dnordquest Posted May 24, 2009 Report Share Posted May 24, 2009 The head gasket of my '90 Cutlass Supreme 3.1 appears to have blown recently -- because of a bad thermostat, I think. The exhaust has lots of white steam, there is bubbling in the coolant overflow tank and there appears to be some coolant leak onto the ground. The car is otherwise in fine shape , with 62K miles. This repair may be beyond my skills and tools, so I wonder whether it is likely worth it to have a garage do it. I take it more problems might be revealed when the head is removed. The forum posts have been a great source of info! Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xtremerevolution Posted May 24, 2009 Report Share Posted May 24, 2009 I doubt head gaskets are beyond your abilities. just remember to replace the bolts with new ones, do the lim gaskets while you're at it, use common sense, and label all of the bolts in egg cartons. I would recommend checking rockauto for prices on everything before you start too, unless you absolutely need the car to get around. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dnordquest Posted May 25, 2009 Author Report Share Posted May 25, 2009 Thanks, Xtremerevolution. The leak to the ground seems to be coming from where the head meets the block. I'm wondering if that's likely just the gasket -- or, maybe, a warped head, too. Occasionally, I can also hear what a neighbor thought might be rod noise, though it is not usually present. I'm trying to get a sense of the likelihood of success. Thanks again! Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robby1870 Posted May 25, 2009 Report Share Posted May 25, 2009 Warping of the heads usually only happens if the engine ran a long time with it over heating because of the blown head gasket. However, it is definitely worth taking the heads to be at least checked for flatness, and re-surfaced if necessary. Putting a warped head on will cause another head gasket failure. Other than doing that, the rest of the project is fairly straight forward and relatively easy to do. A Hayne's manual coupled with this forum is more than enough information/knowledge to do this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xtremerevolution Posted May 25, 2009 Report Share Posted May 25, 2009 agreed. worst case, you'll need to have them resurfaced. a local shop will resurface my v12 jaguar heads for $45 apiece, so i'm sure you can get it done for cheaper. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dnordquest Posted May 26, 2009 Author Report Share Posted May 26, 2009 Thanks a lot for the great replies, Robby1870 & xtremerevolution. I'll get the Haynes book from the library and see what's involved. The problem happened on a 50-minute Sunday drive from my folks', when I had to get back for work the next morning. I foolishly thought it was likely a fan problem, so I tried to baby it home. Big mistake. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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