When I started up my D 2 weeks ago there was a small pop as she turned over and then she roared to live. I looked in the mirror as I went to back out of the garage and noticed that there was a huge cloud of vapor coming out of the tailpipes. At first I thought that it was condensation because of sitting for a couple weeks but then I smelled antifreeze so I pulled back into the garage. I opened the cap on the water bottle and saw that the coolant was frothy and thought, "well, time for new head gaskets. Sent her off to the shop and had them get started on the gaskets only to find out that coolant had corroded through the passage in the head into the combustion chamber. So now I'm looking at a used head, having the valves ground since the heads are out, new crankshaft seal since we are in there and replacing the timing chain that is adjusted out all the way. Since its all torn apart, might as well replace the clutch slave also. Looking at $1200 just in labor. I'm fortunate that I have a good mechanic that is familiar with these engines and isn't learning as he goes. I have changed the coolant once a year but have a feeling that the PO who was the original owner let it go for some time, So the moral is change the coolant or it will cost a bundle. Phil Priestley Alessandros Restaurant http://alessandros120.com/ (503)370-9951 To address comments privately to the moderating team, please address: moderators@xxxxxxxxxxx For more info on the list, tech articles, cars for sale see www.dmcnews.com To search the archives or view files, log in at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/dmcnews Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/dmcnews/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: dmcnews-unsubscribe@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/