blown head gasket?

[Archer]

Re: blown head gasket?

i had the same problem your having... I took off my intakes. The lower and upper gaskets were SHOT... So replace the gaskets... I would buy everything you need. once you get to that point if the gaskets look ok and intack. then go to the heads. if they arnt good. I would stop there and replace those gaskets since these cars are known for the intake gaskets to go out.
Thats my opinion. In france... that has to be hard to find parts for the car right?

Archer

[chevy the kid]

Re: blown head gasket?

I bought all my parts on rockauto.
An other guy in france have the same problem as i have, oily coolant, oil pressure not at 60, coolant on the front of engine.

I will go to the shop to have an other point of view.

Tell what i need to do this job.

Thx

[UDLOSE98]

Re: blown head gasket?

well whatever it is, you better start working on it quick, you will spin a bearing in no time.

[chevy the kid]

Re: blown head gasket?

What do you mean by spin a bearing?
Why I could destroy the engine, i'm not overheating and the oil is clear. I have do the oil flush the last month and nothing in oil.
I just check the coolant regulary.
I drive the maro 19 miles per day, do you think i could wait a month or two, the time to find a daily car to repair the camaro.

[chevy the kid]

Re: blown head gasket?

An other guy in france has the same problem, i tell me there two little plastic pipe on the intake, one was broken but it need to change the heads gaskets.
Why it need to change them and no the intake gaskets.

I have water on the front of the motor, on the passenger side.

Thx for your advices

[bigbrian442]

Re: blown head gasket?

Get a mirror and hold it so you can see under the front of the intake, so you can see the plastic pipe your taking about. That sounds like it might be your leak.

Brian

[chevy the kid]

Re: blown head gasket?

I will check in the day, the awesome is i don't have the coolant smelt...

[chevy the kid]

Re: blown head gasket?

It's not the pipe, i have lost a very little coolant since tuesday.
What the hell with this car.

[squisher]

Re: blown head gasket?

If you're losing coolant, and can't find where it's going, Odds are it's an intake manifold gasket. It is a relatively common problem on these cars.

Mine had it, and I've heard of quite a few others. Coolant is leaking through the gasket in your intake manifold, getting sucked into the cylinders, turned to steam from the heat of combustion and pushed out the exhaust.

bad: You lose coolant (pretty quickly usually)
good: Your engine gets steam cleaned! ;)
Extra good: The coolant is not going into the oil, so no destroying of the connecting rod and crankshaft bearings.

A good way to tell if the coolant is going into your oil: Check your oil level, and if it is extra high (like above the full mark) then you've got extra liquid in the crankcase, which may or may not be (but most likely would be) coolant.

Another way to tell: Let the car sit for a couple of hours after running it (or do this before you drive anywhere for the day). Take out the oil drain plug (with a pan under it). Coolant is mostly water, and is heavier than oil, so water (coolant) will come out first, then oil. (If there is any coolant in the oil that is).

*Edit for clarity: If you do this, you're basically doing an oil change, so it would be a good idea to have fresh oil (~4.5L IIRC) and a new oil filter. If you had any noticeable amount of water come out, it's time for a compression check and possibly a leak-down test to see where it's leaking from, and then fix whatever is leaking.

[chevy the kid]

Re: blown head gasket?

ok many thanks, i confirm with the last month oil change there is no coolant in oil.
I think you're right and the coolant go to intake. it's why a have a little white sludge on oil cap (condensation of the coolant).

If you tell me it isn't bad for the engine i will change the gasket once i have found someone to help me.

Many thanks

[CDNFB]

Re: blown head gasket?

The moisture that you see on the oil cap and fill tube is probably from condensation because your not getting your oil temperature up high enough. This is usually because the engine is not given enough time to get to full operating temperature, like when the car is only used for very short trips, or in cold temperatures that would prevent full operating temps.

Not much you can do with the short trips, except to use a block heater to pre-heat the engine before use and to observe the Manufactures recommendation to change your oil more often as this is considered severe conditions (excessive moisture collection) for your engine.

As for the cold weather, you can block off the radiator with some cardboard which will help the engine get to temp. But be careful if you do this, because on warmer days you run the risk of overheating.

[chevy the kid]

Re: blown head gasket?

Ok, i will check regulary the level and coolant and see what apened. I don't know where my coolant is going, someday i lost a very little coolant and someday more...

It shoudn't be a head gasket because i don't overheat and the exhaust smoke is pretty normal and doesn't smell.

This is a strange car...