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1st time user and posting for a friend.


The vehicle is a 1997 SL1 with 160,542 miles with auto trans and AC.
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The problems reported are:


-radiator overheats and spills from the coolant reservoir


-hardstarting when the vehicle is hot


-vehicle loses power while hot


Any advice is greatly appreciated.


Thank you.

 

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Might be a head gasket problem. Headgasket leak allows pressure of the firing cylinder closest to the leak to blow pressure of expanding gasoline ignited by spark pluginto the waterjacket..... around the cylinder head. This high pressure blows water through head, then through the radiator and out into the overflow tank... which fills up and spills coolant. Less coolant means engine overheats. Add more coolant and it just keeps blowing the liquid into the oveflow...which itself overflows onto the street.


Use a pressure gage to measure the psi pressure in each spark plug hole. Each cylinder should be 140 psi or higher as you crank the starter with all the spark plugs removed and the gas peddle to the floor. If 3 cylinders measure up and the forth shows low pressure, you got a problem with the head gasket. (You should be able to buy a cylinder pressuregage at any auto parts store and maybe Wal-mart). Keep us posted.
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