I'm currently attending college in upstate New York, about 200 miles from my home (and my regular mechanic). During the past week or two, I would occasionally smell antifreeze after parking my car (a 2002 Pontiac Grand Prix), but I figured it could wait until Thanksgiving break, when I could take it to my mechanic and get it taken care of.
Apparently not. I brought my car to get an oil change today, and about
30 seconds after pulling the car into the garage the mechanic came into the waiting room holding a plastic cap in his hand and told me that he wasn't going to change the oil because there was a problem with my head gasket, and antifreeze was getting mixed into my oil. He recommended that I take it to a mechanic as soon as possible and get it repaired to prevent my motor from getting destroyed.The problem is that I'm far from my regular mechanic and I'm pretty uneasy about driving 200 miles home with a damaged head gasket. So I'm curious about how much a repair is likely to cost and I'm wondering if there's anything I should know about this kind of problem before I start looking for a mechanic. I realize the details I've given are kind of vague, but my knowledge of head gaskets (and engines in general) is pretty limited. Are there any national chains that I should look into for this kind of work, or, better yet, does anyone have any recommendations of good mechanics in the Capital District of New York?
Thanks, Bill