Chev Lumina (190K miles) with possible blown seal

Hello,

I may have been driving my old Chev Lumina car (1997, 3.1L eng.) a
little hard on the gas pedal lately and now there is a pronounced leak
from the engine of light brown coolant around the accessory drive belt
shaft. The leak slows down to a slow drip when parked but after
driving it, there is quite a lot of flow. My radiator overflow tank
is virtually empty and other fluid levels remain topped up. Also the
area around the water pump (which I changed around 2 years ago), is
dry. It is Sunday and no mechanic is open, and I need to know if this
car is worth keeping any more.

If the main head gasket or some other major seal needs replacement, I
suppose that will push the repair bill over what the car is worth.
Any opinions if this analysis is correct? Anything else I can check
myself this evening?

It's most likely the brass adapter that bolts to the top of the pump
housing,

which the heater and bypass hose go onto.

RK
"scgtking" > wrote in message
ups.com...
> Hello,
>
> I may have been driving my old Chev Lumina car (1997, 3.1L eng.) a
> little hard on the gas pedal lately and now there is a pronounced leak
> from the engine of light brown coolant around the accessory drive belt
> shaft. The leak slows down to a slow drip when parked but after
> driving it, there is quite a lot of flow. My radiator overflow tank
> is virtually empty and other fluid levels remain topped up. Also the
> area around the water pump (which I changed around 2 years ago), is
> dry. It is Sunday and no mechanic is open, and I need to know if this
> car is worth keeping any more.
>
> If the main head gasket or some other major seal needs replacement, I
> suppose that will push the repair bill over what the car is worth.
> Any opinions if this analysis is correct? Anything else I can check
> myself this evening?
>

Thank you for the suggestion, but I had it looked at this morning by a
mechanic and the worst fears have come true. After applying pressure
to the coolant system at the radiator cap, fluid gushed out of some
leak, most likely a blown head gasket (or cracked block?) on the
engine right above where the accessory drive shaft comes out.

A shame as I gambled on this happening a lot later. Last spring I let
another place rebuild the transmission. Anyway life goes on, and I am
car-free for a while. It's actually a little liberating.