My daughter has a 99 Camaro with a V6. It had some overheating issues in the past, but last friday it was far worst. She said the temp guage was pegged and the car shut down. I told her to let it cool down and add water and she should be ok. Not the case. It didnt get 2 miles.

We had the car towed home.

There is no oil in the water, but there is air comin up into the radiator.

I spoke with some mechanics on this issue. One said blown head gaskets on this 3800 engine is fairly common due to the lack of head bolts. He also mention a intake manifold gasket issue that me be letting water into a cylinder.

My question here is, how common is this issue? Should I rebuild the top end or replace the engine with one with lower miles. This car has around 135k on the clock.

Thank you all for your help!!
Steve

 

Oops, you posted in the 5th gen section, moved it.
I'd actually be more worried about this: "She said the temp guage was pegged and the car shut down". That's likely to mean the engine locked up, and could have done some internal damage. Too bad, some kids think the gauges are only there just for looks!

 

Thanks for moving the post.

It shutdown due to being too hot. Its still running, but not holding water. you see steam out the exhaust and air up thru the radiator.

 

Not trying to worry you, just forewarn. The engine doesn't have a safety turn-off if it gets too hot. What happens is bearing and piston ring tolerances tighten up when they overheat, and the engine quits (seizes). You might be lucky, and not have any permanent damage, you might not. Yes, looks like you have head gasket issues, and the engine needs to be opened up. But given the circumstances, I wouldn't stop at just the heads.

 

Yep open it up. It's cheaper to find a good used engine then it is to rebuild. I don't thinks it's the intake manifold leaking if there's air getting into the coolant system.

 

Replace cheaper and easier good luck in your search. would not waste any money on opening the engine just pull and swap.

 

I had similiar issue. V6 99 engines with that kind of mileage will need a head replacement. Happened to me. What I did was did a swap with a machine shop. They had the heads I needed. I even had them cored out or polished. It won't cost you that much more. Less than a 100. I think in all I paid 4-500 including mechanic. While they are doing heads put in some good iridum spark plugs. You will notice the difference. Oh that is if it is a blown head gasket. If it is a lock crank shaft, well friend now you are talking thousands of $$$$. Been through that too. Need advice on that let me know, been there done that.

 

Funny, I talked to my mechanic about that a while back and he said they've only a few blown head gaskets on 3800s, whereas they've done countless head gasket jobs on 3100s and 3400s due to aluminum heads on an iron block. The intake gaskets are a problem on all of these engines though, my guess is that is where the problem started but with the overheating and shut-off it's hard to tell how far the damage has gone...

 

Pretty much what happened to me. Got my camaro running last month after putting new heads on it after cracking them (and blowing the gaskets). Drove the car around town, ran great, took it on the highway to get to Phoenix and it smoked up and shut off.

End result: took the dip stick out and can see glittery metal shaving all in it. Spun a rod bearing or two.