Date: 26 Aug 2002 02:46:17 GMT From: davehinznopsamcop.net Subject: Re: Classic head gasket problems?
Someone who looks an awful lot like dmk <dmknopsamduck.net> wrote: > '90 900: Small oil leak center rh side.. no coolant. Really, it's been > doing this for several years... guess i'll just keep an eye on it... Probably nothing, and the nuisance of an oil leak is minor compared to the hassle of doing something about it. I'd leave it, and in fact, on my '88 900T, did just that for a rather long time. Wasn't enough of a leak to leave spots on the driveway, which is my threshhold for an oil leak before I do something about it ;) Had a bit of seeping around the distributor too - probably could/should have fixed that, but, ah well. > My '91 was a turbo and had the bad head gasket at about 80k... The > turbo probably shortened the gasket's life... Interesting story: This > car had a corroded block knockout plug. Now I've replaced these before > in other cars, but took the Saab to the dealer and had it replaced. I > didn't find out 'till several years later that the asshole put in one of > those rubber butt-plugs (that you tighten with a wrench!!). They did this at a *dealer*? AAARGh. I assume you had words? > I'm sure > that's what blew the head gasket (lost water on the highway and > miraculously, the rubber plug was still laying in the engine compartment > when I popped the hood.) Otherwise, you'd have never known the root cause. Yeah, cooking the sucker will make 'em fail pretty much every time; a solid copper headgasket would have been hard pressed to keep up on that one. > The dealership went out of business by then.... Had to have it towed > from Dayton to Cincinnati to the dealer for repair! Well, there's a good news / bad news situation, eh? I wonder what that mechanic is "fixing" these days... Dave