Expert: Roger J.M. Warrington - 2/10/2005

Question
We just bought this repo'd 97 Chevy Cavalier on Jan 11 so my son could deliver pizzas.  He drives it 120 mi/per workday; it has 102K miles.  The car has begun to typically show 3/4 way toward hot on the temp gauge.  The guy who did the front end alignment today said there appears to be a small leak on the head gasket.  We recently had the radiator flushed and it is full of coolant, not leaking or cracked.  What should I do to prevent blowing the head gasket?  Can I use some kind of sealant?  Can it be repaired?  What can I expect this to cost us?

Answer
 HI Carol,
          Head Gasket, lot of labor ,  well if you say you see that the coolent level is full that is good , do you see any white stuff on the oil dip stick , if no that is also good if yes that is bad. But you can try a can of
BARES STOP LEAK in a brown/yellow can with  lil pelletts in it.Add a can of it or two if needed . this should do the trick, and as far as the over heating - how is the cap ? and the thermastadt, you should replace it with a lower size one so the car will run cooler, and be shure the belts are tight too.as all of that stop and go driving will heat a car up, and how is the fan doing ?
Check all of these things as they could be causing the problum.
 good luck
 Roger