Head Gaskets on a 3800 Series 3 NA (Page 1/2)
JetroGT MAR 07, 05:20 AM
I'll be starting this job on Tuesday morning. I've done the same job on the Fiero 2.8, 3100 twice and a 3400 in a van. That van....I hate that van.
Any way. I'm hoping that some one else has done the job and can give me a do and don't do list and has an idea of how long this is going to take, provided that the heads are in good shape.

Links to threads on or off the forum are always helpful.
I'm going to order up some Hylomar for the heads and the LIM today and locate a gasket set. I'll post pics as I wrench through it.
Thunderstruck GT MAR 07, 10:02 AM
Make sure it's the head gaskets and not the intake manifold (not intake gasket). Intakes are known to go bad. Dorman makes inexpensive replacements.
JetroGT MAR 07, 10:55 AM
I don't have the tools to do a compression test. The car was consuming coolant very slowly for about a year. Every time I did an oil change I would top it off. Yesterday we went to start it.... nice white cloud from the tail pipe.
The car ran great before I parked it. This engine has the aluminum intake and I was hoping that this design would be better than the plastic one.

Just replacing the LIM gasket would save me a lot of time.
Thunderstruck GT MAR 07, 02:21 PM

quote
Originally posted by JetroGT:

I don't have the tools to do a compression test. The car was consuming coolant very slowly for about a year. Every time I did an oil change I would top it off. Yesterday we went to start it.... nice white cloud from the tail pipe.
The car ran great before I parked it. This engine has the aluminum intake and I was hoping that this design would be better than the plastic one.

Just replacing the LIM gasket would save me a lot of time.



Yeah, it is.

But they still have intake gasket issues.

Either way I'd be careful, those engines are known to hydrolock.

The last thing you want to do is turn the engine over with fluid in a cylinder.

[This message has been edited by Thunderstruck GT (edited 03-07-2016).]

Lou6t4gto MAR 07, 02:21 PM
If it's pushing white Smoke out the Tailpipe, it's Not just the intake gasket leaking. that would leave a "Milkshake looking film" inside the valve covers and the oil would look somewhat milky, not transparent. A blown head gasket would tend to make "compression BUBBLES" in the radiator when the engine is running.
Thunderstruck GT MAR 07, 02:24 PM

quote
Originally posted by Lou6t4gto:

If it's pushing white Smoke out the Tailpipe, it's Not just the intake gasket leaking. that would leave a "Milkshake looking film" inside the valve covers and the oil would look somewhat milky, not transparent. A blown head gasket would tend to make "compression BUBBLES" in the radiator when the engine is running.



You can have an inter-mix either way but it's more common with a bad head gasket.
JetroGT MAR 07, 03:54 PM
I'm just going to strip it all down. It actually looks easier than the Fiero V6. After skimming through other peoples experiences I'm going to go with the Victor gasket set and Fel-Pro head bolt set.

Tonight I have to breathe life into the Old-mobile so the wife has something somewhat reliable to drive while her car is down. I'm driving it now with a leaky rad. I'll see how fast I can replace the rad and water pump. lol

[This message has been edited by JetroGT (edited 03-07-2016).]

JetroGT MAR 08, 02:58 PM
Replacing the radiator and pump on the 3100 took longer than I thought. The 20 or so interruptions didn't help either.
Here's the 3800 S3. I'm taking lots of pics so everything goes back in the proper places.

[This message has been edited by JetroGT (edited 03-08-2016).]

JetroGT MAR 08, 07:05 PM
Slow day today. This is where I stopped.



I had to cut the spring clamp off of the lower radiator hose with a dremel because they put the clamp clips on the bottom. I had no way to get to them. I think I messed up the hose with the cutting wheel. Not a big deal but there was nothing wrong with that hose.
JetroGT MAR 09, 03:13 PM
Late start today. Just found this.



Is this the left side? "Fire wall side" I want to make sure I get the correct one. GM parts direct only shows one type of cover. I need the Oil cap delete cover