Hi. I have a 1988 760 Turbo. It looks like I have a slow leak from my head gasket on the outside part of the block. I get a small bead of radiator fluid that comes out and I loose about a quart of radiator fluid every month. My questions are as follows:

1. Is there a product on the market that I can add to my radiator fluid so it automatically plugs up this leak? I checked my engine oil and it is fine so the leak appears to be limited to only radiator fluid coming out of the block.

2. If I have to change the head gasket, is this a job I can do or is it only for an experienced mechanic? I don't have much mechanical expertise. If a mechanic has to do it, how much would it cost and do you recommend a Volvo mechanico do the work or is it straight forward enough that any qualified mechanic can handle?

Thanks for your help in advance.

Braulio Blanco
Mexico

Are you sure it's not coming from the interface of the water pump and cylinder head? The rubber seals are also likely to leak and could appear at the front right corner. Aluma-seal is a good leak stopper but only start with a half tube, add it when the coolant is hot and circulating. Good stuff-won't plug up your heater core.

Hehehe, get a can of block sealer :)
Bar's leaks is supposed to be good, I've used kb or k&b block sealant, and it worked well until i blew the gasket completely out.
Trick about the block sealers is that you hafta follow the directions, otherwise it won't work. My problem was a worn out freeze plug (actually, it had a small hole in it, never figured that one out), and it worked well, so i'd assume it would work fine for your application as well.

If you want to replace the gasket, thats another story. Its a straight forward job, provided you have the right tools, its not hard but it can seem rather intimidating. It's a good weekend's worth of work if you've never done one. You'll need a good torque wrench, and you'll probably want to go ahead and replace the head bolts(the whole set of ten should only run about 30-40 bucks)
a new head gasket is about 45 bucks (or 20 or so from bimmerparts.com)
A head gasket is like replacing intake and exhaust gaskets and doing a timing belt all at once. If you do decide to replace it, you will need to replace the intake and exhaust gaskets, otherwise you'll have an exhaust leak.

Personally, i'd try the block sealer first. If you follow the directions, it works well. Your coolant might look a little funky, but you can flush it out a few times with water and it'll go back to normal. It wont cause the car to over heat.
Good luck!