Stevo Posted April 7, 2005 Report Share Posted April 7, 2005 Ok. My 3.4L is losing alot of oil. Also from time to time I get a 'low coolant warning' and I am not sure as too why. In the morning when I start up the car I hear sloshing of coolant from the other side of the firewall. It seems that coolant is somehow going awol on me and yet there are no ground leaks except for oil. Now here is my question. What do I need to pickup to do the top-end of the 3.4L in terms of parts/gaskets? Since that head has to come up to replace the oil pump seal no doubt the gasket on the head is in a bad state. I see posts here on how to 'goo-down' the oil pump drive shaft cover. I'm just thinking that I may have more going on than just this. I'm going for a total no-leaks repair which includes top end. Can anyone offer any suggestions for which gaskets I need, who makes/sells the best and where I can get them? I was on the gmparts direct site but I think it's utterly useless unless you know the specific part number for what you want (kinda cart before the horse) also the site itself is quite buggy to me. :? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
topless94style Posted April 8, 2005 Report Share Posted April 8, 2005 Get a head gasket set, felpro is good, should have everything you need. Gonna have to buy the Oring seperatly, if there is no coolant leak you might be burning some through a head gasket. Start it up and get it warm. Watch your coolant res to see if there are any bubbles. Good sign of a HG leak. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Turbocharged400sbc Posted April 8, 2005 Report Share Posted April 8, 2005 The gurgling is coolant refilling/flowing through your heater core with air bubbles, make sure your heater core isnt leaking and do a real good check for possible coolant leaks. to check for a head gasket leak I would recomend a CO2 tester (the type that changes a fluid from blue to yellow in the pressence of CO2-combustion gasses) Also with the OP drive O ring you dont need to pull the head off the block! here check out what i posted here: http://www.mymonte.com/discussion/shwmessage.aspx?ForumID=12&MessageID=223689 good luck and have fun! James Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
White93z34 Posted April 8, 2005 Report Share Posted April 8, 2005 fill and bleed the heck out of the coolant system after you are all done. if you aren't going to pull the heads i recoment finding a O ring that will fit around the pump drive shaft area and seal the heck out of it with RTV. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Canada Posted April 8, 2005 Report Share Posted April 8, 2005 Buy all your gaskets in the form of AC Delco....they are what orginally came on the car and are the BEST on the market. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stevo Posted April 8, 2005 Author Report Share Posted April 8, 2005 I have done some back reading. Going through some books and checking out the process I can see this is gonna be fun. =o Thanks for the info on what to do. As for Gaskets ... from searching I located a gasket set made by Victor Reinz Gaskets. The Dealer wants $540 for the gasket set they sell (I have no clue what brand). The Victor Reinz is $300 so with all the reading I have done its a toss up between the Fel-Pro and Victor Reinz. The Fel-Pro's may only be available by sending away from them because I went looking after posting yesterday. Any other ideas are welcome. Thanks again guys. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DOHCRagtopguy Posted April 8, 2005 Report Share Posted April 8, 2005 If AC/Delco gaskets are the original plasic intake ones, I'm sorry but they suck big time! I got Fel-Pros when I did mine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
topless94style Posted April 8, 2005 Report Share Posted April 8, 2005 I paid $160 about for the felpro from rockauto.com. So what your saying is, that your heater core leaks air into the coolant system? There shouldnt be any air in the coolant system, or atleast I thought. I know I dont have a bad heater core, and the bubbles I saw in my res lead to my correct conclusion of a blown head gasket. Combustion was leaking through a tiny crack/worn out area on gasket into one of the coolant passages. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stevo Posted April 8, 2005 Author Report Share Posted April 8, 2005 the bubbles I saw in my res lead to my correct conclusion of a blown head gasket. Combustion was leaking through a tiny crack/worn out area on gasket into one of the coolant passages. Thats what I think is going on here. Having the oil leak that is no doubt the oil pump drive shaft seal only gives the opportunity to fix it all. What sucks is the fact that last summer I had the intake done because the damn thing was hitting the 3500 rpm rev limiter on start up till it warmed up. I think I will take pics of everything when I do it too for shits n giggles. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stevo Posted April 8, 2005 Author Report Share Posted April 8, 2005 If AC/Delco gaskets are the original plasic intake ones, I'm sorry but they suck big time! That seems to be my view anyway, but the parts that the dealer sells over the counter must be 'correction' parts. It wouldnt make sense to sell a part that causes continuous problems when you can sell one better than original, just dont acknowledge it openly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
