chevelle3504speed Posted August 22, 2013 Report Share Posted August 22, 2013 I recently installed a '98 3800 out of a wrecked LTZ Lumina in a '95 Olds Cutlass Supreme. There were incredibly detailed maintenance records that came with the Lumina when I bought it including every fuel fill up from the time it was bought in '98 until second owner got it. Anyway, the engine has a head gasket problem, although you'd never know it by performance. It runs fine, but it makes some gurgling sounds inside the car like it's got air in the cooling system, and it sucks the upper radiator hose shut when you shut the engine off when it's at operating temp. which made me suspicious, so I used a kit with the blue fluid that you stick in a clear cylinder and put it over fill neck of the radiator and runt he car. Fluid turned yellow after about a minute. The records from the Lumina indicated that the water pump was replaced at 60k (it now has 100k on it). I figure that's when it overheated and popped the head gasket. However, my concern is that the block is warped because the car was driven for 40k with a head gasket problem. The whole reason I put the 3800 in this thing was because the original 3100 had this issue exactly. I did a head job on the 3100 (had heads pressure checked and surfaced) and it still had a combustion leak. I put the bars head gasket fix in it and the 3100 ran for 50k which surprised me. What do you guys think? Do you think there's a good chance that surfacing the heads will fix the 3800, or do you think the block is warped after driving for 40k with a combustion leak? I don't know what to do. I'm just pissed to hell that I've got the same issue I had with the 3100 with this 3800. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
l67ss Posted August 22, 2013 Report Share Posted August 22, 2013 Has it actually over haeted since youve driven it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Schurkey Posted August 22, 2013 Report Share Posted August 22, 2013 (edited) If the upper rad hose is getting "sucked shut", you have a defective radiator cap or plugged overflow hose. START THERE. AFTER you've taken care of the rad hose collapsing, and you still think there's a problem...Cranking compression test, and cylinder leakdown test. Edited August 22, 2013 by Schurkey Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chevelle3504speed Posted August 25, 2013 Author Report Share Posted August 25, 2013 Okay thanks for the suggestions. I will replace the radiator cap. Car has never overheated and doesn't have coolant in the oil, but it makes gurgling sounds. Also, I put lower intake gaskets on it and a new plenum. When I did this job, I had to replace the lower intake because the part of the intake that blocks off the coolant ports in the head were eaten up on both sides. In fact, I pushed a screw driver through the top side of the intake in this area that covers the coolant port on the rear head. And the car fails the combustion leak test when using the blue fluid that changes color to yellow when exposed to exhaust gas. Mine changes to yellow within a minute. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
l67ss Posted August 25, 2013 Report Share Posted August 25, 2013 Block should be ok you ARE gonna use new head bolts right? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chevelle3504speed Posted August 28, 2013 Author Report Share Posted August 28, 2013 Oh yes. Not reusing the originals. Still paranoid about the block. I have bought 2 cars with 3100s that I discovered had head gasket problems after I bought them. On both occasions the previous owner claimed to know nothing about the car having a blown head gasket. Ended up putting engines in both of them because the blocks were shot. Both engines ran great. They didn't have coolant in the oil and they didn't overheat. Those experiences just haunt me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
l67ss Posted August 28, 2013 Report Share Posted August 28, 2013 Dont blame ya on the paranoid thing Oh yes. Not reusing the originals. Still paranoid about the block. I have bought 2 cars with 3100s that I discovered had head gasket problems after I bought them. On both occasions the previous owner claimed to know nothing about the car having a blown head gasket. Ended up putting engines in both of them because the blocks were shot. Both engines ran great. They didn't have coolant in the oil and they didn't overheat. Those experiences just haunt me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Schurkey Posted August 28, 2013 Report Share Posted August 28, 2013 How much coolant do you have to add? I don't recall you ever mentioning that you have to top-off the coolant. No coolant loss = probably not a head gasket issue. No cranking compression loss = probably not a head gasket issue. Keep in mind that a cracked casting can put combustion gas into the coolant just as readily as a defective head gasket, and with less coolant loss into the combustion chamber. Fill and bleed the cooling system, put on a new rad cap and/or un-block the overflow hose, and see what happens. Gurgling is just air in the system, bleed it using the full shop-manual procedure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chevelle3504speed Posted September 10, 2013 Author Report Share Posted September 10, 2013 Yeah, I left that part out for some reason. It goes through about a pint of coolant every 120 miles. It starts up with a miss occasionally too. It's got a head gasket problem or cracked head or block; no doubt. It also has a main bearing knock for about 1 second occasionally when I start it too, so I'm just going to pull the engine out before too long It's not worth fixing. It runs fine and is still reliable for now. Someone just overheated the crap out of it at some point. I'm just going to replace it with an L67. Thanks for your help guys. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
l67ss Posted September 10, 2013 Report Share Posted September 10, 2013 YAY!!! l67 is never the answer, it is the question, yes is the answer Yeah, I left that part out for some reason. It goes through about a pint of coolant every 120 miles. It starts up with a miss occasionally too. It's got a head gasket problem or cracked head or block; no doubt. It also has a main bearing knock for about 1 second occasionally when I start it too, so I'm just going to pull the engine out before too long It's not worth fixing. It runs fine and is still reliable for now. Someone just overheated the crap out of it at some point. I'm just going to replace it with an L67. Thanks for your help guys. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chevelle3504speed Posted September 12, 2013 Author Report Share Posted September 12, 2013 Haha. It will be the answer here. I won't have time to do it until December. I'll post some pictures when I do it though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
l67ss Posted September 12, 2013 Report Share Posted September 12, 2013 Puttin a topswapped 3.8 in my 97 monte Haha. It will be the answer here. I won't have time to do it until December. I'll post some pictures when I do it though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chevelle3504speed Posted September 16, 2013 Author Report Share Posted September 16, 2013 Righto; very nice! I'm looking around at L67s now. Have to save some money first though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Imp558 Posted September 16, 2013 Report Share Posted September 16, 2013 When I thought I had a head gasket leak on my L36 it turned out to be a UIM. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chevelle3504speed Posted September 25, 2013 Author Report Share Posted September 25, 2013 Yeah that's what I initially thought it was. I replaced the plenum and LIM gaskets. Even had to replace the LIM because the aluminum was eaten up so badly. Thanks for the suggestion. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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