Blown Head Gasket

[GMCGuy]

I just bought a 1997 gmc sonoma with a 4.3 liter v6 that promptly blew a head gasket after I bought it (thank you dex cool) and i am pulling the heads to have them compression tested. Anyway, my chilton said to pull the power steering pulley in order to be able to remove the power steering pump (which is required to be removed to get to the head on the driver side because the AC bracket mounts underneath it) I cannot just rebuild the top side as it would smoke, i could rebuild the whole engine if the head ends up being cracked or replace it with a 5.7 liter v8 without changeing anything as the 4.3 v6 is the 5.7 v8 minus two cylinders. I have even found that i would not even need to change transmissionsfor this swap (but would eventually) but does anybody have any cheaper options to the rebuild or replacement? Any opinions at all would be appreciated.

[GMMerlin]

I have not seen a head gasket blow on these engines as a result of Dex-cool.
Matter of fact. I have seen very few 4.3 engines with head gasket failures
You could check the heads for cracks and warpage..if they are OK replace the gasket check for any signs of overheating and drive on.

[GMCGuy]

Really?
Huh, they were telling me it was the problem, but you would know, as i can see by the credentials. The heads are steel, right? So they should not get warped or cracked so easily (hopefully). Anyway, if they are warped adn i have to replace them, i would have to rebuild the whole engine so that everything else doesn't blow, right?

[GMMerlin]

The only real gasket failures I see on those engines are the intake gaskets.
The failure is not a result of Dex-cool coolant, but the reaction between the aluminum intake and the steel heads (expansion rates) combined with the low torque intake gaskets...the failure (IMHO) is caused by the gasket makeup and not Dex-Cool.
Steel heads can warp..especially if the engine has run hot..good news is they can be milled flat and reinstalled.
As long as the block is flat and there is no visble damage, repair the heads and ride on..
No need in spending money for repairs that don't need to be done.

[GMCGuy]

Thanks for the tip... i got through the fix and the only gasket that was blown was the intake manifold gasket, but as i had already pulled some bolts from the heads, i need to replace the gaskets anyway... One of my buddies thought my torque wrench was a torque limiting wrench and snapped three head bolts. Oh well, i needed to replace them anyway, so i got a cobalt drill bit and an air drill, but I am having issues gettign the lower head bolts out. The stupid exhaust manifolds will not come out. Any hints? I do not want to pull the steering column, but i feel it is the only way to get the driver side exhaust manifold out.