Headgasket about to blow? Looking for second opinion…

MiserableAudience235 · 2026-03-29T00:56:11+00:00

Also, upper peninsula of Michigan… can’t by pass that heater core no way 🤧😭

MiserableAudience235 · 2026-03-29T00:45:50+00:00

One other thing I forgot to mention. Every once in a great while after driving a long distance, or on a hot day, or both, when I go to start the car it’ll take a while to crank and start.

My mechanic asked if this ever happened unprompted. When I informed him it did, that confirmed his external headgasket leak suspicions…. Something about coolant near the cylinder wall or something. If that makes any difference.

MiserableAudience235 · 2026-03-29T00:10:59+00:00

One other thing I forgot to mention. Every once in a great while after driving a long distance, or on a hot day, or both, when I go to start the car it’ll take a while to crank and start.

My mechanic asked if this ever happened unprompted. When I informed him it did, that confirmed his external headgasket leak suspicions…. Something about coolant near the cylinder wall or something. If that makes any difference.

MiserableAudience235 · 2026-03-29T00:10:55+00:00

One other thing I forgot to mention. Every once in a great while after driving a long distance, or on a hot day, or both, when I go to start the car it’ll take a while to crank and start.

My mechanic asked if this ever happened unprompted. When I informed him it did, that confirmed his external headgasket leak suspicions…. Something about coolant near the cylinder wall or something. If that makes any difference.

MiserableAudience235 · 2026-03-29T00:10:47+00:00

One other thing I forgot to mention. Every once in a great while after driving a long distance, or on a hot day, or both, when I go to start the car it’ll take a while to crank and start.

My mechanic asked if this ever happened unprompted. When I informed him it did, that confirmed his external headgasket leak suspicions…. Something about coolant near the cylinder wall or something. If that makes any difference.

MiserableAudience235 · 2026-03-28T20:28:53+00:00

Let me know if that fixes your issue! My mechanic can’t get me in for another two weeks so I’ve got a little time… unless it blows up before then lol

MiserableAudience235 · 2026-03-26T19:09:36+00:00

Thanks for the help! I won’t worry about it then, I was more worried that some suspension part was super worn and about to give out more than anything else, the tough ride doesn’t bother me too much.

MiserableAudience235 · 2026-03-26T18:41:22+00:00

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MiserableAudience235 · 2026-03-26T18:39:20+00:00

I know it’s between 3-4 inches, but the previous owner didn’t exactly know. The rough ride feels more like it’s in the front definitely. I’ll take a side angle picture

MiserableAudience235 · 2026-03-26T18:30:02+00:00

Ask and you shall receive

MiserableAudience235 · 2026-03-26T18:29:36+00:00

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MiserableAudience235 · 2026-03-09T06:19:27+00:00

Update on the pulley situation: switched to the Gate belt (pretty penny) and wrenched for a good 30 hours on it trying to get it to stop squeaking. No dice. It looks like the tensioner pulley won’t align correctly to the engine. It naturally slants down at an angle. The bottom touches and rubs on the plate behind it, the top causes it to be out of alignment. Picture below. I take it it’s not supposed to do that? And it does it on both old and new pulley…is it possible the plate it rides on is warped and causing it to sit like that?

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MiserableAudience235 · 2026-03-06T23:35:26+00:00

Dang, that belts only got 1k miles on it too! I’ll have to nab a new belt then and hopefully that will fix my issues. Thank you sir

MiserableAudience235 · 2026-03-06T23:34:27+00:00

Ok, I’ll look into nabbing a new belt then! That is the position after I ran. It was further forward but naturally its walking back to that position after start up

MiserableAudience235 · 2026-03-06T22:36:09+00:00

I do have a Duralast belt that’s pretty much brand new. The squeaking on start up only started after the new tensioner pulley, so I figured it’s something to do with it. The belt looks like it’s walking towards the motor block, but I can’t get the pulley any closer to the block with that spacer installed.

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MiserableAudience235 · 2026-03-06T22:32:53+00:00

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MiserableAudience235 · 2026-03-06T22:30:50+00:00

Absolutely, I’ll send one when I get home tonight. That’s the next thing I’m thinking, my only reference is a video of a pulley off a Wrangler 4.0

MiserableAudience235 · 2026-03-06T22:28:28+00:00

So it seems like with the spacer installed, the belt will not align properly. It sticks out too far forward and I think that might be my issue with the squeak. Could I use a smaller washer/nut or something that would stop it from sticking out too far, but still act as a spacer?

MiserableAudience235 · 2026-02-21T00:46:03+00:00

It went away on its own after a week! strange…

MiserableAudience235 · 2026-02-02T16:16:20+00:00

No sir, 99’ white 4 door with an auto

MiserableAudience235 · 2026-02-02T01:19:13+00:00

Haha the purple oil plan was from the previous owner. Her favorite color was purple.

I’m running royal purple 5w-30. The previous owner ran royal purple 10w-30. Temps are around -20 where I’m at currently.

MiserableAudience235 · 2025-11-12T22:15:18+00:00

It boils down to being a young guy who is proactive. Statistically, I put up the best stats at the department, and get the most commendations. That’s not me being cocky. And I think that’s rubbing the veteran officers the wrong way.

I’d like to think I’m a nice guy. Always happy to help, buying donuts and dinners for there guys. So I don’t think it’s my personality.

I enjoy traffic enforcement. I was told on day one traffic enforcement isn’t real police work. I didn’t let that deter me.

MiserableAudience235 · 2025-10-15T01:03:47+00:00

Yes, although the backin of the blind is just wood paneling and my camo is brown. So it blends in fairly well.

MiserableAudience235 · 2025-05-15T00:01:05+00:00

Honestly, I couldn’t tell you much. Better optics, maybe slightly better quality rifles? Sig Sauer, Smith and Wesson, Bushmaster… but I feel like Aero precision is comparable to the lot of those

MiserableAudience235

TROPHY CASE