I took my daughters 97 malabo in for inspection
When we came back I was glad to see that it past. As the malabo drove off
I notice alot of dark smoke was coming out of the tale pipe. She called me
to tell me the car had died in the middle of the highway. I had to jump
start the car and took it back. the garage said they can fix it for
$1800.00. before I droped it of it was running fine. Can someone let me
know, what is the problem solution? Is this a fair price?

what was the car running like after she left? if coolent is in the oil then
it is either a blown head gasket or cracked block. depends on which one it
is to know if the price is right.did she have a promblem with over heating
before? another thing is when did you last change the oil ? putting to much
oil in a car can and will blow the head gasket. i would get a second
opinion . if head gasket then the price is way to high

If it is the 3100 v6, they are known to leak antifreeze around the intake
manifold. My 98 has had this problem 3 times in the years I have owned it.
Can't help on price, I had it swapped all three times at a garage but had
other work done at the same time.


"justused" <letitbe@myway.com> wrote in message
news:1827912e2e7596a547f6a443820709d6@localhost.ta lkaboutautos.com...

It was loosing coolent and it ran a little rough before, but it never over
heated. I changed the oil myself but was sure I didn't over do it. I drove
it to my daughters house the other day and as I was driving the car it
didn't smoke like the time before but still ran rough. How can you tell if
it's the head gasket or if there is a crack in the block?

I don't know if you have followed this group. Its the most common of all
problems with the Malibu. This sounds like an intake manifold gasket
leak - typical of all Malibus.

And I'll add that if you can't find the leak then the intake gasket job is
way out of your league.

--
John
"some suffer from insanity, I choose to enjoy it"

"Klinger" <jamosurespam@sympatico.ca> wrote in message
news:43C85025.90602@sympatico.ca...

"Repairman" <repairman54@earthlink.net> wrote in message
news:ZB7yf.9302$M%4.8441@newsread3.news.atl.earthl ink.net...
job is

Intake manifold gasket leaks are common on Maliboos. If the leak
allows coolant to enter the oil, then the problems could become very
serious. The gasket repair alone is typically a $700 repair at the
dealer. I know somebody who had "stuck lifters" that were most likely
the result of coolant in the oil. The first repair for the lifters
was $1800, but soon afterward some of the bearings failed and the
entire engine rebuild ran another ~$4500. Don't drive it with coolant
in the oil. You may already have incurred additional damage that will
show up later.

I'd have the damage thoroughly assessed before pouring more money into
it.

Good luck,
- Duane

A oil analysis kit is the sure way to tell if coolant is in the oil.
--
John
"some suffer from insanity, I choose to enjoy it"

if youre gonna invest $1800 inti a head job or head gasket job which is way too high, change the whole engine for a cheaper. the $1800 is really high, but what everyone else has failed to mention is that: all that coolant & oil mixture has to be removed & cleaned up from the whole drive train system and the whole cooling and heating system before that vechicle can be restored back to normal operating standards. a very messy job. you can replace the engine for the cost of a engine head which cost $175 stripped down. then all that has to be done the clean up of coolant/oil mixture from the cooling/heating system as oppose to the engine block itself. I'm currently doing the same job on my 99 malibu. 9 times out of 10, the head is cracked, and that is what is causing the mixture, not the head gasket itself.