Am I blessed, or what? Generally car problems get worse. I have things that fix themselves. Even my muffler with the hole in it seems to be quieter than 6 months ago. Although I might be imagining that. But regarding my brake fluid: This winter, I'd have to periodically add some. I'd find it down a good 1/4 inch, every so often. This morning, I checked, after not checking for a good while and it is right up to the top. Do you suppose during the below 0 winter, that fluid leaked out of cylinders then, and now that it is warmer, it stopped? Now for the good part; the engine coolant. For many months - actually about 1 whole year now, I have found that after about 150 miles, I'd have to add a quart of coolant. I have an asphalt drive, and also park on concrete. Never have I ever seen one drop on the ground, nor smelled any coolant smell in the car, nor from walking around the outside of the car! The coolant loss had been pretty steady at that rate, like clockwork - for months and months. At first I thought it was surely a blowing head gasket. The engine temp had a history of climbing higher than normal, also. However, I never would smell that cooking engine smell, nor smell coolant, so I figured maybe a two-fold problem where one was the INTERNAL coolant loss and the other was sending unit or gauge related, or somehow related to the amount of (lack thereof?) coolant going past the sending unit. I emphasized INTERNAL because my cylinder #3 was being steam-cleaned to the point that every couple weeks there for a while, a missfire would occur, and I'd find the insulator of the plug on that cylinder cracked inside. Now, I haven't had to replace that plug in like 3? months, and now I am steadily noticing where I do not have to add near the coolant. On my last check I had only to add 1/2 qt. + in 750 miles! So something must be plugging itself shut? But have you ever heard of a cracked block?, or cracked head?, or hole in a head gasket doing this? Hardly? So what about the intake manifold? On an early 90's Dodge Spirit, does the coolant go through the intake manifold and a gasket there? And for some strange reason could that be what is sealing itself shut? Any of you garage mechanics have experience in dealing with such a thing? I have not added any stop leak procucts for over a year, and last May I replaced the radiator and lots of cololant, and never havbe added stop leak since - for absolutely sure - so I'd think most of the stop leak, that WAS in there, would be gone, or greatly diluted. Besides, the coolant losses became worse and worse during the year of 2007, and during the cold winter of 2008 is when I was getting missfires and steam-cleaned plug, and replacing that plug - so if there was still some stop leak in there, leftover, that would not make any sense that it did not stop it then, and now it IS stopping. Unless I am on some lucky streak, which makes no scientific sense.

Hi: 1) I have a couple of questions for anyone who might know this. I took in my car for a checkup at a well-known tire company here in Canada and about 2 days later my car started sputtering as I was driving and I took out the spark plug rubber thingees and they were dripping in oil. Apparently - I checked various forums - the O-rings can leak oil into the cylinders but can I clean this up and change the spark plugs? Not to blame anyone, but can checking the plugs cause damage to these rings? I had just checked one of these plugs a few days before taking my car in and it was dry as a bone! 2) I was told recently by a mechanic at a well-known muffler shop not to have my head gasket changed but instead to change the whole engine because changing the whole engine would cause a build-up of pressure and it would seize the engine - is there any truth to this? Any help would be appreciated! Thanks. Suessy