During a cold-snap last year our car engine started knocking. No warranty left. Brought it in and the mechanic was afraid to dig into the engine because it would cost me a lot of money and potentially not fix the problem, especially considering we had no idea what the real problem was. So we’ve been driving it locally with the knock.
Then the car started stalling about every 4 months. We discovered a quick oil change kept it running like normal. I figured something was contaminating the oil because of the knock but that was just my guess. Perhaps metal shavings?
On our most recent oil change the mechanic noticed coolant in the oil. Probably a blown head gasket. He said it’s $1500 to replace (if that’s actually what’s wrong) but there’s a chance that there’s irreparable damage (considering we’ve been driving it with a knock, and it’s been stalling, for at least a year now…). He also said he ‘thinks’ the knocking noise is a rocker knock and unfixable. Do these things have anything in common? Or are those most likely completely separate occurrences?
We just paid the car off last month and really want to keep it, especially since we are short on cash and are trying to save up down a down payment on a house. Do I take the risk and pay the $1500 to replace the blown head gasket in hopes that it will last us at least another year? Or do you think this is silly and I should just trade it in somewhere while I still can and then take on another car loan?