Overheating

I have a 96 Aurora I've changed the waterpump, and thermostat. At first the temperature would stay at about 220 for normal operating temp. As time went on I found myself constantly adding coolant and everyonce in a while see a large spot under the car. When I took it to a repair center they told me it was the cylinder head gasket. Is it wise to repair the head gasket or just get another engine, I was told rivets had to be drilled out and metal shaving get into the engine so is it wise for the engine or head gasket replacement?

I have a 96 Aurora I've changed the waterpump, and thermostat. At first the temperature would stay at about 220 for normal operating temp. As time went on I found myself constantly adding coolant and everyonce in a while see a large spot under the car. When I took it to a repair center they told me it was the cylinder head gasket. Is it wise to repair the head gasket or just get another engine, I was told rivets had to be drilled out and metal shaving get into the engine so is it wise for the engine or head gasket replacement?

It sounds like you have a normal leak somewhere in the line. If the engine's a 3.8L, then it's most likely the little black PVC elbow pipe that connects the line going from your belt tensioner to your engine block (passenger side of engine) - these are notorious for breaking, they cost about $3, but it takes about an hour to replace. If your cylinder head gasket's bad, you would not see any coolant on the ground, it would get sucked into exhaust and pumped out the tail pipe. Conduct a pressure test on your cooling system, and get a second opinion. BTW, head gasket jobs can cost up to $2k, so it sounds like they're trying to take you for a ride.

It sounds like you have a normal leak somewhere in the line. If the engine's a 3.8L, then it's most likely the little black PVC elbow pipe that connects the line going from your belt tensioner to your engine block (passenger side of engine) - these are notorious for breaking, they cost about $3, but it takes about an hour to replace. If your cylinder head gasket's bad, you would not see any coolant on the ground, it would get sucked into exhaust and pumped out the tail pipe. Conduct a pressure test on your cooling system, and get a second opinion. BTW, head gasket jobs can cost up to $2k, so it sounds like they're trying to take you for a ride.

The place where I went put pressure on the system and after about 30 mins saw a slight coolant leak from the bottom. I tried using a block and headgasket repair solution and since then I havn't seen leaks on the ground but I'm still adding coolant to the system. The needle goes just over 220 sits there for a while and then goes back down when idling. Then it'll go back up after about another 20 or 30 min.

The Aurora has the 4.0 V8 (Oldsmobile engine), not the 3.8 V6 (Buick engine).

You can lose coolant from a faulty headgasket if the coolant passages leak to the exterior of the engine. I had a blown headgasket in my Grand Prix (3.1) and it was forcing compression into the coolant passages that was forcing coolant to come out of the overflow.

I have never heard of Rivets being used in an engine to hold it together. Engines are made to be SERVICED, not to be DISPOSABLE (unless you have a mazda rotoray).

According to my 1997 Aurora GM service manual, everything in there is held in with BOLTS.

Sounds to me like they are tring to take you for a ride.

The Aurora has the 4.0 V8 (Oldsmobile engine), not the 3.8 V6 (Buick engine).

You can lose coolant from a faulty headgasket if the coolant passages leak to the exterior of the engine. I had a blown headgasket in my Grand Prix (3.1) and it was forcing compression into the coolant passages that was forcing coolant to come out of the overflow.

I have never heard of Rivets being used in an engine to hold it together. Engines are made to be SERVICED, not to be DISPOSABLE (unless you have a mazda rotoray).

According to my 1997 Aurora GM service manual, everything in there is held in with BOLTS.

Sounds to me like they are tring to take you for a ride.


I think I need to get a second opinion on the situation but can't find a repair center that's dependable enought to give me a good dignosis of the problem. I'm location in the south sub of Chicago so I would like to find a location that's close. If it's just a head gasket that would be good because other then that the engine runs great. So does any one know of a good repair center close to the south subs of chicago?

from what i've heard,the shortstar (4.0 northstar) is a throwaway engine it is not worth the time and problems to do the headgasket. the head bolts is the problem of failure for the gasket. they pull out of the threads in the aluminum block. to replace the gasket you WILL have to drill holes out and put in gm's timesert kit which is very expensive alone. then the labor of doing the gaskets(you might as well do both) me? i'm dropping a used engine in! goodluck!