Hi all,
I have a 1998 Chevy Malibu with only 188,000 miles on it and it has a small leak on the engine. The leak started about 3 years ago when I had the water pump replaced by some one for “cheap”. Later I figured out that the water pump didn’t need replace and the “cheap” replacement has costed me a big stain on my driveway.
I was waiting for the car to “die” and then invest into a new one but since the car has been so good to me I was thinking of finally getting it fixed, but with almost 200k miles on it I was wondering if it was worth it or should I just wait for it to die.
I put about 1 quart of oil a month on this car and it runs excellent.
Thanks in Advance for any suggestions you may have
Take to a good mechanic, not one who works on the cheap, and not a chain shop either. Get a real apprasial of where it is leaking and what the proper fix would be.
It sounds like the car is fine and has many more miles of life left in it. If the cost of the proper repair is reasonable, get it fixed. If not, get a mat for the driveway and run it as it is.
It Depends . . .
It depends on what exactly is leaking and how much exactly it’s going to cost to fix it, don’t you know ?
Then it depends on how much “worth it” is, don’t you know ?
And that depends on how long until it dies. Who knows, don’t you know ?
How much to fix it ? If it’s “reasonable” to you, then go for it.
And see somebody about that big unsightly stain !
CSA
Thanks for the advice, I already made an appointment with a shop that fixed it in the right location after the water pump incident, granted it cost me three times as much as the “cheap” fix but hasn’t given me any issues since then.
The new shop says they are going to put some sort of die on it and that I should run the car for about a week, then I will come back to the shop and with a black light they should be able to figure out the location of the leak and how much it will cost to repair it. I don’t mind at all having to put a quart of oil on it a month, the thing that bothers me is leaving stains at work or at home.
Again, thanks for the affirmation.
It depends on what exactly is leaking and how much exactly it’s going to cost to fix it, don’t you know ?
-No Idea how much it woudl cost
Then it depends on how much “worth it” is, don’t you know ?
- The car is only about 2,000 worth
And that depends on how long until it dies. Who knows, don’t you know ?
- I wish I knew! I have been waiting for 3 years by now
These model Malibus have a tendency for leaking head gaskets. You might want the shop to pressure test the engine. What color is your antifreeze? If it looks like something out of the “Black Lagoon” it’s probably Dexcool. Read up about the horrors of Dexcool on the internet or ask someone in the shop when you are there.
Interesting, but I’m not sure what the antifreeze would have to do with the leaking of the car. Say it is the head gaskets is there any ball park idea of how much does it cost to seal those properly and when done is there a risk for it to happen again?
I have to say the shop I am going to they are not cheap at all but one thing is for sure, they have repaired two of my cars correctly but just to have an idea for fixing a water leak was $600 and that was near the top, it was a little plastic thing that had 2 hoses attached to it. Now a head gasket? I can only imagine it would be more than 1,000 and the car is worth about 2,000
how many cylinders is your engine? if it is the 4 cylinder engine it probably isnt the head gaskets. Also if your head gaskets were leaking you would probably be replacing the antifreeze every month not the oil. A quick test for antifreeze in your oil is to pull the dip stick and see if the oil has any bubbles in it.
kitty litter will pull oil stains out of your drive way or garage if you dont mind putting oil in the car, but I would not put any big money into a 98 malibu with a V6 engine they don’t have a good track record.
If you have to ask, I say yes, it’s time. You can keep it of course, but I like to say that they’re done at this point.