my 91' lumina has a fuel, oil, and water mix. does that mean the head gakets are blown or what could be the problem? also if head gaskets are blown what should i do?

thanks for the help everyone!

a pressure test is the only accurate way to tell where/if you have a blown head gasket.

If you have a blown head gasket, its about a $1200.00 repair.

I just had a blown head gasket on my '97 lumina back in December and my local shop i use charged me $1200.00 - that included having my heads hot tanked and resurfaced and they used the fel-pro gasket sets as they are the best. They also flushed out all that crappy dex-cool and i am back to the original green coolant that we all know and love.

I would say yes, the head gaskets are blown. That year 3.1 doesn't have the common intake issues that the later Vin-M's do, and the fuel added to the mix of coolant and oil would make me suspect a combustion chamber leak. If the car is still in good shape, do a head gasket job on it. If you do it yourself, it would only be about $125-$200 in parts, if you had it done at a shop, you're looking at $800-$1100. I guess the question you have to ask, is the car worth the work/expense, and can you replace it with a car in the same condition for less than the repairs cost?

thanks for the info my only major problem is that i live in guam and parts here are two or three times as much in cost than in stateside stores. the car is in excellent condition and i dont want to see it go cause i only paid 250 for it.

thanks again for the help!

also would i have to resurface them or not? and how can i check the combustion chambers to see any markings or causes. this a do it yourself job

Once the heads are off, you can put a straight edge on the surface. Using a feeler guage, anything more that .005" warpage, and the head will need to be resurfaced. Normally, the head gasket is where you'll see the monkeyed-up spot causing the leak.

thanks for the help