Got up this morning and was going to get the parts to fix the pickup that broke down on me yesterday. I used the step van to go into town and get the parts I needed. Got into town and everything was going along great, step van running like a top and was going along great!
Had to make a stop for some stuff at the grocery store but wanted to stop and get the stuff to fix the pickup first. Got everything I needed and was headed home, going along just fine no worries. I went to turn on our road and was about a mile from the house and I started smelling antifreeze. Thought that is not good and looked at the temp gauge on the step van and it was rising fast. In about a 1/2 mile it was pegged out, I was like what now. I pushed it home going really easy, not pushing the step van hard at this point, it was only a 1/2 mile. Got home parked and popped the hood, and the coolant reservoir top was popped out of the canister. I thought ok that might be a bad radiator cap so not bad. Let it cool down and I will get some water in it and see how it goes!
When it totally cooled down I filled the radiator with water and let it sit for a minute, then started it up. It ran ok for a minute and then it stalled restarted and the water was pushing out of the radiator, it was puking the water out with every compression stroke. Ok, not just a radiator cap, likely a busted head gasket. I had a friend come over after work and he confirmed that is what is wrong. Pressure test and as soon as it started it blew the top off the coolant canister again. Likely the head gasket is busted on the waterside of one of the heads, no water in the oil as of yet so not going to run it anymore.
So I am going to have to replace the head gaskets on the step van. I will have to power down my account some to do this as it is not a cheap repair. The parts are not that expensive it is the labor that will be expensive. It is about $200.00 for the gasket set and the replacement head bolts. Might have to have some other things, depending on if the exhaust bolts brake or not getting the manifolds off, or other problems we run into. I am not able to do it myself because of my knee problems as it is a van and is a lot of squatting and resting on the knees. I cannot do that, as I do not want surgery for a dislocated knee again.
I want to be able to make the Block Party in September. So will be taking it easy as not to screw that plan up too. I did not want to power down my account here as worked hard to build it up and it is really disappointing. I will be able to build it back up if I keep getting upvotes on my posts. Not really sure of the total labor costs right now but I will put out more info on this as I get more info. Life has thrown a lot at me lately and it is just plain kicking my butt. Sometimes it might be easier to just get a little piece of land and put a tiny house on it and get everything delivered from the internet with Amazon and Walmart, just become a hermit! LOL! Just Kidding! I hope everyone is having a better week than me. Just a little hiccup to struggle through and life will be good again. Have a good night/day, whatever it is in your part of the world.
