I have a problem...

[tmkshew]

I have a serious problem everyone!

I'm extremely new to this site and I have barely any mechanic experience.
Please keep this in mind when reading this.
I've had 2 DPFE sensors go bad on me in the past 8 months.
I have replaced my EGR Valve in the past year.

I recently went to mechanic who informed me that I have a small leak in my head gasket and that it wasn't worth it to put 2,000 into my vehicle any longer.
I have a 120 mil on it.

I'm a broke student. I don't have too much saved up to get a new car at this time. I was wondering if there were any threads you guys could help me out with, to fix this problem in an inexpensive way.

I would be willing to do it myself as well (at a high risk).
Let me know what you guys think.

I read some other threads and I am beginning to believe it's an antifreeze leak into my gasket. Am I completely off basis with this?

Hope to hear back soon from you guys. Thank you in advance.

 

[--weezl--]

is your exhaust white (steam)? this would be coolant leaking into the cyl, it may not show much steam if it's a small leak... check your oil, if it's milky/foamy, it's leaking into your oil, NOT GOOD those are really the 2 main things you are going to see with a head gasket issue... as for fixing it, do it yourself... buy a haynes manual, get all the parts you are going to need, and dive in... my first head gasket took me 2 weeks, it was on my mustang, but i also had both heads machined, new valve seals, a few new valves, a few new springs, new water pump, new timing chain, and i had to wait for parts while doing it... if i were to start and go through, it would probably take 2 days for a head gasket alone... (when i did that one... now i could probably do a single head gasket, if i had all the parts, in a day)

haynes manual or chilton will guide you through quite well, make sure you buy a torque wrench, i would recommend a flex bar torque wrench, i think they are more accurate, and are MUCH cheaper than micrometer torque wrenches

 

[Vargas]

If your '00 XLS has the SOHC V6, then a headgasket replacement is probably beyond your skills and toolbox. If you have the OHV V6, get wrenching - you can do this with a good manual and reasonable tools. Don't know which engine you have? It is identified on the plastic cover over the intake manifold, or you can also tell by the VIN. Eighth character "E" is SOHC. If "X" then OHV. If "P" you have a 5.0 V8, but I don't think it was offered in the XLS trim.

 

[--weezl--]

^^ yeah, sohc would be a pain in the ass... in block cam only... i didn't even think about that...

after some digging, the xls model in 2000 (both 4wd and 2wd) come with only one motor available "4.0L (245) SEFI V6 ENGINE" which i assume would be the OHV motor