Good morning…

I have posted in the intro but was very kindly guided here for any help.

My 2.5 Sport S Type Auto is currently misfiring badly, coolant needs topping up daily, Red light for (Limited performance ) flashes up, The anti lock (skid) light comes up saying it's not working anymore….so is this the end??? I have no idea what is happening but I don't think it will go on much longer. I would appreciate some advice or guidance as not sure how to keep costs down on this one. Thank you

 

Read the OBD codes for a start.
Can you see a coolant leak?
If you take the oil filler cap off is there 'mayonnaise' in it (water in oil)?

 

Don't panic. It's unlikely to be terminal but does need attention.
+1 on OBD codes - cheap tool $10-20.

Get one with "live data" so you can read LTFTs (long term fuel trims) as they'll show whether it's an air leak / only one bank / etc.

Thread in General Tech but elm327 is great.

Commonly it'll be misfires due to coil(s) or an air leak. Possibly damp or other cause.

 

+3 to the preceeding and take a deep long breath.

 

If you work on your cars you can fix it. If you are paying for repairs it's over with!
.
.
.

 

Thank you all for your replies. I do know that when it had a test it said there was oil in coolant and it needed a new head gasket. The problem is cylinder 5…but the problem is getting worse. I need an understanding of how much this will cost, or whether it is cheaper to get another car?!!

 

You need to answer TBird's question before we cal tell you that.
Have you had the coolant tested for combustion products?

 

if it is the head gasket (and i hope its not) and you are thinking of scrapping it, as a last resort you might want to try steel seal (or something similar) (a pour in head gasket sealer).
Now before everyone jumps all over me, i'm only suggesting this as a last resort, and the reason i'm suggesting it is, a friend of mine was going to scrap a van for the same reason, someone suggested he try this, he did, and got 50,000 trouble free miles from the engine, before the gearbox gave out.

 

Sounds like the headgasket is compromised - game over (unfortunately)

 

Steel seal is sodium silicate.
As police says - if it really is a question of scrapping the car get a pint of sodium silicate (waterglass) and pour it in the coolant.
$10 wasted or, possibly, a few thousand more miles.