? Stevebfl

[ako]

Hi Steve,

I've been learning a lot from your inputs in this forum. Thanks so much for sharing us your knowledge and wisdom.

My 300 TE has the dreaded head gasket leak since 112K miles.
It now has 118K miles. I add 1 quart of oil every 1k miles. The leak is external as evidenced by the oil leak at the back of the engine head gasket area--passenger side. To date, there is no oil mixed in the coolant reservoir.

I'd appreciate it if you could answer these questions:

1. What are the consequences of continuing to drive the car without having the head gasket replaced?

2. Will the oil leak eventually become internal--oil mixing with the coolant?

3. Is it alright to just keep on adding oil when the low engine oil light shows and not have the leak repaired?

4. How would I know if I need a valve job? Valve stem seals were replaced at 95K miles.

Thanks again Steve.

RV
------------------------------
1992 300 TE 118K miles

[engatwork]

I'll take the liberty to answer some of these.

1) Excessive oil usage.
2) It could.
3) It would not be alright for me but yes, you can run it like that.
4) A compression test will provide alot of infomation as far as whether you need to go through the valves or not.

Personally, I would resolve the oil leak issues, especially seeing as how the weather is starting to cool off and it is getting where it is not so hot that you can't spend Saturdays and Sundays under the hood/car.