yay

the Fo is fine. Whew. Came this --> <-- close to a very expensive repair. I added TWO GALLONS of coolant to it (8 quarts. Capacity is 9.6 quarts). Started it. Got it warmed up. Turned it off. Went looking for leaks. Found the culprit at the block inlet pipe. No other fluids in places they shouldn't be. (ie no coolant in the oil. No oil in the coolant. No coolant burning in the cylinders. No exhaust coming out the radiator fill up hole. Etc). Everything smelled right.

I have an irrational fear of blown head gaskets and warped heads. Have dealt with both just one too many times in other cars. The Fo was running extremely poorly, very hot, with a lot of pinging, and getting hot in less than a mile's worth of driving. All of these are symptoms of stuff getting into where it isn't.

I had reminded the Smart Half when we got it to check everything on it once a week, just because of the problems these had. This is HIS vehicle. He did not. I should have just let it go to fucked up so he could have the joy of dealing with it, but then I got smart myself and realized it wouldn't be him dealing with, but me. As usual.

He admitted to not checking a single thing on it in four months. I could have slapped him.