97 Buick leaking antifreeze, smell coolant out tailpipe, oil lks good? What do I do and how much will it cost?

1997 Buick Century. Stop leak products worked for about 10,000 miles. Car has 100,000 miles. Should I buy the head gasket kit and have my back yard mechanic do the job?|||In my experience, stop leak products rarely work for that long. It is possible that only your intake manifold gasket is leaking and not the head gaskets, since you don't have water in your oil. Given the car's age and mileage, I think it would be best to go ahead with head gasket job. Your mechanic will have to replace the intake gasket anyway. This will definitely solve your problem and it would be a good time to evaluate the condition of your valves. I would at least replace the valve guides and grind the valves and seats if necessary. Check the heads for cracks, warpage etc and have a few thousandths milled to ensure a flat surface for your new gaskets. Inspect the cylinder walls for wear. Put it all back together and run a compression test on it. You may find that your engine is in like new condition after you have finished.|||Sounds like a good idea|||bad head gasket smokes to i bet.up to you.(leaking on exhaust side.|||You have a failed Head Gasket. Do not use any more stop leak or you will be replacing the radiator and heater core.





Get it done asap or you can cause major engine damage in the cylinders/pistons.|||You might want to check the intake manifold, your leak might actually be there. Buick V6's were known for intake manifold leaks, my 1994 Century developed one a few weeks ago...look at the manifold where it bolts to the head, particularly on the driver's side of the car...do you see a greenish stain at the mating surface? If so, that's where the leak is, much easier to fix than the head gasket....look there first.|||this is very typical for a GM automobile, gm has a class action lawsuit because of the dexcool coolant they used, it eats up the head gasket, they do make a head gasket sealer , i saw on two guys garage on the speed channel, it's similar to stop leak, but made for leaking head gaskets , and suppose to last 30000-50000 miles. you can probably check it out at your local auto parts store