'90 244 has a bad head gasket.
Car overheats, apparently due to exhaust fumes getting into the coolant.
Based on past 240 experiences I expect the head to be warped. Possibly cracked.
We can deal with that.
Is there a possibility the block also is cracked?

For years now, the engine has been intermittently overheating and run on reduced coolant. Not by me. A loved relative drives this car. Also occasionally run low on oil - oil light has come on, the driver reports.

We're not willing to sink in enough money to pay a shop to change the gasket. But I might do the hg job myself. My concern is, I don't want to do it all and learn that the block itself is cracked. Likely that we're willing and able to replace head if cracked, or get it milled if just warped.

I did the temp comp board bypass years ago on this car so that's not an issue.

HG failure not yet confirmed by a shop - but I'm pretty sure of it. Car consumed 2+ gallons water while driving about 175 miles yesterday. Coolant reservoir smelled like petrol products to my nose. Generally overheats shortly after startup (once warmed up, needle keeps rising). If you warm it up idling with reservoir cap off, eventually it will burp up and spill over a large amount of coolant.

Runs rough also, which it did not do until recently. I think the hg leak has finally gotten bad enough that the compression leaks.

What do you think? Nothing more costly than milling or replacing the head? Or other gremlins hiding below?

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Sven: '89 245 NA, 951 ECU, expanded air dam, forward belly pan reaches oem belly pan, airbox heater upgraded, E-fan, 205/65-15 at 50 psi, IPD sways, no a/c-p/s belt, E-Codes, amber front corner reflectors, aero front face, quad horns, tach, small clock.