I purchased a 98 Lumina yesterday, I was told it needs a lower intake gasket, never told it was leaking water in the oil! My question is how do I know that its not the head gaskets either? Or should I just change them while I'm in there for safe measure? Will a compression test verify the condition of the head gaskets?

Thanks for your help.

Usually the lower intake will do it, but to be sure you can get a test kit that checks for exh gases in the cooling system pointing to hd gasket issue, maybe the engine was overheated also, coolant can damage the engine bearings keep this in mind.

search this forum. there,s tons of discussion about it. i had the same problem with the same car. best bet= "fel-pro" metal gasket. torque spec,s are the same as oem. also search about the little o-ring where the distributor used to be. it is the right time to do it. it,s a frequent source of oil leaks .

Yes, a copression tester will tell you whether or not you have a cylinder leak that could be a bad head gasket or low compression due to various other mechanical problems. I would recommend compresion testing all cylinders. The coolant test is probably fast and easy for checking for a headgasket leak, but you could have a good sealing head gasket but other mechanical problems that a compression test would highlight.

Run a compression test first, and if it's good then your headgaskets are good. If it's low in one or more cylinder then go from there..