checked for cracks, as to oil in the coolant system not all blown head gaskets will show oil in the water, it depends on where its blows

 

I had my head check if it was warped ( then shaved flat ) and they check the valves to while the head was off the truck. Hope you dont break a head bolt like i did.

 

yeah or just buy a rebuilt head

 

Is your car blowing a crap load of white smoke?? If it is that is another sign that water is in the motor. If the oil is milky it blown too. If it is shot you can go to a scrap yard and find a head for that car they are pretty abondant. The gasket will pobably be 30 bucks, and add a oil change , and a couple of hours and it will be working again.

 

Nope...not blowing white smoke - it's not getting that far now. It may have when it first went - it was dark (5:30 am or thereabouts). Now it just blows the coolant from the radiator into the overflow bottle when the car is running. When it happened last week, the car wouldn't start even after it was cooled down. I thought the rings might have collapsed. But Thursday morning, I turned the key and it started right up, but started blowing the coolant into (then out of) the overflow bottle. I let it run until it stopped that, then refilled the radiator. It blew it into the bottle again then quit. That's when we noticed the coolant also leaking at the junction of the exhaust manifold/tailpipe. That pretty much assured me of the blown head gasket - which, if the car was running for awhile, would probably translate into a "crap-load" of white smoke out the tailpipe.

Thanks for all the responses. I'll tow it back to Kentucky after Thanksgiving and take the head off and to the machine shop for crack/warp/valve checkout.

 

Heeey, I see a rare oppertunity, here. Imagine how much faster it would be if you put a good lawn mower engine in it! I think you'd get one for less than $300, and it'd be twice as fast!!!

Seriously, though, I agree with everyone here, it sounds like a head gasket. Unfortunately, I doubt the car is worth as much as the repair would cost. I'd see what you could get for it and find something newer. For cheap reliable transportation, you could find a mid 90's compact for dirt cheap.

 

Yeah...thought about that lawnmower engine
As for cost...I shouldn't be looking at any more than $100 or so...and the car gets 40+mpg, has new tires and new brakes all around. It was running great up to the point of failure.

it's a 92 so it comes close to your recommendation (mid 90's compact for dirt cheap). I don't have ANY money in it at this point (that's another story...NO it wasn't given to me) so I don't mind spending a couple hundred bucks (if necessary) to get her runnin' again. These little cars are known for goin' 300k+miles. This is my fifth one, so I've got a bit of history with them and appreciation for them. I bought a new one in 90, kept it for about a year and decided I didn't really need it. The others I bought for next to nothing (before gas prices soared), cleaned them up and made a tidy little profit on them. They're getting harder and harder to find because people are realizing their value, so I want to keep this one running as long as possible.

I had a 91 I bought for $350 this summer...cleaned it up, put in new timing belt/water pump, gave it a tune-up and sold it for $1k...nice little $500 profit! Looking back, I should have kept it awhile longer. If gas prices continue to climb, I might have sold it for closer to $2k...

 

I've wanted a Festiva for a while. But, I am also 6'4" so I don't know how comfortable I would be.

-Matt

 

I guess it would depend on how long your body/arms/legs are...I'm 6'1" and I'm VERY comfortable in the Festiva - but I have short legs (31" inseam) and long body/arms. I don't feel cramped at all - plenty of headroom.

If you find one for sale...sit down in it or take it for a drive - I think you'll be surprised at how spacious it is...

Scott