96 3.8 bonneville troubles please help

[bakyrd_mechanic]

Alittle run down on what happend my sisters car shes had the motor replaced after tossing a rod. She was driving back home about 6 months ago and the car started to overheat so she pulled off the freeway and noticed the water was low so after adding water tried to start it up. she said it didnt want to start up at first but she kept trying and finaly it started but ran rough. so she drove about 5 miles and it just died and had to towed back to the house. after 6 months of sitting waiting for me to get back from school (wyotech) i read on the forums that the intake manifold gaskets are trouble spots. After alittle disassymbly we pulled the front middle injector and the injector port was filled with coolant. pulling the whole upper intake manifold off the middle of each intake port is filled with water and oil mixed. the oil on the dip stick looks to be about 2-3 quarts over full. please help me with this becuase im not a mechanic im a body tech. i will have a picture up as soon as i get my camera charged.

[Jrs3800]

I hate to tell you, but if the car has sat that long like you have stated... I'd say that Motor is done... May not even be worth the effort to fix it... Might be easier to find a low mileage motor..

The amount of time this motor has sat in this condition is really bad..


Its apparent what she had was an upper intake failure, and the lack of coolant caused the engine to overheat...

If there is anything we can answer for you... Please ask

[inafogg]

hello,IMO its worth a couple of gaskets(including HG)a flush & a couple oil changes if you can supply the labor.Good Luck

[Jrs3800]

I am going to make a few comments here...

First, the 3100, 3400, and 3800 Series II line of engines do not hold up too well after ingesting coolant for an extended period of time... And Dexcool making its way into the oil can become very acidic and will damage the bottom end if not caught early enough..

With any engine that has sat up like this one has, Chances are the bottom end will be toast, and if you do get it to run, it may not last long...

we are forever explaining to people the importance of keeping an eye on the coolant level of these engines as much or more so than the oil, as a rupture can occur with the Intake on the 3800 II, or the Lower intake gaskets on all of them... If this is caught early you can 9 times out of 10 save your engine...

But when they have sat for 6 months with a crankcase that a couple quarts over.... There may be some serious issues...

If this motor was brought home and the oil drained, all of the coolant drained... Refilled with fresh oil and ran for a minute or two to wash the bearings off.... Then I would say the engine was savable.. I don't think that will be the case here...

But what ever direction he decides to take I will happily answer any questions I can on the engine as he gets further into the disassembly ..

[bakyrd_mechanic]

well im only back at my parents untill saturday the 28th my sisters just needs the car to run for a little bit and trade it in ( i know i know this is a bad plan) but with 2 motor replacements allready... due to my sister lack of sence of checking fuilds... i think its the only thing she can do. I went and got OEM upper and lower intake manifold gaskets, motor and coolant flushes and oil and filter to change acoupe of times (before i read the posts) so wish me luck and cross my fingers GM has built this motor bulletproof. Im taking a leap saying that becuase im more of a (cover your eyes) yes a ford guy myself...

[Jrs3800]

Oh Ouch... He's a ford guy...( It takes a Ford to get a chevy out of the mud ) And thats from a good friend thats a die hard Chevy guy...LOL

The engine may be ok for a while, just depends on how bad the bearings may have been pitted...

Crossing fingers for you... Hope for the best... Let us know how it goes

[bakyrd_mechanic]

well thank you for your help through this but i had to leave for school and was unable to get the car back together after taking off the lower intake the plastic L shaped tube on passenger side of the motor was broken on both ends. i was not able to get one in time so the car will sit untill i get back home in sept. i did get all the fuilds drained and told my sister the motor is most likly toast so she will be saving for a rebuild. the low millage motor ideai isnt a good one for me becuase the same problem could happen again with unknown millage on the pick and pull motors around here.

it may take a ford to get a chevy out of the mud but it takes a chevy motor to bring an old ford back to life.