Blown Head Gasket? how to check - Page 2

etcCanuck · #16 (**permalink**) 09-06-04, 04:53 PM

My dealer diagnosed it initially as a bad rad cap, then a leaking crossover, then finally a bad headgasket. After $1000 worth of un-necessary repairs, the dealer openly told me they have never done a headgasket on this car, they would rather sell me a new motor. So I called one performance place that does Corvettes and puts Superchargers on trucks and such, said they have done one and will never do it again. Called another performance place and they gave me a price and told me it would be no problem. They got all the updated parts from GM, did the Time-Serts and fixed it up. 8 months later she is still going strong. The guys I brought it to are known for being quite expensive, but I would never take it to anyone else. If you get someone to do it, make sure they have experience with this motor! And make sure you do the Time-Serts!!!

shogun64 · #17 (**permalink**) 02-14-06, 07:18 PM

i found this site because i to may have a head gaskewt problem . i have some white smoke coming out my tail pipe and it has a miss to it, but it dosent over heat. ant there is occasionaly some coolant under the car. the miss seems to go away on the highway. any thoughts?

**Ranger** · #18 (**permalink**) 02-14-06, 07:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by shogun64

i found this site because i to may have a head gaskewt problem . i have some white smoke coming out my tail pipe and it has a miss to it, but it dosent over heat. ant there is occasionaly some coolant under the car. the miss seems to go away on the highway. any thoughts?

You'll be much better off starting a new post. Give all the details you can. I'll hold off answering til then.

Grapetrucker103 · #19 (**permalink**) 03-15-06, 06:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by acbareford

Hello, 93 ETC, some of you have been helpful with this car so far, thanks. Latest is that the car is still running hot. I had a thermostat replaced, even though the water was flowing through the overflow tank. It will run fine for 20 or 30 miles and then run hot. As I add more water it spills out bright green and eventually cools down. I brought it back to the shop, which did the thermostat because they had also said that it needed a radiator. They said that their inferred device had shown a difference in the radiator temps. I passed on the radiator replacement at that time. I figure that if the water is flowing and that could be seen, then it isn't the rad. The car ran hot once more after that so I returned the car to the mechanic. They called the next morning and said that the head gasket was blown. 20 hours to replace it and they couldn't do the work. 24 hours to replace the engine. They said that they could replace the engine for around $6500.

I am looking for a second opinion. Is there a way that I could easily tell if the head gasket is actually blown? It isn't the end of the world one way or another. It just seems strange to me that the car drives and runs great at all speeds and has power.

Any insights or suggestions are appreciated. Rad

I have a 1996 DeVille,4.6DOHC V8. I love my Jewel as do you. I believe that there are Cadillacs and then there are all the other stuff out there..
My Engine it seems has developed the same problems yours. I have to add a gallon of coolant every 50 miles or so. The normal running temp seems to be 197 to 201 degrees F. I see steam coming from under the hood after a parking after an hour driving or so. I bypassed the radiator fan switch as at first because I thought a defective cooling fan control was causing the problem. I manually started and stopped fans with no posetive effect. A radiator shop did only a one hour pressure test at the overflow tank, found on exhaust emissions in the overflow tank but did see bubbling? I had the dealer remove.clean and test the radiator and found nothing wrong. They felt that I hab been overfilling the overflow tank causing the coolant to blow out the overflow upon expantion of the heated coolant.The engine runs great but the over heating problem still continues.
The problem I am begaining to now see can only be a result of a blown head gasket.
As a Air/conditioning Tech for 27 years I have an Idea. I can pressureize the cylinders to 120psi with a freon sample ,then use a electronic Freon leak leak detector at overflow thank. If there is the smallest leaking of the head gasket into the cooling system it will show up unmistakably 100%.
The only question now is what to do next. How long can I run the engine with the problem. I don,t have $6,500. for the required repair.
What a crying shame!

nickelbird103.yahoo.com

Grapetrucker103 · #20 (**permalink**) 03-15-06, 08:39 PM

[b]Has anyone ever tried this product called ([b][b][b][b] [STEAL SEAL) to repair a blown head gasket problem?

Grapetrucker103
nickelbird102@yahoo.com

**Ranger** · #21 (**permalink**) 03-15-06, 11:23 PM

Repairs in a botttle aka hope in a bottle will not fix a head gasket.

rfishing · #22 (**permalink**) 03-16-06, 02:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Grapetrucker103

[b]Has anyone ever tried this product called ([b][b][b][b] [STEAL SEAL) to repair a blown head gasket problem?

Grapetrucker103
nickelbird102@yahoo.com

I just went through a big ordeal with ThermaGasket, a similar product. You can search on here and read about that, its only about 500 messages long. LOL

Bottom line, fix it if you can. Two people have had luck with the product, both are in flat states. I personally wont do it again, the company gave me money back.

Zorb750 · #23 (**permalink**) 03-16-06, 05:56 AM

I agree about the magic bottle. But... At least the Thermagasket guys stood behind their product and gave money back because it didn't work.

rfishing · #24 (**permalink**) 03-16-06, 01:17 PM

I am still unable to find a mechanic to rebuild this engine. Shame because it is a beautiful car, my wife loves the ride of the car, and prefers it to the mercedes she is currently driving.

zonie77 · #25 (**permalink**) 03-16-06, 02:25 PM

Where are you located? I heard there is a shop in Phoenix specializing in Caddy repairs but hav't checked them out.

Maybe someone near you will give you a shop willing to do it. Put you metro area in your profile please.

rfishing · #26 (**permalink**) 03-16-06, 10:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by zonie77

Where are you located? I heard there is a shop in Phoenix specializing in Caddy repairs but hav't checked them out.

Maybe someone near you will give you a shop willing to do it. Put you metro area in your profile please.

Phoenix is a bit far to go, about 7 hours. Thanks for advice about location, I added that to my prophile.

GM-MAN · #27 (**permalink**) 03-17-06, 11:26 PM

I'm also leaking coolant from under the sparkplugs. The car runs great and all but I'm sure it's a blown head gasket.

Too bad since it's a nice car but the cost of repair is extremely exhorbitant.

But mine is a 350 Olds engine. Is it any easier to fix?

**Ranger** · #28 (**permalink**) 03-17-06, 11:55 PM

There is only one fix for a bad head gasket.

rfishing · #29 (**permalink**) 03-19-06, 09:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GM-MAN

I'm also leaking coolant from under the sparkplugs. The car runs great and all but I'm sure it's a blown head gasket.

Too bad since it's a nice car but the cost of repair is extremely exhorbitant.

But mine is a 350 Olds engine. Is it any easier to fix?

350 Olds should be easy and less expensive than norstar.