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- From: iseman@ravel.udel.edu (Stephen Early)
- Newsgroups: rec.autos.tech
- Subject: Re: Subaru billows white smoke...
- Message-ID: <Bt8I7M.9Hp@news.udel.edu>
- Date: 19 Aug 92 14:14:09 GMT
- Article-I.D.: news.Bt8I7M.9Hp
- References: <1992Aug18.190511.17756@panix.com>
- Sender: usenet@news.udel.edu
- Organization: University of Delaware
- Lines: 52
- Nntp-Posting-Host: ravel.udel.edu
-
- In article <1992Aug18.190511.17756@panix.com> nate@panix.com (Nate Clark) writes:
- >Quick question: I have an '85 Subaru with approx. 130k miles.
- >The car's in excellent condition, with one exception: it's just
- >started billowing white exhaust. I have it parked, and start
- >it every week to let the oil circulate, etc. Last week the car
- >started fine, but then suddenly seemed to lose compression. The
- >engine killed immediately. I was able to restart the thing, but
- >things still don't feel right. Anybody have experience with this
- >sort of thing? Is it possible I'm just seeing the results of
- >condensation in the engine (we did have a cold/hot/wet weather
- >spell),
-
- Possible, but not probable. Let the car run until it gets to operating temp.
- Let it cool and try again to see if you get the white smoke. Don't forget to
- check the coolant level first.
-
- >or more likely there's a problem with a cracked cylinder
- >or something? Any ideas would be appreciated.
- >
-
- More likely it's a blown head gasket. Since you don't drive the car, I doubt
- it's been overheated which is usually what cracks cylinders & blocks.
-
-
- >I was getting ready to unload the car, so two questions: how much
- >would it take to repair this kind of ailment? And assuming I don't have
- >it fixed and just try to sell it, what's it going to cost me in
- >street value?
- >
-
- The gasket costs about $10.00. If you do it yourself, figure on spending about
- 6 hours if you've never done a head gasket before. If you want someone else
- to do the job, figure on $400.00 and up depending on the prices in your area.
- This job is expensive due to the amount of labor involved, hence the incentive
- to do it yourself.
-
- If you do DIY, I suggest a Chiltons or other detailed car book. It will give
- you important stuff like torque values for the head bolts and the correct
- sequence to tighten them so you don't warp the head.
-
- Remember the rule of thumb...
-
- white smoke is water
- blue smoke is oil
- black smoke is fuel (too much of it)
-
- As far as should you fix the car before selling it; well that depends on what
- you can get for it fixed. Only you know what condition the car is in. You
- should check to see what the same car is worth in your area and then make a
- decision. There is no good answer to this question.
-
- Steve
-