95 MonteCarlo overheating problems

[CindyLynn]

hello all- I have been experiencing some problems with my 95 Monte that I wanted to get your advice on. Let me give you the run-down: about 3 weeks ago, the 'low coolant' light came. I stopped at the garage & added a half-gallon of of coolant. Days pass, no other symptoms. Then a week or two later, 'low coolant' light comes on again. Stop at garage again. Had a gallon of coolant added. The mechanic stated that there was some gunk on the oil cap lid from from evaporation but none in the oil. He went on to state that it may be a head gasket, or a number of other things, and that I should keep a watch on it. About 4-5 days pass, low coolant light came on that night on my way home from work (about a 3-5 minute drive.) Started the car the next morning and drove to the convenient store (a 2-4 minute drive), left car running while I went in. Came back out- temp gage has shot up. (Also note that the temp guage has ben 'back n forth' some during these 3 weeks too.) Drove the car about 10 yards- it almost red-lined (260 temp.) I immediately pulled over to the side of the road to shut the car off. Checked the oil cap- all kinds of white gunk on it. Check the oil- milky/cloudy texture. So- do you think that I have yet ANOTHER* blown head gasket or is it something else? (*this same thing happened to me about 3 years ago. I was shown the actual gasket- it had holes in it.) What do you think is going on that this has happened AGAIN? I am very frustrated- I really can not affoard another car pymt and I really like this car. But if it's going to do this shit once every couple of years that screw it.

[growe58]

Y'all might want to check this thread with a similar title currently nesting one thread below yours (prior to this bump):
http://www.automotiveforums.com/vbul...d.php?t=487454

You can also do a search on google for 3.1 head gasket and be amazed by how many people have this problem (and/or the leaking intake manifold gaket). My son's Monte blew a head gasket at 70,000 miles two weeks after we had the transmission rebuilt for $1900. I pulled another engine from a lumina in the junkyard and put it in and it had a blown headgasket too! Must have been a monday morning/friday afternoon car...

Short answer: you have classic signs of blown head gasket. A competent mechanic can diagnose it by testing the coolant. Since you seem to be mixing coolant and oil, the oil is losing it's lubrication and things that are supposed to be protected by the oil are wearing out at an accelerated rate. If so, in the not too distant future, your engine will become damaged beyond reasonable repair likely throwing a rod. Don't leave it too long to be checked.

I'm not sure who did your previous head gasket. If professionally, you might want to go back and ask them whazzup? Did they follow the proper torqueing procedures? Did they check the heads for warpage etc? Since this is a V-6, you have two heads and two head gaskets;perhaps the other one is now blown.

Toyota owners with the 3.0 straight six have a "Club BHG", sounds like we need to start one as well.

[diesel1962]

Sounds like the problems that I am haveing now with my 95 Monte.Except I do not have coolant in oil yet.I am gonna park it untill next spring,Bought a Toyota Camery beater car to get me thru winter,Will deal with BHG next year,Good Luck,Diesel 1962

[CindyLynn]

Thank you for the info you provided. I have a mechanic working on it now- he also stated that it may be the intake gasket. I had it towed to his garage yesterday. I left the vehicle sitting for 6 days before I had it worked on- do you think that was too long? (Sorry to ask dumb ?'s, I'm just a very curious person.)

I'll let ya'll know what the mechanic says. Thank you again for your help!

[CindyLynn]

Yes- that sounds like the best option for you. Your decision to park the vehicle may very well 'save' the engine. I'll let you know what my mechanic says.

Originally Posted by diesel1962

Sounds like the problems that I am haveing now with my 95 Monte.Except I do not have coolant in oil yet.I am gonna park it untill next spring,Bought a Toyota Camery beater car to get me thru winter,Will deal with BHG next year,Good Luck,Diesel 1962

[growe58]

Originally Posted by CindyLynn

Thank you for the info you provided. I have a mechanic working on it now- he also stated that it may be the intake gasket. I had it towed to his garage yesterday. I left the vehicle sitting for 6 days before I had it worked on- do you think that was too long? (Sorry to ask dumb ?'s, I'm just a very curious person.)

