Diagnostic Help -- 88 5KSQ

[Gary Meier]

The Saga --
My wife was returning home from work late at night, on the highway, during
the winter; noticed that the heater output was down so pulled into a nearby
shopping area and stopped the car. When I arrived I found the top neck of
the radiator had failed spewing most/all of the coolant out of the engine.
Reconnected the hose to the stub, refilled the cooling system and started
the car. Terrible roaring noise from the expansion tank - diagnosis blown
head gasket. Pulled head and found it to be warped about .050. Replaced
head, etc. once the car was running it occassionally stuttered during low
and mid-range acceleration; gas mileage also seemed to be down somewhat from
before the debacle. Over a period of about 5 months this problem has gotten
worse to the point where it is often hard to get the car to pull itself at
all. I know that the antifreeze could have ruined the 02 sensor and probably
would have had a detrimental effect on the cat. I'm hoping to check out the
02 sensor tomorrow night. Does anyone on the list have any words of wisdom
on the probable cause of my problems or any data/test procedures for
checking the cat.
Gary L. Meier
82 Coupe, 84 4KS, 88 5KSQ, 86 VW Quantum GL5