97, 3.1 Motor Lumina Engine Problems!!!

Hello,

Before I started writing this, I did read all of the posts, that were similiar to what I am going through. I am a female, and I need to know the honest truth about what is going on with my car, since everyone, including my mechanic is telling me what they think i want to hear.
I hope that is enough info.
V6
3.1 motor size
1997 model
Chevy Lumina
155481 miles
the car was getting hot, temp gauge would rise, but would go down. The highest it would get, was in the middle. i began to put water in it, thinking it was low. 2wks later the car was stalling really badly, jerking, and going nuts. So i pull off to the side, and it goes dead. I cant crank it or nothing. I let it cool, and thankfully there was a car wash near by. I again fill it with more water. The temp goes down some more. 2 juggs of water later i am at the mechanic shop. He lifts the hood and chks the oil. He turns to me, and shows me a stick, dripping with this light brown goo. He then says, this is where all the water has been going. He then scruries off in his office, with a look of silent glee in his eyes, and comes back with a lil sheet of paper
You have cracked heads, better sit dwn cause its gonna cost u 947.21
That includes of course:
Head Gasket kit 374.20
labor @ 11.3hr 497.20
check head 7.50
resurface head 40.00
antifreeze 8.00
LOF? 19.95

But later, we ended up buying the 2 heads for 225.00 each. They were from my understanding s'pose to be Aluminum heads
Head belt set 47.44
oil change 13.50
spark plus change 13.14
and the chk heads went up to 30.00
Total cost when the car was returned to us, 1,433.84

The car is driving like a top, quiet as all get out, but using oil. From the time we got it back in June til Dec, its been using oil a week or 2 weeks, it would need 2 quarts. The change oil light is on, along with the sevice engine light, I called the mechanic, went to his shop, but he just says, watch it closely, to see if any oil is drippin. There is nothing on the motor, nothing on the ground
So early Dec, it start loosing power, hestitating at take off, i got it back home, it starts really roughly but i head out again, it started hestitatin some more, i get at a stop sign and it goes dead. I crank it back up and it sounds awful. It sounds like there was something under the hood tryin to get out. I just floor it and get it on the side of the road. It goes dead on me again, and i crank it back up. I leave it cranked and open the hood. and the motor is shaking really badly, the noise is awful, like a metallic, rough rattling, knocking noise. I try to put it in gear and it just goes dead. I call the mechanic and he sends out someone to look at it. Dont you know he brigs oil! He takes the oil top off and smoke comes from it, like its buring, he chks the stick and gets upset and asks why am i running the car w/o oil. But we have been puttin oil in, the oil light never came on to tell me otherwise. He replies, you should chk the oil every wk!!?? No way!
OK, we get it too his shop 4hrs later with more drama than necessary
Dec to Jan now, i call him, and ask ok, whats the problem. He says oil pump is out, we will know what else later, call back Jan 14-15!

What is going on? Could someone please explain to me if i am getting majorly screwed, or what? Can it really be the oil pump?

Ok Kiddo, here's the real Aw shuck darn of the situation. 1) When you went with the first problem I would guarentee, you had probably over heated the engine at one point. It's a wonder you didn't spin a main. The water in the motor oil was a dead give away that either the intake or head gaskets had gone south. When He pulled the heads they were probably warped. At the same time the oil wasn't doing a great job of lubricating. So for the oil pump to lock up at a later date due to pick up isn't a real big supprise. I'd say you're not going to like what you hear from him when you talk to him again. Probably will need a new long block.

First thing in my opinion you should find a new mechanic cuz all he did was take you for a ride. Second he (the mechanic) should of told you the best thing to do was to replace the whole motor from the beginning. Bad thing is that now he has you over a barrel and is gonna take ya for a ride again. You're prolly gonna be charged $1400 plus for this lil job. i would find out what he is gonna charge yall for an engine and then do your own shoppin around cuz yall will prolly find a better deal than what he is gonna give. If he says it just needs an oil pump get a second opinion, if it was knockin then the engine is one its last toe.

Thank you GM6341 and rebel_wolf74 for your reply!!! I truly appreciate it!

I want to get as much information as I can, this time, so I understand what is going on! So that I am not just relying on the mechanic who may or may not be telling me the entire truth! I have got second opinions, and all are contradicting each other. lol. But I guess that is just part of the mechanic's world.


~Knowledge is power~

I am selling my '96 lumina run but need change headgasket $1000