topless94style Posted April 8, 2005 Report Share Posted April 8, 2005 the bubbles I saw in my res lead to my correct conclusion of a blown head gasket. Combustion was leaking through a tiny crack/worn out area on gasket into one of the coolant passages. Thats what I think is going on here. Having the oil leak that is no doubt the oil pump drive shaft seal only gives the opportunity to fix it all. What sucks is the fact that last summer I had the intake done because the damn thing was hitting the 3500 rpm rev limiter on start up till it warmed up. I think I will take pics of everything when I do it too for shits n giggles. Mine was big enough to cause a very noticable loss in power and the engine ran a little rough. Expecting to see a big crack or something in the headgasket, i was surprised you could barely see where it was. Rough timing of about 7.5s 0-60before HG and closer to 9 when she blew. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stevo Posted April 9, 2005 Author Report Share Posted April 9, 2005 Yipe! Tommorrow I'm gonna go about doing some tests. I guess the lag for pickup is noticeable from when I bought it till now... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stevo Posted October 19, 2006 Author Report Share Posted October 19, 2006 Not to start a new topic about this so I will continue my old thread. How many people have had the drive seal replaced only to have it leak again? Is it possible to buy a non-rubber drive seal... say Urathane? The reason why I ask is ... something that is going to be rubber and bombarded by oil should eventually fail since oil destroys rubber. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
digitaloutsider Posted October 20, 2006 Report Share Posted October 20, 2006 The drive seals are supposed to be silicone, not rubber. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crazy K Posted October 20, 2006 Report Share Posted October 20, 2006 add a paper gasket! try looking for one for a 78 bel-air v6 paper gasket. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stevo Posted October 20, 2006 Author Report Share Posted October 20, 2006 add a paper gasket! try looking for one for a 78 bel-air v6 paper gasket. This is the gasket guys are using with the black RTV sealant? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stevo Posted October 26, 2006 Author Report Share Posted October 26, 2006 Well. I think I am about to do the deed and get this fixed in the next week. Now comes the bad part. I have 98% of the parts for the project. I don't have anyone who is more knowledgeable to assist me. I also do not have the experience with overhead cams to do this job properly as well as the proper tools. So I am going to have to have it done at ... the dealer . I want to assist the guy to ensure the thing is done right TDC, the deck is cleaned and the drive is sealed with a applique compression type gasket, and so forth. The job is quoted roughly at 6.5hours and I 'save' $700 in parts the dealer would charge me so I think it could be $500-650 and take 2 days to do as I want the sealant to cure 12hours. I feel like a gimp for not doing the job myself after all the reading I have done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
5speedz34 Posted October 26, 2006 Report Share Posted October 26, 2006 Well. I think I am about to do the deed and get this fixed in the next week. Now comes the bad part. I have 98% of the parts for the project. I don't have anyone who is more knowledgeable to assist me. I also do not have the experience with overhead cams to do this job properly as well as the proper tools. So I am going to have to have it done at ... the dealer . I want to assist the guy to ensure the thing is done right TDC, the deck is cleaned and the drive is sealed with a applique compression type gasket, and so forth. The job is quoted roughly at 6.5hours and I 'save' $700 in parts the dealer would charge me so I think it could be $500-650 and take 2 days to do as I want the sealant to cure 12hours. I feel like a gimp for not doing the job myself after all the reading I have done. Are you having the head pulled? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stevo Posted October 26, 2006 Author Report Share Posted October 26, 2006 Yes. I picked up a Victor Reinz top end gasket kit. Also I picked up a Cloyes timing belt. Without pulling the engine and using an engine stand. When you pull a cam. How the hell do you keep the valve guides from falling out? I thought the only way was to roll the engine and drop the assembly down and away. ugh. I feel like a dork. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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