NEVER USE STOP LEAK OR SEALER FOR ANYTHING RELATED TO AN ENGINE/TRANSMISSION! It is basically glue, which will clog your engine/transmission and you will have major repairs on your hands. Never trust "MECHANIC-IN-A-CAN" treatments.
Why take a chance of ruining the entire car and get stranded. Put off the trip or take another vehicle. Fix the head gasket, radiator hoses, motor mount and tires first. The muffler strap is not a priority. The tune-up (spark plugs etc… are second priority).
EDIT:
NO I would not take it that far from home.Its not the age its what needs fixing.It could leave you stranded.
Never made it to the end of the first sentence.
NO.
Go for a different car. Whatever you get has to be better than what you have.
You don't have the money for a new head gasket so go ahead and try the block sealer. It is a real product but I have no experience with it. You might ask on line if anyone has any experience.
I would not sink a lot of money in a 96 grande am----an 18 year old car. 91K miles??? probably more like 191K miles. It is worth essentially nothing. Put a can of the block sealer in it and fix the cheap stuff and run it til it stops and take a bus home.
The head gasket seal is a crap-shoot. It all depends on where the leak is and how bad it is. Sometimes that stuff actually works. Most of the time it doesn't. If it had been working in your car for about a month, you could feel safer taking a trip. But if your trip is in the near future, I sure wouldn't risk it. Your car will be totally worthless if it fails on the road and you have to junk it and buy a return ticket home.
I have a 96 grand am se. It has a lot of issues. Right now, what I know that needs to be fixed is the head gasket, muffler strap, motor mount, radiator hoses, air conditioning, alignment and regular maintenance(spark plus, tires, oil change) I'm going on a road trip from philadelphia, to northern massachusets, up state New York, back to philly, and then to Baltimore.
My step dad is convinced my car will make it. He has something called block seal that he's going to use to 'fix' the head gasket, and I have someone who's going to do everything else except the air conditioning. The car only has 91k miles on it, but I'm very skeptical about whether it will make it. I'm considering just selling it and buying something else, but I'll only have what I sell this one for plus another $500 so I'm worried I won't be able to get anything better for that amount. My mechanic friend tells me to get rid of it(my step dad is also a mechanic) and he said if I I he will help me find another one.
I know it will be hard to know if it'll make it without seeing it, but based on this information I hope someone can help me out. I only have $500 to get the work I need on my car. Most of it will only be parts because of my mechanic friend. But is it even worth it?
