1993 Supercoupe Problems

NYTRIDR

Registered User
Hi, Im new to car repair and diagnostics so please go easy on the noob.

I live in Sacramento, CA and have been having some issues with my SC. Ive been neglecting my SC for awhile now, having only driven short distances or not at all for the past 3 - 4 months. For the past couple weeks the SC has had some problems starting up in the morning. It starts, but only after turning and holding the key to make it catch. Once it starts, it idles roughly and almost sounds like it will stall as i back out of my driveway. Yesterday, I noticed a lot of white exhaust fumes coming out of the back of my car so I stopped backing out of my driveway and parked it in my garage fearing the worst. I called up my mechanic and he told me I had a leaking head gasket or something like that. On the other hand a friend told me to check my coolant to see if I had oil in there. I did not. He also had me check my dipstick to see if there were any bubbles or foam indicating I had something in my oil. I did not. So my oil and coolant are clean, no oil in the coolant, no coolant or water in the oil. So what is the problem with my SC?

Once again, the problems I experience are: rough idle and lag in acceleration, white exhaust clouds and difficult engine catch on start up.

I have a lot of money into my car. I would replace the engine if that was the only problem. I cant see spending more than $3000 on a 1993 car though.

Please give me some advice. Thank You.
 
Have your mechanic do a cooling system pressure test to confirm it's the head gaskets. If it is the gaskets it's probably going to cost $1200-$1500 to have a shop do the repairs.

David

PS: It might just be a fouled plug and condensation from the car sitting so long.
 
yeah, i have a feeling this mechanic might just be trying to rip me off. Like I said, there wasnt oil in my coolant or any foriegn liquid in my oil. He quoted me over the phone $1200 just for the labor.

I hope its just a plug thats bad, that would save me a lot of money.
 
Oil in the water or oil in the water are not the only signs of head gasket failure. i'm not saying that i think your head gasket are at fault, i am just saying that simply because you do not have these syptoms, do not rule out head gaskets as the culprit. However, when cars sit for a while, things tend to deteriorate for one reason or another, they start to stick, things rust, water gets into things it shoudln't ect. i would suggest getting a second person to look at it, maybe a third, preferably someone who knows supercoupes.
I'm not sure what area you are from, but judging by your name i will assume NY.
I have heard good things about "east end super coupe service", although i have never used them,
here is a thread if you are interested:
http://www.sccoa.com/forums/showthread.php?t=20122
 
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I live in Sacramento, CA. The SC hasnt been just sitting in my garage collecting dust, Im sorry if I hinted to that. I take it for short drives of about 20-30 minutes a day twice or more a week. I keep it in top running shape, I change the oil regularly and have the engine compartment clean. I still dont understand why all of a sudden my car would start to have these kinds of issues. As of today, the car has 138k miles on the engine. Is this a lot for an SC? Ive had 2 Grand Prixs in the past that had more miles than that and never had a problem like this.
 
No matter what you do, the head gaskets are going to fail eventually. Most head gaskets failures don't get coolant into the oil, instead you get combustion gas into the cooling passages and the gas forces out the coolant.

Most of the time this will result in the coolant overflow tank bubbling or overflowing and the engine temp will quickly rise. The problem is that when you shut the motor off the coolant will flow back into the cylinder. Get too much in and it will hydrolock or bend a rod trying to start the motor.

David
 
David, that sounds about right for the problems Im experiencing. God, I hope this doesnt turn out to be too expensive. I really love my car and would hate to have to get rid of it over this issue.
 
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