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So here's the scoop: I picked up a 1999 v6 wagon with at "bad head gasket". I was not aware the car was a v6 model and wasn't worried about dealing with the usual head problems on the I4. Sadly, the car was almost 5 hours away and when I popped the hood and saw the extra two cylinders I was stuck with an unknown-to-me new problem. I've never worked on a saab v6 before.
Here's what I'm looking at. The car puffs out a good amount of white smoke but the engine sounds smooth. It was low on coolant and the oil is somewhat milky. The front head has signs of leakage at the gasket, tranny side. After some research I'm reading that it could all be tied to the oil cooler and oil cooler cover. The oil when drained was probably half water or coolant. I'm also reading that the head gaskets don't usually go bad on these. Obviously with the low coolant there is always the chance the car had over heated so I'm not counting the possibility out. As well, the guy I got the car from had already started to take things apart and he may have drained off coolant in preparation for removing the head. I'm assuming the worst but haven't purchased a replacement oil cooler at this point seeing as some list them in the 500+ range. Other than the white smoke from the tailpipe all things point to the oil cooler as the main culprit but I can't see how oil mixing with coolant would cause that but I'm not all that imaginative.
Any advice at this point? I was planning on replacing the timing belt and pulleys simply because I don't know their age and while the mess is all apart, replacing head gaskets and accompanying gaskets as well. I don't see how the oil cooler is removed without taking off one of the heads so I may as well remove it and have the cooler tested at the very least. I've read about using Catera or Saturn versions but I'm not finding listing under oil cooler or heat exchanger as some have named it. Is there a better place to buy one from?
Again, thank you for the help with this as well as for all your help in the past.
posted by 24.144.176...
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