So I come to a stop on the highway after setting off this morning, and smoke starts coming out of my hood on the left hand side. I stick in in neutral and rev the engine, more smoke comes out. CRAP…. So I drive it to work anyways, about a 15 KM trip.
Pop the hood, and check and sure enough, the rad overflow is bone dry, I unscrew the rad, and its about half full (Hard to tell with a flashlight). Everything was full when I left (I check every day)
So chances are, the head gasket is gone.
The car is a 96 Chev Lumina car with the 3.1 engine, 180,000km on the engine. Its worth (when working) about 100 dollars for the charity receipt I’d get for donating it to a scrap yard. But its worth about 4k to the insurance company (I tried my hardest but no one would rear-end me on the way here).
A car of equal crap would cost about 4-5k dollars, and could have the exact same problem. A good car would be closer to 7-10k.
So, should I try and get this thing repaired? Or scrap it, take the financial hit and get another car?