blown head gasket??????

[colinlesser]

ok heres the deal, i just got a 95 grand am 6cyl with 88k miles on it for a project car, the problem is it may have a blown head gasket but im not sure,
the oil is contaminated like old mayo, and the valve cover has condesation in it and contamination, but the car doesnt overheat, exhaust smalls fine, and theres no power loss at all, what else could be cuaseing the problem ? or is it a head gasket?

[GTP Dad]

The problem is not the head gasket but the intake manifold gasket if you have water in the oil. Don't drive it if the oil looks this way. You need to change the manifold gasket and then change the oil. If you drive it with water in the oil you chance ruining the entire engine.

[colinlesser]

are you sure?

[colinlesser]

cause it is kind of chilli out and the tail pipe is putting out a little white smoke but it almost instantly dissapears and it smells normal

[xeroinfinity]

all cars smoke! to an extent anyway.

I to would agree its your intake gasket(s). Very typical for pontiac V6's.

The outside temps hav nothing to do with ruining your motor.
The coolant in the oil keeps the bearings from lubricating properly, and will scratch/damage them.
And soon, it'll crap out with major repair bills. Seen it before many times

usually a head gasket makes it run like shit due to lowerd compression. You can do a compression test on the cylinders to make sure, should be around 100psi and or even through out all cylinders.

Good Luck!

[colinlesser]

the other thing it does is when the car is in park or neutral it make a poping nois from the tranny, it shifts and drives fine but if you are in P or N and step on the gas the trans pops

[xeroinfinity]

trans poping........ Hum, dont sound good!

Maybe the flywheel/torque converts loose or broken.

i wouldnt think the two are related, but u never know.
you could hav a bearing knocking too. Oil pump broke....

Sound like your project cars needs some TLC & some work

[colinlesser]

ok checked all cylenders and got 180 out of each, so a busted intake gasket it is, well im guessing.... and as for the trans , if it dies ill just use my spare hehehehe

[colinlesser]

best part about this grand am is i got it on a trade for my 87 F150 with 233k on it and it was a POS, owever this grand am is sweet, 88k miles and its a 95with rims and new tires and perfect paint

[gmack221]

88K miles, while your in the engine comparment changing the intake gasket, you might as well change the water pump, check all your hoses, & replace the belt if it hasn't been changed. The intake isn't an easy job (from what I hear) but isn't too bad, but it sounds like you might have made out (if the previous owner didn't drive it too long with water in the oil). If they did you could be looking at bad rod bearing. Sounds like you can put some money & work into it and not be over what its worth. Plugs and wires are never a bad thing (unless you put cheap stuff on it). good luck with the new grand am

[Rthumperboy]

Also those intake gaskets are a low torque gasket. They are made of plastic with a silicone bead around them a common mistake is that people over tighten them and break them during installation!

This would be a good time to invest in a torque wrench if you dont already have one.

[FormulaLT1]

I recently bought a 96 Achieva with the 3.1 that was told needs a head gasket and it was indeed just the intake gasket. They have pretty much all the same symptoms but this is a very common problem on the 3.1's. Infact they have redesigned the gasket like 4 times now.