alright last saturday my radiator cap came off while i was driving, i know it seems stupid but i had never had to do anything with the cooling system so i assumed everything was secure. anyways, i am fairly certain coolant did get onto the distributor. the car still runs, but it feels a little sluggish, and it takes 2-3seconds longer to start up. as far as the head gaskets go i was just wondering how obvious it would beif they were blown? i just want to make absolutley sure because i am 17 and money is gettin tight as i only have 1500$ in my bank account and still owe 3000$ to my grandpa but since i bought the car i have payed 2200$ in repairs, i dont want to sell it because i will lose alot of money and in keeping with murphys law, once everything that can go wrong, has gone wrong, it will be essentially a new car [&:]not exactly something to aspire to but thats were it seems like im headed, one of my friends owns a shop with a lift, and another works at NAPA and gives me things damn near free, i just need to know what to to get or what to look for in the case of the heads, i did my distributor once, buts that why i was wondering what kind of power loss a blown head gasket would be. That and if the gasket is blown, shouldnt my exhaust be rather smokey and smell sugary sweet? because it isnt and it doesnt, pleasee someone help im runnin out of options HELP

 

You didn't mention what engine or year car you are talking about, but if you have a 94V6, like in your login,you don't have to worry about the distributor because it does not have one. If youhave some other engine, like a LT1, then a wet distributor could turn out to be a problem. If the car is not overheating and the coolant level does not change, there is little reason to worry about the head gaskets. You can always have the coolant tested for the presence of combustion gases, and if it looks good you should be all set. Is the service lite lit?

 

why do the lt1s have a distributor, but the v6s dont ?

 

sorry bout the lack of info, i sold my v6 a while back and now have a 97 z-28, so yeah it is the lt1 and i was also wondering what the normal operation temp should be in the city/traffic

 

190 degrees should be about wright for temperature. Remove the radiator cap and see if there are bubbles coming up through the coolant. If you blew the head gasket it will continue to boil out the coolant. Take the distributor cap off and wipe it out. Antifreeze does not evaporate quickly. Also check for carbon lines while your in there.

 

Very good question my dear young man. However, you will have to ask that question to the GM engineering managerin charge of corporate complications during the late 80's. lol

 

well its nice you dont have to worry about replacing the opti on a 6, but how does it distribute power, and is that good not to have a distributor ?