3.4L Head gasket Rebuild?

[GoAwayDamnYou]

Has anyone here done a head gasket rebuild on a 3.4L? How did it go?
I'm expecting this job will be a backache.... Parts looks like it'll only be $50... and I'm guessing a whole weekend and a lot of beer. Lol
Or has anyone taken theirs to a shop? What did you pay?

I have a 95 Camaro 3.4 with 216k miles on it. It runs fine (no hesitations, missing, or smoke) but over the last month it's been losing more and more water and has gotten to the point where I have to put coolant in it every day. hoses and radiator are fairly new--- within the last two years.

Tomorrow I'm taking it to a shop for a compression test to be sure. The valve guides have been showing a need for replacement (puffing white smoke at startup) since I got it at 165k.


Any suggestions/tips for the rebuild? Probably just going to do top end, Since it isn't really using a lot of oil....

[Mogobs30th]

Re: 3.4L Head gasket Rebuild?

You sure its even the head gasket?

[GoAwayDamnYou]

Re: 3.4L Head gasket Rebuild?

Nope, I'm not sure
but I let it overheat for a second last week (was losing water prior to that).

I'm taking it in for a compression test tomorrow and am preparing for the worst lol

[Mogobs30th]

Re: 3.4L Head gasket Rebuild?

Nope, I'm not sure
but I let it overheat for a second last week (was losing water prior to that).

I'm taking it in for a compression test tomorrow and am preparing for the worst lol

That would be the first step. There are a few places water can leak from, and because you have no smoke, you KNOW its not leaking into the chamber, reducing the chance that it could be the head gasket. Not saying it still can't be, but it could be a few things other than that, worse case would be a cracked block.

[3.4grapeofwrath]

Re: 3.4L Head gasket Rebuild?

If you are losing that much coolant through the head gasket you should have a lot of white smoke coming from the exhaust. Have someone rev the motor in park and watch for it. You can also have someone follow you when you drive and check.
Also pull your spark plugs if you have coolant going into one of the cylinders the plug should be super clean compared to the other ones.

[ssms5411]

Re: 3.4L Head gasket Rebuild?

That would be the first step. There are a few places water can leak from, and because you have no smoke, you KNOW its not leaking into the chamber, reducing the chance that it could be the head gasket. Not saying it still can't be, but it could be a few things other than that, worse case would be a cracked block.

X2, LIM is popular also for leaking. I'm doing my head gaskets here soon with some MLS gaskets and ALM. LIM gasket W. ARP head studs, I have a write up on doing this if yopou need it PM me and I'll send it to you. If you using stock gaskets you won't need it.

[GoAwayDamnYou]

Re: 3.4L Head gasket Rebuild?

What a long weekend... Just wanted to thank you all for your input. The good news is the shop I took it to found no issues with the head gaskets (Which really surprised me because I've cooked it so many times, and at 216k miles I figured they were bound to be shot). The bad news is, he couldn't tell me how I was losing so much coolant and he didn't seem to believe me.

Friday night was the end-all to that debate. Overheated 10 minutes down the interstate after I had just topped it off. I found the leak while broken down on the side of the road with a flashlight, go figure.

Turns out it was a housing gasket between the block and the timing chain housing (which I only really discovered by taking it apart)

I'm writing this up with photos in case anyone happens into the same circumstance...

The leak seemed to be coming from top left of the waterpump, which led me to believe that somehow the back of the waterpump housing was leaking or there was a freezeplug... both counts were wrong as discovered when I started removing parts:


Notice the water pooled up... with all the BARS stop leak from trying to fix whatever the hell was leaking
(It's a chevy... You only worry when it STOPS leaking oil. Least it doesn't burn it, just loses it lmao)


And there's the bad gasket... you can tell because there shouldn't be BARS leak all over the left side, LOL...yeah maybe I went a little crazy with that stuff... and yes, I replaced the timing chain while I was there.


So yeah, guess I also know why my heater wasn't working either. Probably wasn't getting any flow to the heater hose. And the heater core is not clogged... which you'd think it would be with all the stop-leak..

New gasket:



and almost back together again: (got a new a/c compressor/drier while I was at it)



Now some other items I thought to be noteworthy:
When the car started back up I noticed the fan would not run (which the local mechanic reassured me it was coming on in a timely manner)... replaced the relay and the ECT sensor & sender. the fan works, but I thought it should also be on 100% of the time when my A/C is on? My A/C lines are getting vacuumed, flushed, and recharged today, so I'll see if that makes the difference. any input on that?
At any rate, I'm happy now, not overheating and cycles at about 210º. Hopefully the head gaskets can last me another 35,000. In the meantime I'm saving up and taking your information into consideration as I shop around for the eventual rebuild.