A 13 year old car and you got to use it for 1/2 of that is not to bad. A 2000 Mitsubishi is probably going to need some repairs due to wear. Also, this has a timing belt and maybe a balancing belt that only lasts 7 years or 90k miles.
SLOW DOWN… Yes a blown head gasket is ONE of the possible causes of this scenario but by NO MEANS is it the one and only. You need to figure out where the coolant is going… This should have been your first and foremost worry…
There are many places coolant can exit the system…so I wont try to cover all of them for you here… However… you need to do some homework.
Fill the system in your driveway and try not to spill any because it is time for you to look very carefully for any sources of leakage. A fresh dry piece of cardboard is useful here. Place large square of cardboard under the front of the vehicle and while it is in your driveway…Start and let the engine run for a good long while. When it is fully up to temp look for leaks. It is also a great time to squeeze your radiator hoses to see how they feel… A blown head gasket will essentially act like someone is pumping up your cooling system with an air pump…Which is sort of exactly what happens when a gasket fails. See if your Rad hoses feel like they are Very hard with air pressure…they should be firm…able to squeeze them with reasonable force…but they shouldnt appear almost inflated and feel very hard to the squeeze.
After that quick inspection…Look again for coolant leaks… I think you will find one in this instance… Find and remedy the leak or leaks… Then refill and move forward.
All of your symptoms that you describe stem from the loss of coolant…and going from a full cooling system…to a leaking/draining system…while the engine is running.
Find and fix the leak…and all these issues will go away…
Blackbird
Chaisssos: I got an owner’s manual which has some cursory but not very detailed maintenance information. It doesn’t have the maintenance schedule in it. I had to go to a site called Driversside.com for that. Is the service manual different?
Knfenimore: Actually I got to use the Sebring for more than half. I bought on December 1st 2007, and it had about 21,500 miles on it. I added an addition 113,000 since then.
The silver Mitsubishi Mirage is a great conveyance, but there’s a big downside. It’s harder to find in a parking lot. I only now noticed that roughly 95% of all smaller sized cars (sedans, coupes, hatchbacks and the like) are grey or white. The Sebring was a mechanical nightmare but at least it was distinctive. I need to add some bling to the car, make it stand out.