Cracked heads?

[cscopeland79]

Can somebody help me before i drive myself and my firebird off a cliff in order to put us both out of our misery?

I've got a '95 Firebird with a stock 3.4 Liter V6. A few days ago I noticed that it was slowly fluctuating between 210 and 235 degrees. Just as it would begin to steam it would cool back off. It has never ran hot like this in the three years that i've owned the car. I'm something of an amateur so the first thing I did was swap out the thermostat hoping that would solve the problem cheaply and easily and I could just go my merry way. That wasn't the case. In fact it didn't help at all. I had someone I know look at it and as we replaced some of the coolant, it bubbled profusely. According to him, that meant the heads were cracked. Apparently the bubbles are gas escaping from the heads into the coolant and that's enough to conclusively determine that my heads are cracked.

Is this really the case? If so, is it worth messing with to swap out the heads? According to my source who claims to know, it would be impossible for a layman to ever figure out how to change out the heads on such a vehicle.

Thanks in advance for any help I can get.

[Johnny Ray]

Re: Cracked heads?

Most of the time it is a blown headgasket(s) that makes the coolant gurgle and bubble.

:cool:

[cscopeland79]

Re: Cracked heads?

he wants to run some stuff through the coolant that is supposed to seal any cracks or leaks in the system as a temporary fix. Has anyone ever heard of this stuff? Is it a good idea? I'm a broke college student so i really can't afford anything over a couple hundies to fix this thing. Am i gonna be riding a bicycle?

[BLLDOGG]

Re: Cracked heads?

nope. that sealer crap does not work. the chances of your heads being cracked is pretty low. most likely just a crack head gasket.

[Camaro Dom]

Re: Cracked heads?

i would try a coolant flush and fill first. perhaps theres a bottleneck in there and they need to be done periodically anyways.
then, i would go for head gaskets. yeah, heads can be a PITA, but no, a layman w/ a small amount of mechanical intuition, a chiltons (or haynes) book and attention to detail ABSOLUTELY could change it. the only detail thing you gotta watch for is to loosen the head bolts 1/4 turn at a time (in the right order) until you can take them out by hand. thats it, and the order will be illustrated in the book you buy. tightening the heads is the same way, in order until you reach the torque spec, so you'd need a torque wrench.
the only reason its a PITA is cuz you gotta take some other stuff off, but again, mechanical intuition and attention to detail (remember what was taken off and putting it back on the way u found it) will guide you thru it. If you can build legos, you can take apart almost everything on a car (some things like trans's and engine internals require special tools). I'd say go for it dude. you'd save a buttload on labor.

[BLLDOGG]

Re: Cracked heads?

he doesn't need a flush, a bottleneck will not cause bubbles.

[firechicken3800]

Re: Cracked heads?

personally i say it's just a blown head gasket. ive heard alot about 93-95 f-body's 3.4s blowing head gaskets quite often. my mom's '94 camaro blew a head gasket and i checked into it and found out that it was actually quite common for these cars. so, im pretty sure it's just a blown head gasket. couldn't imagine it was a cracked head...

[UDLOSE98]

Re: Cracked heads?

cracked heads are fun!!!! im dealing with one right now

[kala]

Re: Cracked heads?

cracked heads are fun!!!! im dealing with one right now

Are you sure that's all you're dealing with regarding your car?



:)

[UDLOSE98]

Re: Cracked heads?

Are you sure that's the only thing you're dealing with regarding your car?



:)

dont even say that!

[Scott90]

Re: Cracked heads?

did you bleed out the coolant system after you changed your thermostat? their might be air bubles in their, which cause the car to run very hot.

[cscopeland79]

Re: Cracked heads?

How do i determine on which side the head gasket is blown?

[Scott90]

Re: Cracked heads?

^ have a shop look at it

[cscopeland79]

Re: Cracked heads?

no actually i didn't, but i guess that makes sense since i did put a lot of air right in the middle of the system when i did that. damn, that would be great if that's all it is...

[UDLOSE98]

Re: Cracked heads?

anythign wrong with the heads/gaskets usually equals smoke