i have a 1997 V6 3800 with 126k on it... its acting like it has a blown head gasket and im wondering how hard it is to do? i am pretty mechanically inclined and will have to purchase a few tools to do the vehicle to spec, but how hard is it really and how much time will it take me.. thanks, PEACE...

 

should be done in a weekend. if you got coolant in the oil just changing the headgasket is not going to give you much time. coolant ruins the bearings so you may get a year or a month.

 

define "acting like it has a blown head gasket."

Do you mean consuming coolant, spewing foul smelling water vapor out the exhaust, a dead miss in one or more cylinders? These are the hard core symptoms and exactly what my 94 V6 did.

A head gasket job on these cars is pretty nasty, largely due to the access problems. The engine sets very low in the chassis and very far back so you'll have sore ribs.

My 94 had 130k on it and I ended up doing a complete engine rebuild. It didn't seem worth the effort to pull the heads and regasket with so many miles on the engine. Plus, my oil looked like a brown milkshake.

For the quickest job and least money I'd look for a used engine. Rebuilding is not the way to go unless you plan on keeping the car for a long, long time.

 

yeah the sputtering, throwing a misfire in the 2nd cylinder code, smelly crap all that... MAOR ISSUE: i live on the island of Oahu. we do not have junk yards and shipping is VERY expensive... a 500 dollar motor could cost me 500 to ship...

just went out and checked the out the oil, its not milky my any means but has some speration and a gasoliny foul smell.... if i can get this and the egr fixed itll take care of the codes its throwing...

ill pull the plug in the 2nd cylinder and check the ph in the radiator which was suggested to me also... hopefully i caught this soon enough to correct it without spending a small fortune...

 

Ok, but are you sure that's because of a blown head gasket? Are you mysteriously losing coolant? A cylinder misfire whatever the cause, can/will make that cylinder run rich, which would explain the gassy smell in the oil. Checking with a coolant exhaust gases tester would be a good idea. Youtube it to get an idea of what you're going to be looking for.

 

thanks C69, i looked at the video and i will pick one up on payday... i checked the radiator and it does seem to be alot lower than when i filled it after the replacing the water pump...

 

That could have been a air pocket but any time your system has a leak (like a bad water pump) and it can not hold pressure you put the headgaskets at risk.

The process of replacing the head gaskets is not super complicated but it is a lot of time. Pros tend to this type of work much faster then novices but if you get the job quoted by a pro you will see the labor is a big part of it. Id bet I could do head gaskets in my 67 v8 4 times faster then I could do my 96 V6 and that is with air tools singing the whole time. My back hurts just thinking about being bent over the fenders that long.

 

thanks gorn... im thinking of doing the head job and getting me a older model vehicle from the 60's or 70's....

on another note my neighbor brought home a 62 impala SS on air bags.. beautiful car.. so i need to step my car game up lol... does anyone know of a reasonably priced mail order head shop... if not im going to end up buying them off of ebay.. thanks