I finally got the nerve to take it to the shop this morning. Well that and the fact that I got one of my income tax refunds this morning. So far, not finding anything. It wasn't low at all on coolant when I took it there. That was about a 6 mile trip from here. It never even attempted to run hot which it hasn't any way. He asked me how much water was I losing." I told him "well you gauge it, 6 mile trip and it was fine when I left the house". His reply "it's normal". Grrr

It never fails it only shows out with me. They've had the cooling system under pressure for 3 hours and it's holding fine. He's gonna keep it over the weekend and try to get to the bottom of it. He said he would do a block test with it on colder side and one after it's ran for a bit.

 

They *think* it may be the intake exhaust manifold gasket? They gave me a quote for $1108.21 for the head gaskets and if it's the intake, he said it was less than half that. So I assume he must of failed the block test.

 

Is the place you went to very reputable. And can they show you were the problem is.

 

Yes they are awesome! They always give you the bad parts and the shop foreman has always explained in detail why things happen. He never does anything that he feels isn't necessary. I think it it turns out to be the head gaskets that they will change the others as well and really I wouldn't care if it all was replaced. I've had so much replaced on this car over the last 2 years anyway. She's nearly new lol.

 

If they change the head gasket he has have no choice but replace the intake and exhaust manifold gaskets. The intake gasket goes between the intake and head. Reusing a intake gasket is not possible even if it was brand new and just put together it should not be reused.

I am not sure why he is telling you "it may be just the intake". There is a test that can tell for sure if the head gasket is blown. If he did the test he knows if the head gaskets are damaged and leaking exhaust into the coolant. If he did not do the test then he will need to do the whole job. If he finds a bad intake gasket whats he going to do? Put it back together and re test it? If it turns out you have a bad intake and bad headgaskets he would be doing most of the job twice.

 

If the engine is consuming coolant the oxygen sensor will be poisoned. What is the oxygen sensor activity?

Doing *anything* from the top down on the 3.4 in a 4th generation is pretty awful, starting with upper intake removal. Yuck.

My buddy just did a head gasket job on a 3rd generation Firebird with the 2.8 V6. I think that's even worse because you have a distributor at the back of the engine behind the upper intake. What a nasty job.

 

3rd gen is a cake job compared to 4th gens. It takes about 2 minutes to remove the distributor. I know you do not have to remove it but the 10 minutes it takes to re-time the car will save you 2 hours of work. I have done 3rd gens and S-10 2.8's in about 6 hours complete. That is me doing the valve seals and cleaning the head so the machine shop could check it. Now the older 2.8 carbs where a pain because of all the Vacuum hoses but any mechanic from that era are use to that. After doing the job about 20 times it goes pretty fast

 

Don't know bout any sensors. It's not throwing any codes and engine light hasn't been on since I had all the electrical work done. The guy I was referring to is the office mgr and he said he was require to quote worse case scenario.

 

The shop foreman has been a GM mechanic for 40 yrs. He was shop foreman at chevy dealership that went out of business 4 years ago. He's done magic on this stubborn car. I trust he will know what he's doing. He's cut so many deals with me on labor in the past. He will totally explain it all when I talk to him again.

 

I have never pulled a motor a part for a coolant leak without knowing where the leak is. You must pin point the leak before you pull anything a part. What if it gets it a part and finds out its a freeze plug not the intake or headgasket? Once the motor is a part there is NO way to test anything short of sending the parts to be checked for cracks. If a mechainc told me he "thinks" my head gasket is blown but he is not sure I would ask him to make up a bill for the time he had in it and I would never return. Sure there is a time while he is working on the car when he suspects a bad head gasket but if he can not confirm a bad head gasket then he is not a mechanic in my book. Now when i say head gasket what I mean is a combustion chamber to coolant leak. It could also be a cracked head or a cracked block. That there is no way to be sure of until you pull it a part and those your not going to get fixed for $1100. So in a way he did not give you worst case. Most shops will warn customers about cracked heads once they confirm the leak. Cracked blocks are so rare and so expensive they are not brought up.

It could be that he knows the head gaskets are shot but he is trying to soffen the $1100 blow by saying it might not be that much.

Also FYI here in PA $1100 for a head gasket job is full on retail no price break there. On the plus side I would say there is a 95% chance your getting headgaskets and since that is a common issue it is most likely the problem your car will most likely be fixed. I wish you good luck, your due,

On the upside even if I knew 100% that the headgaskets where not bad and the intake was the current issue I would do the headgaskets. Your half way there and the 3.4 can last a long time as long as it does not over heat. Base on what I see on these forums Intake and head gaskets are the main reason the motors overheating and get damaged beyond repair. Heck If I bought a all original low miles 94 I be temped to do the intake and headgaskets just to prevent future issues.