(also posted in N* tech discussion, sorry if you are seeing this twice)
Hi, I own a '99 Deville w/ 200K+ on the body and about 85K on the
motor. Recently I started adding half a gallon of coollant per week, and increasing all the time. Getting a big puff of white smoke, too, so I guess it is pretty certain that I will now require a
head gasket job. I love the
car and the high miles on the body are not a real concern as everything works (Tranny was also replaced with a 75k mile unit, both
engine and tranny by former owner. Yeah, the wonderful guy didn't do the headgasket while he had the motor out.) I am looking for a good mechanic in my area and was hoping that someone may have some good experiences in northern RI or nearby Ma. How can I be sure that someone is using the proper methods, timeserts, etc? I spoke with one guy who said he has worked on N*, but also said that on one head job he did they had to replace the block because the 'helicoils' didn't work. I desperately want to avoid this type of thing! If I have to, I will go to a dealer, but don't want to pay double for the same job, ya know? And I don't have any idea which dealer would be good, or fair. Any one have any idea how much I can expect to pay in the area? (SE New England/RI, SE Mass)
One other condition has developed, I get a rattling under the car, front end, when in drive, low speed. Also, it rattles when idling in D. If I shift to N, the rattling goes away. One opinion (not on the lift, from the side of the car) was that it might be the
torque causing the motor to be tapping something like an
exhaust pipe. Seems too simple for the conditions (D, low speed, N goes away, etc.)
Thanks for any direction or suggestions!
Looking for a N* mech in northern RI 
