Coolant Leak $800?? How long can a 4th gen. endure by monitoring coolant levels?

Brief Background:
2 weeks ago...
Temps were high just before the red zone like 7-8 times in 2 hours of driving
Coolant disappeared from the coolant reservoir...

leaking onto the bottom of the car, the front right side exactly where the coolant reservoir is, but below it and onto the pavement.

I took it to a trusted shop that charged me $430 to repair my oil leak.
They put A new radiator cap that replaced the cracked radiator cap and also a coolant temp sensor which activates the cooling air fans.
The cracked radiator cap was plastic and it let out coolant, the new one is metal.

This significantly lowered the temp. gauage and also the coolant was there after like a couple of days or more

Recently, coolant is starting to leak a bit more faster,

Also, after 9 hours of driving on and off, the temp gauge gets to 260 ( a scratch below the red zone) only like 2-3x versus the 5-9 x before

This same shop quoted me 800 bucks to get to the cover and gaskets of the cooling system and to repair the leak, very labor intensive they said.

I need to save up for this repair, so how long can I practically endure monitoring the coolant levels in the reservoir?

As long as there is coolant in the radiator, should I really need to worry?

Or should there be ample coolant fluid in both the coolant reservoir and the radiator?

I don't slam the gas pedal upon moving and try to drive usually at 45 mph on surface streets in my current 70 degree Fahr. outside temp. where I live.

Should I also drive on large stretches of land without too many stop lights? Would that help keep the motor cooler vs. driving on surface streets with lots of traffic lights?

Should I gear into neutral at a traffic light? Would that also cool the engine some?

*My estimation is that by driving mininmally and monitoring coolant in the coolant reservoir, I should be able to save until like middle August of this year. 3 more months of this? or maybe more?

Thanks for any help

 

I would not risk it as once you blow head gasket and/ or over heat u may cause damage and/ or lots of more repair costs, but I'm sure it's possible, just be prepared for worst case scenario

 

Driving a car with a coolant leak can be very risky. The question is does the system sill hold pressure, if the leak gets worse will it continue to hold pressure?

Why is pressure important? Coolant boils just like water. Boiling coolant creates pockets of gas, coolant can not get into anyplace with this trapped gas. So now you have hot and not so hot areas in the head and that is what cause cracks in metal and blown head gaskets.

The boiling point of water is 212 degs F for each one pound of pressure I think it adds 5 degs to the boiling point. So with your engine at 260 degrees your system must maintain a minimum of 10 PSI or you will damage your motor.

I still do not understand what cover gasket cost $800. When coolant is forced out of the coolant system I think head gasket but $800 seems a little light for doing head gaskets.

 

my lt1 while it did not overheat either my head gasket was going much more driving could have coused damage,though I did not have a leak you could see ,I just had water pump done then weep hole went weeks after ,so if it is like in my case a slow leak ,you need someone good to make sure its not manifold head ,gasket leaks tend to spider out ,I hate to say it but it sounds like a slow gasket leak ,you don't need water in the oil for it either ,but check your oil often .an don't drive the car,my engine was at the saveable point after 9 months of driving it like that though it is a different engine,if your fans come on at different times so on could be sign ,don't know if you model has a water light ,mine came on an never shut off was the sign

 

It's not a cover gasket, Gorn, it is to remove the covers gaskets etc and to get to the cooling system,

apparently the leak after 3 visits to this same shop is in a bad spot

to pull out or hoist the engine on my 4th gen. and repair and oil leak in a hard to reach spot the big franchise auto repair shops like Midas charge like 775 dollars, this shop charged me $430

the price to replace the parts is cheap--it is just very Labor Intensive, at 80 dollars an hour mechanic work, it may take 9 hours?

 

*Update: called the repair shop owner that did my oil leak repair for $430 and they told me that the whole front cover has to be removed to get to the cooling system and repair the leak that accounts for $800. He told me that there's no blown head gasket so that's good news, right? Thanks for everyone's input.

 

umm no the front bumper cover does not have to come off to get to the cooling system. some can be accessed from under and some from top. only cover to take off is the fan mount that covers the back of the radiator. takes all of 5 minutes. if its the coolant res its under the battery.

 

I assume at this point he is talking about the timing chain cover. It must be leaking between the block and the timing chain cover.

Your coolant system run though out the front of the car. So removing the "cover" to get to the coolant system could be almost anything from the hood to the glove box or even the bumper cover

 

crab,,, didn't think about a 6... ok

 

again it sounds wrong ,what that guy is saying