Ask Me Help Desk - 1996 Grand Prix Head Gasket

Hello Everyone,
As I have said before I am not much of an "in depth" mechanic. My wife drives a 96 grand prix with the 3.1 engine. The "low coolent" light has been coming on and off for a while now. I always check the water level right away... the radiator always had water but the resivor tank was low or almost empty. 2 days ago it came on again after being off for about a week. I check all the fluids like always... this time I noticed water in the oil. I am fairly certain it is the head gasket. Does this sound correct? If it is I have a few questions.
My wife bought this car brand new and does not want to part with it for starters.
1. Can I replace the head gaskets alone and be OK ?
2. Do I have to pull the entire engine and do a complete overhaul ?
3. If I install a used motor will the 3.4 or the 3.8 fit and work with the transmission ?
4. Does the entire block and such need to be "boiled or cooked" because of the anti-freeze getting inside ?
5. Is there a simple way to make sure it is a bad head gasket and verrify that it is not a cracked head. The car has never been ran hot.

OK now the final question... I have purchased, but have not used yet... a bottle of
"Bar's Leaks Head gasket repair" I have been told it is not the normal stuff people are used to. The old stuff you put in with the anti-freeze. This stuff you are suppose to flush all the anti-freeze from the engine. They told me it would "Permanently" fix Cracked Heads,
Blown Head Gaskets, and Block Leaks. Does this sound right? Has anyone out there tried this stuff ?

I really wish it was a cracked foundation... I could fix that !
Thanks for your help.
Mike

If it's leaking antifreeze, it could be either the intake gasket, the head gasket or both. GM vehicles are notorious for the intake gaskets going out on the 3.1s and 3.8s. I would have a pressure test done to be 100% positive that it's one or the other.

1. You can replace the gaskets but I would strongly recommend having the lower intake resurfaced; they have a tendency to warp if the vehicle has been overheated. I had a machine shop comment that I'm the only shop to do this, but they realized why when I sent one in that was majorly warped(not to the naked eye, though!). If it's warped and you put it back together, it's going to leak again, guaranteed.

2. No, you don't need to pull the engine. How many miles are on the vehicle now? It may not be worth putting the money into, but that's for you and your wife to decide.

3. If you swap the motor, I know for sure there are a few things you'll need to swap with it. The computer for sure! The tranny I'm not positive on.

4. No, you don't need to "boil" the block. After changing the gasket(s), make sure you change the oil before running it to get most of the contaminants out.

5. Yes; a machine shop can pressure test the cylinder head to make sure there are no cracks in it.

Personally, I don't like "leak repair in a bottle." People have a tendency to keep adding it until their leak stops, which means they end up damaging more than was wrong in the first place. I also don't see how it can fix a crack in a large piece of metal.

Is it possible the intake manifold will cause the water in oil problem ?
Mike

If any one else has opinons I will listen to them as well.

Yes, if the gasket is leaking internally then it will cause antifreeze to leak into the motor rather than out of it. Usually an external leak is more common, but stranger things have happened.

OK Thanks for your advise... guess I will need to pull the intake and start there.
Thanks again
Mike

May I ask a dumb question? Why are you using water in an engine instead of antifreeze? Water is NOT what you want to use in an engine ever. Sorry.

People commonly refer to antifreeze as water; that's why it's called a water pump, not an antifreeze pump.

Twinkiedooter, If you were to read question #4 on post #1 you would see that there was anti-freeze in the engine.
Thanks again this8384 , I liked your explanation... also the #1 ingredient in anti-freeze is water... not to mention the word water is easier to type. LOL
I have a friend who will be helping me tear into the motor Saturday morning. I will let you know what we find... or should I say what "he" finds... I'm going to be the gopher.
Mike

Quote:

Originally Posted by the1unv

Hello Everyone,
As I have said before I am not much of an "in depth" mechanic. My wife drives a 96 grand prix with the 3.1 engine. The "low coolent" light has been coming on and off for a while now. I always check the water level right away.....the radiator always had water but the resivor tank was low or almost empty. 2 days ago it came on again after being off for about a week. I check all the fluids like always......this time I noticed water in the oil. I am fairly certain it is the head gasket. Does this sound correct? If it is I have a few questions.
My wife bought this car brand new and does not want to part with it for starters.
1. Can I replace the head gaskets alone and be OK ?
2. Do I have to pull the entire engine and do a complete overhaul ?
3. If I install a used motor will the 3.4 or the 3.8 fit and work with the transmission ?
4. Does the entire block and such need to be "boiled or cooked" because of the anti-freeze getting inside ?
5. Is there a simple way to make sure it is a bad head gasket and verrify that it is not a cracked head. The car has never been ran hot.

OK now the final question....... I have purchased, but have not used yet.......a bottle of
"Bar's Leaks Head gasket repair" I have been told it is not the normal stuff people are used to. The old stuff you put in with the anti-freeze. This stuff you are suppose to flush all the anti-freeze from the engine. They told me it would "Permanently" fix Cracked Heads,
Blown Head Gaskets, and Block Leaks. Does this sound right? Has anyone out there tried this stuff ?

I really wish it was a cracked foundation...........I could fix that !
Thanks for your help.
Mike

I have the same car and engine and have recently run into head gasket problems again. This is the second time this has happened the last incident happening over four years ago. I had the intake and the heads replaced and the engine had to be flushed out three times. If your engine didn't lock up yet there may be hope for salvaging your engine. But if you decide to keep the car, I would suggest getting another engine, preferably a 3.4 or 3.8. I've heard that the 3.1's usually ran at a very high temperature and the wear and tear on a smaller engine that runs hot tends to damage the heads plus I believe that year of Grand Prix were on the heavier side probably making the wear and tear worse. Sad that such problems of this nature could happen to such a nice car. But I had my car for over six years and have gotten a lot of enjoyment out of it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bethlc81

I have the same exact car and engine and have recently run into head gasket problems again. This is the second time this has happened the last incident happening over four years ago. I had the intake and the heads replaced and the engine had to be flushed out three times. If your engine didn't lock up yet there may be hope for salvaging your engine. But if you decide to keep the car, I would suggest getting another engine, preferably a 3.4 or 3.8. I've heard that the 3.1's usually ran at a very high temperature and the wear and tear on a smaller engine that runs hot tends to damage the heads plus I believe that year of Grand Prix were on the heavier side probably making the wear and tear worse. Sad that such problems of this nature could happen to such a nice car. But I had my car for over six years and have gotten a lot of enjoyment out of it.

Oh I forgot to mention the symptoms of when the head gasket went bad. For about a month the temp would increase the first ten min of driving then would drop quite fast. This would happen for a while. I couldn't figure out where my coolant was going to and the reservoir was low. Well one day the temp gage went up all the way and stayed that way. I rushed home as fast as I could for I was only a mile away from home. When we checked the oil it was very light and had a little foamy film to it. Sounds like you are having the same problems as I did.