Samurai Posted August 31, 2009 Report Share Posted August 31, 2009 hey folks... back in January of this year, I sold my 98 Lumina to buy a 99 Monte Carlo. Powertrain-wise, they were identical. As the months went on, i was going through coolant every few days. I noticed that the intake gasket was leaking on the transaxle side, just where the intake met the rear head. Last weekend, I changed out the intake gasket. What I found when I tore the engine down was that in the past, the Monte had been driven under or into something and destroyed the heads, lower and upper intakes... The intake gasket itself had never been changed when the previous owner had head gaskets done. Instead, her mechanic had merely globbed black RTV into the cracked parts of the gasket and then assembled the intake. So, here is where there is trouble. I have the engine back together, have been driving it for the weekend and have noticed that the same area where the coolant was leaking before is wet again. Also, I am going through coolant again. The head gaskets were fine, i did a compression test on all the cylinders and they were right in spec (impressive for almost 174,000 miles). I don't have coolant in the oil, nor do i have oil in my coolant... could the heads or intake be warped? I am really at a loss here. Any input would be greatly appreciated. Scott Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GP1138 Posted August 31, 2009 Report Share Posted August 31, 2009 Aluminum heads can warp if the engine has been overheated many times, but if you haven't noticed overheating since January it's not terribly likely that the heads are warped due to that. It sounds like you have a basket case engine to begin with. Your description of what you found when you disassembled the engine was vague. Was there damage obvious to the heads that made you suspect that it had been driven into something? As in a wreck? I'm confused about that part entirely. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Samurai Posted September 14, 2009 Author Report Share Posted September 14, 2009 there was junkyard numbers on the bottom of the upper plenum and the rear cylinder head. anyways, here's the update. I found out after I posted this that the friend I had help me with the repairs did not bleed the air out of the system. He forgot. I forgot... it happens. Anyways, as it went on, the temperature gauge was bouncing all over the place. I ended up bleeding the air out of the system while giving the engine a righteous hell-beat. It has behaved itself since, however, I think the damage was done. I think I might've ruined one side of the intake gasket by having all that air in the system. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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