96' leaking head gasket

[Carfreak18]

Ok im looking into gettin this 96 corsica with about 150,000 miles and it has a leaking head gasket and it needs a new one, my friend told me that sometimes the coolant mixes with the oil and its shot,is this true?

[jsgold]

If the car is driven a lot and the oil IS mixing with anti freeze it can damage the engine. However a lot of times it can leak into the combustion chamber and blow out the tailpipe. Easy to see, just check the oil. If milky then it is entering the oil and would buy with caution. Should do this anyway as many times you take off the head only to find the head has a crack and is in need or replacement or major repair. Do not think you will get away with a cheap gasket change. It will cost you over a hundred bucks to get the head checked and resurfaced even if it is OK, as machine shops have to tear it down, dip it in cleaner and magnaflux it for cracks you and I cannot see. I have been through this twice and am a two time loser, cracks both times with my cars. A head will cost you 250- 350 bucks if needed unless you want to trust a used one, which can be a pain as you have to be VERY careful about matching the head exactly. GM heads can look the same and be different. My dad's 89 Olds just went though this, was a pain to deal with. If you get the car cheap enough and have 3-500 bucks to work with (if you do this yourself) give it a go, otherwise stay away from it. No way to tell if engine is damaged short of a tear down, unless you know for a fact the car was not abused. If the car is a 6 cylinder you need to have BOTH heads checked....

[Blue Bowtie]

If this is the 134CID (2.2L) four cylinder, the problem is common and usually doesn't include any head cracks or warpage - As long as the repair is done before any damage can occur from overheating. You also don't want to play with any coolant in the oil sump, since coolant will attack the soft metals on bearing shells for the crank, rods, and camshaft. You may not even notice problems until 10,000 miles later, but ignoring the problem is a certain way to destroy the engine.

Take a close look at the head near the rear corners. That's a common failure point:

[jenedorn]

actually the problem is common for both the 2.2 or the 3100... i got my car for free cause the anti freeze was mixing with the oil and it was smoking bad... bad head gasket... or another common thing is a bad lower intake gasket!! i know on my 96 3100 it was cake to change all the gaskets.. the head gasket and the lower and upper intake gasket.. all in al.. with work and stuff it took 2 days and my car has ran like a dream since... i even race the corsica... i think it would be a good investment to buy the car and fix the gaskets!! as long as the price is right on the corsica of course..

if it is done right... it wont happen again.. trust me...