Coolant leak rough idle

[sphixson]

I have a 98 Malibu with a persistant but not obvious coolant leak. It just began running rough at speeds below 40 with a strong exhaust odor (sometimes raw gas) at which point it begins to run fine. The check engine light flashes until I reach speed. It sat for several weeks without use but on my way to replace a transmission for a friend it began the rough running. (Karma?)
Wondering if it's similar to this thread.
http://www.automotivehelper.com/topic361029.htm
If Dexcool has dissolved the gaskets do I have legal recourse? I heard about a class action.

Thanks

[BeatnikTermite]

When there is a slow leak, with no obvious signs of spillage, that usually means the gaskets have failed internally, which is much worse than when they fail externally. Instead of dripping the coolant out to the ground, it is seeping into the crankcase. Open the oil fill on the front of the engine to see if the oil looks "foamy." If this is the case, I suggest getting the upper intake manifold gaskets replaced as soon as possible, because this can cause the engine to sieze up. See many other posts here for descriptions and prices.

As far as legal recourse, no, you are not going to get much of anything. About the best that anyone has got is a couple of hundred dollars "loyalty cash" from a Chevy dealer. This usually does not help that much though, since they will only give it on cars with fewer miles, and since they charge a couple of hundred dollars more than your normal mechanic would.

Hope this helps.

[sphixson]

no foam in the oil, it does however smell of antifreeze. The rough idle that self corrects at higher rpms has me baffled. I'm sort of broke so I was hoping to id the problem without having to take it to a shop to run the diagnostics. Any hints to help narrow down the culprit?

Thanks

[bearcatdon]

Let me guess you have approx. 80,000 miles on it. Sounds like your intake gasket is gone. As the antifreeze pours into your cylinder it causes a misfire which is probably turning your engine light on. A scan at auto zone would confirm that. The problem will get worse before it gets better. Being that GM's fix was to apply a higher torque on the outer bolts tells me that the intake was actually warping like a banana more so then Dexcool dissolving the gasket.

[tom3]

Our new Blazer started leaking internally at 12K miles. Warranty fix by the dealer was to put in some cooling system sealer tabs, magic sawdust I've heard it called, and they called it fixed. Has not leaked a drop in the last year so I guess it will do the intended job - make it through the warranty period. Anyway, you might go the local dealer and get a card of these tablets and put in your radiator and see if they work for you. My coolany looks like new and heater etc are working fine.

[sphixson]

Originally Posted by tom3

Our new Blazer started leaking internally at 12K miles. Warranty fix by the dealer was to put in some cooling system sealer tabs, magic sawdust I've heard it called, and they called it fixed. Has not leaked a drop in the last year so I guess it will do the intended job - make it through the warranty period. Anyway, you might go the local dealer and get a card of these tablets and put in your radiator and see if they work for you. My coolany looks like new and heater etc are working fine.

Thanks guys, I feared the worst so I took matters to the dealer and traded for a 99 s-10 4 cyl p/u. I believe it was the intake gasket since that would explain the flashing engine light, rough idle and strong exhaust odor and poor mileage. Thanks for the help and quick reply.