GM Engineers...

[DMWyatt]

Ok bad news. Blew a head gasket wednesday.
Worse news. Having a hard time getting a loan to get it fixed.
Worst news.... GM decided that 1995 had to be a "transition year".

[billbrasky]

Originally Posted by DMWyatt

Ok bad news. Blew a head gasket wednesday.
Worse news. Having a hard time getting a loan to get it fixed.
Worst news.... GM decided that 1995 had to be a "transition year".

what model?

[DMWyatt]

Cutlass Supreme SL

[Avengeance]

Do it yourself... its all nuts and bolts. Get yourself the torque specs and procedures and go for it!

[Bill in San Jose]

Originally Posted by Avengeance

Do it yourself... its all nuts and bolts. Get yourself the torque specs and procedures and go for it!

No $hit, go to the library and get the Chilton's manual for your car and read that section 5 times. By the 5th time, you'll be convinced you can do it. Just take your time and take pictures with your digital camera as you take things apart to be sure you know how it goes together. I found using sandwich baggies and a index card to write down where groups of bolts came from helped when putting it back together time came.

Depending on how many miles you have on it, you may (or may not) want to have the heads checked at a machine shop to be sure they're perfectly flat.

It's not rocket science.

[wasajco]

Ex GM Tech here, which engine? Worked on most of them, did the heavy work until someone saw all my little tricks to do faster and better, can tell you which engines cracked the heads as well, so you don't have to do it twice. Alldate diy has the most updated FACTORY info for about $20/yr. Far better than Chilton.

[billbrasky]

you have a 3.1 or 3.4 right ? Those engines blow lots of head gaskets.

Its not a terribly hard job, just be thankfull your engine is easy to acess and your not driving a montana, shiloutte, venture etc van. I THANKFULLY never worked on any of those van, only on RWD chevy astros and express which arent to hard to work on since there isnt as much crap in the engine bay, and there is the doghouse door in the cab.

You should be able to tackle it, especially if you have some decent tools or a father uncle or neighbor coworker who knows cars and can be plied with beer and pizza.

Free beer and pizza will get the gear heads in your drive way and save you some major money.

If you dont have the tools, or this seems daunting for you i would support you having a professional do it. Just the tools needed will set you back a pretty penny, plus if you miss a couple days of work.

someday lookup the chevy 2.8 and and all the variants really arent the greatest engines. If your a gm guy, and i am in many ways. Some of the best value, longest lived, most reliable, and most rescpected engines out there are the Buick 3.8 and 4.1 aviable outside of buick, and the chevy 4.3 v6 which is a chevy v8 with 2 cylinders lopped off.

My parents have had a few 3.1 and 3.4 (luminas and chevy celebrities)cars they lasted less than 200,000 miles but usually high 100,000 .... never blew a head gasket ... but i think they are kinda junky engines.

[DMWyatt]

Originally Posted by wasajco

Ex GM Tech here, which engine? Worked on most of them, did the heavy work until someone saw all my little tricks to do faster and better, can tell you which engines cracked the heads as well, so you don't have to do it twice. Alldate diy has the most updated FACTORY info for about $20/yr. Far better than Chilton.

It has the 3.1L in it.

Definitely blew the gasket. Might have gotten lucky though, no water in cylinders so far as I can tell. I missed out on the white smoke for 3 blocks . This entire engine, car, whole setup is like something from a horror movie. I miss my old Dodge pretty bad right now. Even my mom's 95 Grand Prix with a 3.1 is completely different under the hood. Although since I have you here, is it possible to swap out the 3.1 with a 3.4, if so, would it be a good idea?