Hey guys, my 94 z28 camaro has been running hot for a while. I checked my coolant, purged it throughmy overflow valves, changed my thermostat, and made sure my fans work. It was still running hot so i took it to my mechanic. He said he did some tests and it's because one of my heads is leaking.He saysthe head may be warped, cracked, or it could just be a gasket. has anyone else had this happen? If i do have to replace the heads, can i put ls1 heads on there. also, does anyone know where i can get some for a good deal? the car only has 37k on it and i bought it a couple months ago.

 

Could be as the mechanic said, but no way to know till the heads a re pulled. Unless the heads are cracked all they need is a clean up cut and a valve job. LS1 heads do not fit on a LT1 engine, not even close. Before you go off the deep end, make sure the air dam under the radiator is in place, and the front of the radiator is clear of trash. Have the coolant tested for the presence of combustion gases and do a compression test to verify what the mechanic is telling you.

 

thanks pete. He said there's exhaust fumes in my coolant. he says he sure its a head leak. i'm starting to accept the fact that i'm gonna have to buy new heads, i just hope that i didn't hurt my engine. it was bogging pretty bad at low rpm's. you don't think i could've cracked my block or anything do you? also, what brand of heads would you recommend?

 

The car has aluminum heads and they are prone to warping. If they are warped, they can be fixed a lot cheaper than getting new ones. If you actually need new heads, the most economical way is to get rebuilt ones. If you want high performance heads, there are many to choose from.

 

I'm new to working on cars, so trying to replace 4th gen heads is probably way outof my league. I'd like to try, but my mechanic said i probably shouldn't. He's gonna charge me about 1k to do it. Does that sound fair?

 

If that includes rebuilt heads, all parts and labor the price seems fair.

 

No, that's just the labor. I was gonna buy edelbrock heads for him to put on.

 

Wouldn't you have oil in the radiatorand radiator fluid in the oil if that was the case? Also wouldn't water or antifreez come out of the tail pipe especially if you rev the car up? I've seen high rpm blow head gaskets but can that also happen from just regular commutes around town?

 

Usually, yes, especially if you blow a head gasket big time, but not always if the leak is minor. The combustion test can detect minor leaks and is easy to do. It should also be followed up with a leak down test and compression test, to see which head has problems.

 

I know someone who is expirenceing the same problems. All of the cooling was raplaced fans, water pump, thermostat and he got a good used radiator from a local shop which is acid cleaned and flushed before they sold it to him. We did flush the radiator again and it seemed to flow just fine. Although the gaskets are inexpensive the work involved will take a good few hours to do. Sounds like I already know what I'll be doing this weekend.