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Head Gasket
Posted by Robert Schrader (more from Robert Schrader) on Fri, 30 Mar 2001 21:33:17
In Reply to: , Kok Chen, Sat, 17 Dec 1988 12:00:00 

A few weeks ago I wrote:

>The starter on my 1990 900 sometimes will work just fine.  When it
>does not work, it just makes a loud klunking sound, the engine does
>not turn at all, and all the dash lights dim to nothing.  The battery is good.
>
>I turn the key to 'start' and back four or five times, it goes 'klunk' 
>four or five
>times, then starts easily.
>
>Any ideas what is wrong?  Damaged pinion is my best guess.

I got lots of well-meant advice, but none resolved the problem.  ( Thanks
nonetheless, guys )  It wasn't until I did a weekly oil check and saw that
it seemed thinned by water, and took it to a mechanic.

It turns out that it had trouble starting because #1 cylinder was filling
with water. The head gasket was leaking.  The mechanic says that this
gasket failure is not uncommon, even on a car like mine with less that 70K
miles(!), and that it happens because the head gasket gets eaten by
antifreeze.  He also said that the bearings are usually not damaged if it
is caught early.

Does this all seem reasonable?  Any comments?
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