Date:         Sun, 18 Sep 2005 10:46:11 EDT
Reply-To:     Taobythesea@AOL.COM
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         James Benthall <Taobythesea@AOL.COM>
Subject:      Symptoms of Blown Headgasket on Non-Vanagon
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII"

Hi all,
My neighbor lady has a terrible loud noise (that sounds like an exhaust
problem to me)
coming from her engine and it gets louder the faster she gets.  There is no
coolant loss
or coolant in the oil, or oil in the coolant.  She has a older model Toyota
Camry (sorry
for the NVC but she is elderly and I knew you guys would know the answer) I
think an
'89 and she has been having an overheating problem due to a broken thermostat
that has
since been replaced.  Now no overheating but she noticed this noise.  (She
also doesn't
know if the noise was there before the overheating or not?)
Question:
I think it is an exhaust manifold gasket but her mechanic told her on the
phone that it
could be a "blown head gasket".  What are the symptoms of a BHG?  I thought
you
would have coolant loss at least, or coolant in the oil?  Could it still be
the BHG if the
car is no longer overheating?  Thanks for any advice you can give her.
james in houston