OK so I drove the 850 home from picking up tags. radiator blew- I fixed it- well after that I did the head gasket test- its blown. Do I get the head gasket fixed or just try to sell the car- disclosing the head gasket issue?
156K

 

What part of the country are you in?
How would you describe your experience with auto repair?
Do you have friends that are fabulous mechanics?
If you look around in your area of craigslist, what kind of prices do you see on 850's that run? Here I can find them for $1000.

 

P.S. I will just add that a 20-year-old European car will not really give economical service if you take it to a mechanic. It has to be something that you are determined to work on yourself.

 

Yes but IM not experienced enough to rebuild a head gasket...
which is why Im asking about taking it to a shop or just selling it.

 

So, I replaced the radiator. With the reservoir tank cap OFF the "low Coolant" light comes on but the temp gauge inside car doesnt move. Shoudln't these 2 things work together? If the low coolant light (little red picture of a fan) is on shouldnt the gauge be rising?
The cap was off b/c i was trying to figure out if the thermostat is bad.
im trying to figure out if the head gasket is for sure bad.

 

the sensor for the coolant level is in the overflow tank. the temperature gauge is driven by the coolant temp sensor so they are independent of one another. By removing the cap, all you are doing is allowing the pressure to not build past atmosphere (the 850's cooling system is pressurized to create a higher boiling point). When your car is warmed up, does the hose from the thermostat housing to the radiator get hot? Curious what is leading you to believe you have a bad head gasket? any signs of sludge in the coolant? did you try a HC test (to see if exhaust gases are pushing into the coolant - which could indicate a head gasket problem or cracked cylinder head)? any foaming of the oil on the dipstick or in the filler cap? Have you done a compression test to see if there's low compression in two adjacent cylinders?

Replacing the thermostat is a $15 investment. If your temp gauge is rising with no other signs of overheating, you may also have a bad temp sensor. Since replacing the temp sensor requires the removal of the thermostat cover and top hose, for about $50-75 you can replace both the sensor and the thermostat and see if that cures your issues.

 

the thermometer INSIDE the car is NOT rising...- but I can tell the radiator is bubbling b/c I can see it with the hood up and cap off... What/where is the fix for the inside cabin temp not reading?

 

I don't think you need to fix the temperature gauge to do what you're trying to do. If bubbles are coming out of the engine into the coolant tank, and you see a lot of gas volume coming that way, then that would be a pretty strong head gasket indication.


It's hard to troubleshoot things on the internet. When you say "the radiator is bubbling" I assume that is what you mean, but I don't really know of course.


You'll notice you don't say in your above post that the engine got warm. If the engine gets warm, then the temperature gauge should move. You can use a scan tool to read engine temperature from the computer, and that will tell you whether the computer had the correct information or not. The gauge is operated by the computer. There's only one sensor, and it's located right next to the thermostat.

 

Yeah I'm trying to see if temp gauge inside ,why isn't it moving?. I'm assuming engine is getting hot by response of coolant. My confusion,and lack of knowledge is ic coolant is bubbling and low coolant light is on- why isn't internal thermometer in cabin- why isn't it moving

 

I don't understand "response of coolant". If the coolant gets hot enough to scald you, then the gauge should move. it starts moving at 50 degrees C (122 F)

 

you can test the resistance of the engine coolant temp sensor - cold should be 3000 ohms or more, warm engine resistance should drop to under 300 ohms. The sensor is located right under the thermostat housing cover (follow the top radiator hose to the engine block and look down). Connector is right there as well.