if you dont see any spots on the driveway and its not in the oil than you gotta be burning it. another good test is to pull the plugs and see if any are really clean, this would indicate that it is being burned and "steam cleaning" the cylinder.

when my 3.4L blew the headgasket i didnt have any smoke or coolant in the oil. i discovered the issue because i was curious about compression and found i had 5 cylinders around 170psi and 1 cylinder down at 90psi. i knew either i had a bad valve or a blown headgasket.

 

out the over flow. the only sound advice Ived hear here is to get it tested. I would first pressure test to see if the cooling system holds pressure. If it dont then you KNOW theres a problem. from there if you suspect the heads do the block test there are three results 1) is negative meaning the heads and block are good. 2) probable head gasket and 3 probable cracked head or block. this is a litmis test IE: a peice of paper with chemicals is dipped into the hot coolant while the engine is running the color indicates the presence or absence of combustion gases. the concentration (darkness of color change) suggest what may be the cause not a definite in either case.

 

Step one is to find out where the coolant is going. You can buy the above kit but I would not do that until I did a pressure tester. In many cases a pressure tester can tell you 100% if it is a head gasket but it will also show other problems. You can borrow a tester for Autozone and check out Youtube for "How too" Videos. I have posted them here before.

If it is a HG
I have had this conversation with a lot of customers, Every situation is different. Even back in automotive school they told us you really need to look at the condition of the rest of the car before recommending a large repair. The last thing you want is to put more into a car than its worth then have the tranny go out 3 weeks later. How is the Suspension/Brake system? Is it a car you think would last antoher 100K if you replaced the engine.

With the 3.4 putting a used engine would not be worth it. Everything out there is approving 20 years old so things like head gaskets should be done even if you did find one with 5000 miles on it.

A $350 repair is a good price most shops are going to want a $1000-1200. Unless you have some real attachment to the car putting twice what the car is worth into is not a good idea. I have had a lot of customers op'ed to fix a car that was not worth it but in the end the only ones that do not regret it are the ones that have an attachment to the car.

 

As long as you're not insenuating that I should consider selling it I've already put $2K in it this year just in the wiring crud. Now I have that reliable, can't see parting with it. Then my husband is determined to fix the back end on the wrecked one.

 

Interested in taking on another Camaro?
I fixed up my 94 for my 19 YO daughter but she has gone back to school and it looks like she'll spend two terms in Europe next year. I like having the t-top 94 around as a 3rd car but it doesn't get driven that much.
Red with black stripes, gray interior, all options except the V8, completely rebuilt 3.4 with about 10k miles on it, new tires, and lots more. PM me if you want more info and pics.
Very simply, I'd like to put my time and money in a new project.

 

can't speak for anyone else but you live quite a long way from me. We have 3 right now in addition to 2 other cars so our yard is rather full. They sell quite quickly around here on craigslist though.

 

ya camaros never stay on craigslist here. btw what city do you go through upstate?

 

I usually do upstate or I look at Athens GA too. Found 2 of ours on the first and my red one came from Hartwell GA. We sold a Probe GT on there last yr.

 

ya i usually look upstate, asheville, and charlotte athens is a little far for me