blown head gasket in 98 venture van

Hi - I got some good news on my van - the problem started about a week ago - the temperature gauge started fluctuating upwards quite rapidly - it never got to the point of overheating but goes up quite bit highter than usual - plus the check engine light would come on

Anyway I took it in to a garage and they pressure checked the cooling system and gave me the diagnosis of blown head gasket - is a pressure test the best way to diagnose and confirm this problem?- should I go to a GM dealer for a second opinion? - I have had good dealings with this shop and they have never tried to oversell me repairs or parts and they basically told me the price of the repair might not be worth spending on a van of this age - it has about 120.000 miles on it and yes the intake gasket was done already at 70,000

Anyway my second dilemma question is if there is anything I can do to keep it going for another month basically just in limp along mode ? - I don't want to do the repair but need to just get another month or so out of it if possible - already in a week it is starting to make a tappet noise - I have looked at the oil on the cap and dipstick and don't see any of the usual signs of this problem and the coolant doesn't seem to be going down but the van definitely is sickly

Should I do something like change the oil every couple of weeks in case it is getting coolant in it?

Or am I basically looking at a fast down hill slide here - the van drives well - has lots of power doesn't smoke - idles a bit rougher but not that bad

Any advice would be appreciated - I have had some major bills and a vehicle purchase is just not in the budget at the moment

Thanks Don

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donsjunkk
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