ok ok ......not all 89's had cooling probs but it was common for that year.....and congrats on the 420,000 miles....anyone see that mercedes commercial when that old couple had one that had a million miles on it??

 

no

 

have you checked your heater hose? the one that runs from the firewall to the lower drivers side of the motor, where it connects to the engine, that spot in particular is notorious for failing (oil drips from the filter onto that hose, causing it to degrade quickly) if the clamp there has started to cut through the hose, it can cause a leak, and, allow air bubbles in. not saying it is that, but it is always good to check the cheapest answer first.

 

The 420,000+ isn’t all on one engine. Engine number two has 50,000 or so. But in the thirteen years I've owned this car, I've never had a cooling issue. The radiator has been replaced, all the hoses (a couple of times), thermostat, a couple of thermostat housings, a couple of water pumps, but those are all consumables - they are supposed to wear out. It’s like tires. No one says “all 89+ have tire issues”. It's part of operating a vehicle.



Mojo, if you borrow a cooling system pressure tester, that may give you some insight as to whether it’s rebuild time. I'd do that first because it's free. If it fails that test, and I couldn't find an external leak, then I'd have a radiator shop perform a CO2 test on the coolant. The CO2 test will tell you for sure whether a coolant seal is gone.

 

damn.. could u imagine, a million, ur almost half way there, i've never heard of any car hitting that. that'd be crazy

 

whats the compression? its a quick way to decide if u need a rebuild.