LQ1 in a 94 Cutlass - Time for a HG replacement?

[Nas Escobar]

Well, the other day I had my spark plugs changed by a buddy of mine, it was a lazy day for me. Anyways, my buddy works more with Hondas than anything else. Now when he did the spark plugs, he told me that my head gasket was on its way out. I personally don't see anything wrong with the engine besides the fact that when it's really cold outside, the car accelerates itself and then drops to 500rpm, which makes the engine idle rough for about 5 to 10 seconds before the engine revs itself up to 1500-2500 rpm. One of the spark plugs had brownlike (chocolate) stains. I can provide pictures as I kept the spark plugs.

 

The car also shakes/idles rough sporadically when it is lower than 45F degrees outside. As I said, it's sporadically, and if I rev it in park, it goes away. This of course is when I'm driving, and I would say this happens about 10%. Also to put that into perspective, I live in DC and find myself around Virginia and Maryland a lot, and I'm always on the move so this only happens about once a week or so often.

 

My quesiton is should I look at my HG for these issues, or is there something else wrong with the engine? Most of these things don't show up on actual drop top days, but right now I'm driving the Cutlass more since my other car needs a brake overhaul.

 

BTW my oil isn't milky, it looks golden (oil change done not so long ago), there is no coolant leaks, but I have found a small oil leak at the bottom of the car, around some tubes that I assume run to an oil cooler (not sure if the car actually has one, but it sure looks that way). My car does have a gas smell near the back, but I assume it's either age or the cat. I sometimes see small drops water on the ground, coming out the tail pipe when I start it, but that I've been told is normal. My other car does it too, and it's winter so I assume that's condensation. I'm waiting for spring to see if that goes away.

 

All help is appreciated.

[Schurkey]

Well, the other day I had my spark plugs changed by a buddy of mine, it was a lazy day for me. Anyways, my buddy works more with Hondas than anything else. Now when he did the spark plugs, he told me that my head gasket was on its way out.

Any coolant loss? When I popped a head gasket on a 3.4 dual cam, the engine overheated like mad. Found the other head gasket was going bad in exactly the same place. About 150K miles. Both heads had a low-spot where the gasket failed, so both heads had to have .015 or so planed off of them.

 

The rear bank had the cylinder closest to the belts let go, the front bank had the cylinder closest to the transmission let go.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

"I" would be connecting a scan tool to that vehicle, to find out why it runs so bad. Fix the idle and surging.

Edited March 9, 2013 by Schurkey

[Nas Escobar]

Nope, no coolant loss, just a minor drip of oil coming from the bottom. I will try to get a pic next time I have the car jacked up.

 

94 would be ODB 1.5 right?

 

Also, this is a convertible. Not sure how this would work out with a scanner tool, or how to get one that will help out. I've thought about this as well.

[Schurkey]

Nope, no coolant loss, just a minor drip of oil coming from the bottom. I will try to get a pic next time I have the car jacked up.

Almost certainly not a head gasket problem.

 

94 would be ODB 1.5 right?

 

Also, this is a convertible. Not sure how this would work out with a scanner tool, or how to get one that will help out. I've thought about this as well.

Any decent scan tool will not care about "OBD 1.5". Consumer-grade bottom-feeder junk scan tools or code-readers may not appreciate it, though.

[Nas Escobar]

Well I talked to someone I more or less trust with my cars... not an HG issue. I'm assuming this has to do with the spark plug wires or the coil/distributor/whatever this engine has... I'm not too sure on that one.