I have a mysterious loss of coolant and I'm fairly certain it's leaking into the engine, either via a bad gasket or cracked head.

Would you opt to repair or replace the engine? I'm torn on what to do.

A new OEM engine is 3850 plus install, haven't gotten quotes on other repairs yet.

New and used vehicle prices are absurd right now. I don't wanna put money into this rig but I'm not seeing another choice at the moment.

Thanks in advance.

 

I would replace after it blew up! Did you block test it to verify? If so, dump in a mechanic in the can as an attempt to seal first, drive on until it blows. Then replace it!

 

are you sure the coolant is not going into the transmission instead of the engine via a bad radiator? engine might not be the issue?

 

Yeah I'd be carefully inspecting the engine oil, transmission fluid, and coolant to verify cross contamination. That is the first step as well as do NOT drive it until you have confirmed what the problem is. Coolant could also be coming out of the weep hole on the water pump. Generally you will smell a coolant leak though. Even in the transmission - if not driven much, it can be flushed, same with the engine.Just depends on how long it was run as to potential damages. Could very well be fine with a flush once the source of contamination is fixed.

 

Is the coolant loss catastrophic e.g. over hours, days or weeks?

 

you can pressurize the radiator to about whatever psi the rad cap is and look for leaks or try to see if you can hear it. could be as simple as a bad clamp or heater core not that that is simple. or a bad rad cap allowing coolant out the overflow. there are also dyes that can be added to coolant to trace it with yellow glasses and a uv light like the ones for ac leaks but the dye is for coolant use.

 

How many miles are on it? If it was under 100k and in good shape before the coolant loss and you can pinpoint it to say a cracked head, then it would be worth replacing the heads. If it has 170k, leaking oil pan and so on. I would opt for a new GM motor. Your options seem to be, trade it off as is, fix it short term or new engine for the long haul.

 

Check the floor boards for wetness, and if you pressurize the system, the HVAC box drains. I have seen many a misdiagnosis of head gasket, when in reality it was the heater core. You can rent a pressure tester from most autoparts stores and the test takes a very short amount of time. Keep in mind, a shop would love to sell you an engine. Not always malicious or deceptive; but, shops are busy, technicians inexperienced, and things sometimes get missed.