I'll let ya'll know what the mechanic says. Thank you again for your help!

Nah, letting it sit shouldn't be any problem. Running it WOULD be a problem, however. How much of an explantion do you want? Rubbing two pieces of metal together wear the metal out quickly. However, if you put a film of oil between the two pieces, they won't actually touch and there will be little wear. That's what's normally happening in your engine. Pieces of metal are churning earnestly around, working their little hearts out to get you around town, but actually wearing out very slowly due to the protective film of oil that you so thoughtfully provide them. But when you add coolant to the oil, it reduces the ability of the oil to lubricate and you have metal to metal contact and accelerated wear. Usually the rod bearings go first; as they wear and become a little smaller, the connecting rod becomes progressively looser which means it begins banging on the crankshaft ("rod knock") which causes more wear which makes it in turn even looser and therefore it bangs even more until one dismal day you "throw a rod" (e.g. the connecting rod breaks loose and punches through the side of your engine block). Bye, bye engine at that point.

With the car just sitting parked, the oil/coolant mixture is just minding its own business, chillin' in the oil pan. Since it's not be called upon to do anything in the way of lubricating (or much of anything else), it's not doing any harm.

Friday night and I'm bored enough to type out that long explanation. I hope it helped.

[CindyLynn]

Thanks for that well laid out explanation! I've always wondered what that 'throw a rod' actually meant....

Spoke with the mechanic- he says that it was the intake manifold gasket causing this problem. Says that it was cracked in 4 different places. Thus the reason for the coolant mixture in the water. He explained that this is common mishap in GM's 3.1 & 3.4 engines because the gasket is actually made of plastic!!! Unbelievable!! The bill comes to $459- since the labor is 6 hours at $42.00/hour, I asked why the bill was so high and he reported that he also replaced the following parts: valve cover gasket, oil filter & oil, 2 gallons of coolant, click kit disconnector. The actual intake manifold gasket was $50. Now my mother's boyfriend still insists that he got $150 dollars over on me- when I spoke with the guy that actually referenced me to this mechanic, he simply insisted that he was just 'very through.' What do you think? Should I disput the charge?

Originally Posted by growe58

Nah, letting it sit shouldn't be any problem. Running it WOULD be a problem, however. How much of an explantion do you want? Rubbing two pieces of metal together wear the metal out quickly. However, if you put a film of oil between the two pieces, they won't actually touch and there will be little wear. That's what's normally happening in your engine. Pieces of metal are churning earnestly around, working their little hearts out to get you around town, but actually wearing out very slowly due to the protective film of oil that you so thoughtfully provide them. But when you add coolant to the oil, it reduces the ability of the oil to lubricate and you have metal to metal contact and accelerated wear. Usually the rod bearings go first; as they wear and become a little smaller, the connecting rod becomes progressively looser which means it begins banging on the crankshaft ("rod knock") which causes more wear which makes it in turn even looser and therefore it bangs even more until one dismal day you "throw a rod" (e.g. the connecting rod breaks loose and punches through the side of your engine block). Bye, bye engine at that point.

With the car just sitting parked, the oil/coolant mixture is just minding its own business, chillin' in the oil pan. Since it's not be called upon to do anything in the way of lubricating (or much of anything else), it's not doing any harm.

Friday night and I'm bored enough to type out that long explanation. I hope it helped.

[diesel1962]

I think you got a pretty good deal on the parts and labor.Try a head gasket replacement.I got a quote of $1800.00!! Thats nuts!! I can do the repairs myself,But I live in a cold climate,And have no garage.Will have to wait untill spring to do the work.Meanwhile,I bought a 1986,Battleship Mercury for $250.00,Hope it gets me thru the winter!!Have a good day..Diesel 1962