so i bought a 97rs cheap since i needed a car for work and school.

first thing i did was an oil change.after that i did a radiator flush since i needed a new radiator cap and my car would start to overheat in stop and go traffic.but ever since i did the flush, my exhaust would release white smoke.from what i read that could be either coolant burning or my headgasket is leaking.if so, i dont know why it didnt blow out smoke before my flush..please help

if its the headgasket, might as well change the timing belt as well.
any estimates on how much a headgasket repair is?

thanks alot

White smoke is coolant burning, as you said. I don't see how just doing a flush could cause anything to suddenly make you blow coolant through your exhaust. It could be your head gasket, or it could be in the head itself (bent valves, bad seals, etc). Will you be doing the work yourself, or will you bring it to a shop? That is what will determine the price :)

thanks for your input.i think ill take it to a shop considering i have no time to do it myself(work and school)

what are some good sites ,besides the ones advertised, for either aftermarket or oem parts?

thanks again

Well, are you looking to go turbo, or stay N/A? It is very hard and expensive to get any decent power going the N/A route, so I hope that if you are planning on making it faster, you go the turbo route. If you do decide this, just research till your eyes bleed on what it takes to turbo a 420A. There have been a number of good writeups done, so all the info you will need is already here, just search. Hope you find what you are lookinf for :)

Yeah, one thing I have found is that whenever you do a radiator flush or any other full clean system, sometimes it will wash away some of the gunk that actually seals your engine....Same way with some of those tranny flush, fill and filter changes..>You may find that your tranny will start slipping aftewards because ya washed away what held it together....

Originally posted by 97eclipse97
Well, are you looking to go turbo, or stay N/A? It is very hard and expensive to get any decent power going the N/A route, so I hope that if you are planning on making it faster, you go the turbo route. If you do decide this, just research till your eyes bleed on what it takes to turbo a 420A. There have been a number of good writeups done, so all the info you will need is already here, just search. Hope you find what you are lookinf for :)

That has no relevance to the OP’s question, at all, he said he bought a cheap car for work & school, not for performance

Since it would get hot in stop & go traffic, I’m guessing it may have a blown head gasket. The head may have warped slightly causing a small gap, and the flush may have cleaned it out. Again, this is speculation, and there are tests to see if you’ve got a leaky head gasket.

Are you losing water? Pull the spark plugs out and see if one is cleaner than the rest. Typically, the one with water will have less carbon on it when compared to the others that are running properly.

well as of now its just for school and work, but i was planning on a rebuild before hand..didnt do my research before bc i wanted to do a gst swap but since the 420 front clips are different, itll be wayy to expensive trying to fabricate the engine bay.

thanks ill look at my spark plugs and see whats up.
is it a good idea to change my timing belt with my head gasket since you are taking off the timing belt to change the hg?

Originally posted by rohrohthaprnstar
is it a good idea to change my timing belt with my head gasket since you are taking off the timing belt to change the hg?

Yes, get the mechanical timing belt tensioner from PartsDinosaur and replace your waterpump while you're in there.

Originally posted by rohrohthaprnstar
i wanted to do a gst swap but since the 420 front clips are different, itll be wayy to expensive trying to fabricate the engine bay.

I'm glad you read instead of posting because you would have needed an SFI fire suit if you had.

thanks alot for your help.i should be ordering the parts once i get paid in a week or so.

Yep, I received the mechanical tensioner, water pump , pulley and belt from Parts Dinosaur....The water pump is installed as of last week.... I have yet to install timing components till I get past this seal issue(whole other story), but the kit looks great and appears to be awesome quality....And not enough can be said about Bruce at Parts Dinosaur...Everything you hear about his customer service is true! Anything I need that is offered through him I will order through him....

if i do a rebuild, i could do a turbo..just depends how much money ill get this summer...