LIM or HG?

[DarkPhoenix]

Okay, my gf had been complaining to me for months about losing coolant. Every month or so I would have to add about 1/2 gal of coolant into the car when the light came on. I thought it might have been the LIM, since I know they are prone to that. After awhile, the cars lifters would tick, until the car warmed up. I never noticed the milkshake effect, but just recently I noticed the telltale signs of coolant in the CC, white smoke from the tailpipe. She brought the car in for servce, the mechanic explaining to her and myself that it was probably the LIM. About 2 hours later he calls me stating that it is probably the Head Gasket, not the LIM. My GF says to go for it and fix it. We get the car back, lo and behold, the car runs like SH!T. It hesitates and now there is a strong smell of fuel in when driving the car. To make this even better, he claims that there is a small crack in the block. Now I know for a fact that the car was NEVER overheated. I kept that in check so she wouldn't warp her heads. Unfortunately, I wasn't there to see what the mechanic was doing, so I can't honestly say he took my gf for a ride. I just wanted to get some opinions before I contact the state DMV with a fraud complaint.

It's a 2001 GAGT Sedan btw, with 55k on the odo. And the car was never beaten on in anger, only take to like 80 or so mph, and never above 4500k RPM.

Thanks a lot guys!

[ENGGUY]

A half a gallon is alot. And not accounting for any air pockets caused by a head gasket failure, ie combustion gases entering the cooling system. So the heads could have overheated.
Fuel smell, maybe the evap system is not connected properly.
Get codes read. Running crappy, maybe an electrical connnection missed, or dirt allowed into fuel system. Look for fuel leaks around fuel rail etc. Oh well I blame it on flat rate. That is when the mechanic has to rush to make a pay check.
Make sure the battery connections are good.