96 Eldorado ETC - Blown head gasket

[stoveguyy]

it's not my only car so i took my time. easily 40+ hrs of effort spread over several months. i took the motor out the top which is hard but i did not have a car lift. than i kept waiting to find a timesert kit on ebay. get all your tools lined up before you start. like pulley pullers, engine stand, cherry picker, and so on.

[zonie77]

There is a thread that gives a lot of info in Tech Tips.

If you have an engine hoist you can lift the body off the cradle. It is the easier way to do it.

[greggm333]

Hey guys.
Thanks for your help on this.

After contemplating doing the time-cert repair myself or just swapping the engine out myself for a raman engine, I decided to just buy the reman engine from AGAP in Texas and have a local(St. Louis) engine shop (Rhodes engines) do the swap for me. The engine was 3200 + 200 shipping + 300 core and 1300 to swap it out. I really think it's worth the 1300 to do the swap. I've replaced sb 350's in my teen years but don't think I want to get myself into the Northstar mess.

I went and talked to the guys at Rhodes today. Spent about an hour shooting the sh** with 'em and I'm comfortable with them doing the work. They've swapped out N*'s before.

I'll post back and let you know how it goes.

Thanks Again!

[clarkz71]

Good luck with that, hope it turns out OK.

[stoveguyy]

its 2k for a headgasket job from the dealer or 5k for a remaned motor? i would lean towards fixing the 109k motor. as long as the heads check out ok. depending on how severely you overheated the motor they might be ok. if the dealer was just estimating the 2k price is another issue. if you can walk out the door and only pay 2k including tax, parts and so on and get a 12 mo warranty than great. so you can reuse the WP, don't have to recharge the AC, replace any heater hoses. all kinds of things you find when you yank a motor.

[greggm333]

Originally Posted by stoveguyy

its 2k for a headgasket job from the dealer or 5k for a remaned motor? i would lean towards fixing the 109k motor. as long as the heads check out ok. depending on how severely you overheated the motor they might be ok. if the dealer was just estimating the 2k price is another issue. if you can walk out the door and only pay 2k including tax, parts and so on and get a 12 mo warranty than great. so you can reuse the WP, don't have to recharge the AC, replace any heater hoses. all kinds of things you find when you yank a motor.

Hey stoveguyy.

I've considered just having the dealer fix the prob for 2k, but decided that I would rather have a new-like engine. It has a 3/yr unlimited mileage warranty.
If I fix the HG problem, I could have the same thing happen on the other head the next day. The 2k is just for the one head. I plan on keeping this car for a long time.

As far as the ac goes, I need to replace the compressor anyways. Found a new one for 200 bucks and the guys at the engine shop that are doing the install said I can bring them any parts that I want them to put on. They even said to bring in the 134a, pag oil, antifreeze and other things so they're not going to charge me for all the stuff that I need, just labor. Thanks for your input.

[greggm333]

We'll I picked up my baby today with the reman engine. The guys at Rhodes engines in St. Louis did a really good job and are great to work with. Good guys.

It's so nice to be driving my car again after being garaged for at least a year.

Kind of ironic that I got it back on the same day that I originally bought it.

Any tips on breaking in a N*?

[tateos]

Going to start on my '97 ETC HG project this weekend.

No specific Northstar engine advice on break in, but when I had to replace my AC compressor 2 1/2 years ago, it was strongly advised to change the one piece hose/manifold assembly and the condenser and the orifice tube at the same time. This advice came from the AC specialty supply store I bought the products from, as well as by some uninvolved mechanic friends. It seems that when the front motor mount goes, it puts a strain on the AC hoses. Also, when the compressor goes, it throws trash in the system that collects in the condenser (in front of the radiator). Not sure if it was good advice, but I must say the AC has been excellent and trouble free through the 3 Phoenix summers since.

Not sure if this has been addresses elsewhere, but I hope this info is valid and will be useful to you and/or some other members.

Richard Moore
Fountain Hills, AZ

[greggm333]

Thanks for the info.

My ac was totally trashed. They showed me the orifice tube and it was caked with chunks of metal. Hopefully they cleaned the system out before they put it back together. I put a new compressor and accumulator in it. Hope it lasts a while.

[greggm333]

btw. Good luck on your project this weekend. You're braver than I am.

[tateos]

That's right - now I remember - it was 4 things I had replaced - compressor, orifice tube, receiver drier (accumulator) and condenser.

Thanks for the well wishes. I have owned the car since new and I am fairly attached to it. I had this HG problem 2 1/2 years ago and did not realize it was a commonplace problem. I had a used engine and trans installed, not aware that this engine was destined for failure also. I did buy another car, a 2005 Lincoln LS, intended to replace the ETC, but later decided to repair the ETC. Once it was repaired, I always drove the ETC as I much prefer it to the LS.

This repair job will be a project and an adventure - at least that is how I think of it now. We will see once I get into it. I need to correct the HG problem and also an oil leak from the engine. I also need to replace the steering rack, which looks pretty easy once the engine is out. Yes, I will be taking the engine out the top, due to the constraints of my garage.

Richard Moore
Fountain Hills, AZ