Hello everyone,

So here's how it goes. I'm driving my girlfriend home and I drop her off, I look up and see my engine bay is smoking white smoke. Temperature is fine but my coolant is 1/2 empty. I find out that I have a coolant leak, pretty bad one, a 'drip, drip, drip' as opposed to a 'drip......drip........drip'. It turns out to be the thermostat housing and I get that replaced. i drive home and the engine starts smoking again but theres no coolant leak. My mechanic diagnoses it's the head gasket thats gone. It's leaking (didn't specify what) onto the exhaust manifold and that's what's causing the smoke. I fire it up this morning and I get a coolant leak again, back to the 'drip, drip, drip'. After warming up a bit, it starts to smoke a little. I've added a pic to show you where its coming from...

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v490/flameboy54/IMG_3850_small.jpg

It's leaking where the red box is, that little square. It's kinda tucked away under the valve cover (sorry if I'm using the wrong part names, I'm not all that car savvy) and you can definately see coolant running down.

My intention was to keep this car for another 6-7 months and then scrap it for a new car, but with this happening now it kinda foiled my plans. I would like to find a temporary fix for this. For all the car experts out there, from my really bad description and picture, would Bar's or K&W sealant work in this situation? I really need this car to last for a few more months and seeing that I'm not going to keep it, I don't want to get the gasket replaced. Opinions are welcome. Thanks in advance!

I would replace the head gasket. Bar's or KW might seal it, but the down side is that it would also block the passages in the radiator and heater core. If you are going to scrap it at the boneyard I'd say okay, but I don't think it would be right to leave a problem like that for the next guy that comes along.

How certain are you that it is coming from the head? The box shows the location where the thermostat housing meets the head... could be that gasket. I'd use a good silicone seal rather than paper gaskets.

If it is coming from the head, I'd also advise against the Bar's Leaks. First, it may not even work with a leak as big as you describe, and second, it messes up everything else.

You could potentially have a bad head gasket or a crack.

The shop that replaced the thermostat housing may give you a small break on the head work if it becomes necessary... they misdiagnosed your problem and you paid for something you didn't need.