tuffluck

iTrader: (4)

i noticed a strange smell when i would stop at a light the other day. it smells like a burnt light bulb. i would open the hood and not see anything, nor could i tell where exactly the smell was coming from. it's been doing this for about the past week now.

where my EGR used to sit, there is a black, wet streak running down the block. i wiped my finger across it, but could not really tell what the smell of it was. i don't even think it really had a smell. nonetheless, i haven't noticed this on the part of the block where the EGR goes ever, especially since i just took the EGR off about 2 months ago. it's just happened recently.

also, my oil dipstick looks fine and just like oil, but i'm terribly low on coolant (although temp is running fine). i just checked the antifreeze about 2 months ago also, at which time it was the same place it was 2 months before that (at the top).

i would say it is 100% a head gasket that's blown because of the sweet odor and because of the antifreeze and the black wet mark on the engine. but the oil dipstick does not cease to look normal. it's just like it always has looked. i don't really know. help? assuming it is a blown head gasket, ideally, how little should i drive on it, even if i drive it grandmother-like?

silverTA2002

iTrader: (1)

If I were you, I wouldn't drive it at all.

Better to find the issue now before you make it worse.

Driving a broken car is a good way to waste $$.

tuffluck

iTrader: (4)

well at the current moment i have absolutely no advice being given to me nor do i have any knowledge on the matter, so i have no clue what could be the issue or how to even diagnose and/or fix the problem.

secondly, i have a job i have to be at every single day and i do not have a 2nd car to drive, so i have absolutely no choice but to drive it. that's why i'm asking right now how dire this situation is.

silverTA2002

iTrader: (1)

Sorry to hear about your situation, but the best advice I can give is to find a mechanic, or a friend who knows something about cars and have them come to your house to diagnose the problem.

If you drive a broken car, it can only get worse. That's how you turn easy/cheap fixes into major mechanical problems.

As far as getting to work goes.... maybe call a friend at work and see if they'll carpool. I'm sure someone can understand the "broken car" problem and want to help out. Who hasn't been there?

It's just really really hard to diagnose a problem over the internet. You kinda got to see/hear what's going on to really know.

silverTA2002

iTrader: (1)

Either way, if the car is broken, you'll have to find another way to get to work when the car is getting fixed. Might as well set that up now before the problem gets any worse and you'll have to wait LONGER to get if fixed.

calongo_SS

iTrader: (7)

If it wasn't for the wet spot on the engine, I'd say it could be a bad heater core. It still may be, something to look at anyway. I had a heater core go bad in a car once, and it smelled like coolant for quite a while before it actually sprung a noticeable leak.

tuffluck

iTrader: (4)

heater core? you might want to fill me in on what exactly could be going on. thanks for the info.

doesn't smell like coolant at all, just smells like a burnt light bulb. there is really no better way to describe it.

mikemodano9c

take it somewhere that can pressurize the coolant system to see if/where it is leaking.

2formulas

iTrader: (2)

if you absolutely must drive it atleast check the coolant level before you leave home and work and carry a gallon or two of fluid in your trunk. if that thing ***** and your car starts overheating your gonna really be screwed if you drive it. warped heads, cracked block, your gonna be in a serious hurt locker. the heater core is near your passanger foot rest (atleast on most cars, don't know about these??)

tuffluck

iTrader: (4)

can i do that on my own? how do i, if so, and if not, where should i take it and how much $$ should i expect it to cost?

tuffluck

iTrader: (4)

so i added just a little more than a pint of water, but less than a quart in my coolant system.

i did notice that the area around my pcv valve was very wet (and that also sits right on top of the EGR area that i originally saw being wet looking). the dirt/ooze on and around the pcv valve was black, but the only thing i could really tell that it smelled like was gas, although even gas smell was faint in it. still though, would a bad pcv valve be causing all these problems - loss of coolant, smelly car, bad start?

Ferocity02

iTrader: (60)

Drain out some coolant and see how dirty it is and check for some floating on the top.

SUX2BU

iTrader: (14)

i'm in dallas area and work on LS1's.

tuffluck

iTrader: (4)

thanks. i'll get back to you if i need some help!

bulletLS1

you shoul take to a shop and diagnose in your lunch hour (ask for a long lonch hour), then put some radiator stop leak, (liquid).

seriously, you sound that you have no major mods and drive conservatebily (calm!) NOW YOU SHOULD!
this will prevent a leak to the cyl and a hydraulick lockup and BAM!
this will buy you time, until you schedule a head gasket swap....

could be the water pump and the water pump pulley spraying to the head area where you think is the leak, (also look under the hood).....

MakoLS1

WHen my car devolped a head gasket leak, I first started noticing I would have to add coolant every other week, then i noticed a coolant leak and i traced it right where the head gasket meets the block where the gasket is. If its a head gasket leak look for a leak around the head gaskets. Unless its aa head gasket leak inside the block but then your oil would have coolant in it in that case. what you described you found sounds like engine grime.