zach Posted April 9, 2005 Share Posted April 9, 2005 hey guys i've been looking at this website for a while and havent ever posted not really needing to , i have this delima and was wondering if anyone could throw me some advice - i've got this 87 gl wagon manual trans. fwd. and about 7-8 years ago the left head blew up on a trip my dad was taking, it was sitting at my house for about 6-7 years when my older brother decided to get his buddy who knows subs to help him fix the head. well they fixed it but he never took the time to get all the paper work done and it sat another year until i figured i'd do the paper work seeing as how i needed a car. well i replaced the breaks and all the stuff that needed to be replaced - and just about last week i tryed changing the oil pan gasket not knowing anything about overhead valve engines, finally got it done 2 days ago was running fine except i think the radiator has a pinhole in it so it was running hot, tonight i was coming home from being out and it wasnt running hot , had plenty of gas and the all the sudden when i would stop at a light or get real slow it would cut off and i'd have to hold the key to get it to start again, in netueral while moving. when i got it started i decided i just needed to get it home then figured out what's wrong well it didnt make it home and when i pulled into a vacant parking lot the whole car by then was filled with eyeburning smoke/steam and it was coming off of the head my brother fixed a year ago - it was running fine for about 2-3 months and this happened so im not sure if i should sell it for parts or if there's an easy solution to the matter please help, Zach Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flowmastered87GL Posted April 9, 2005 Share Posted April 9, 2005 Either could have blown the head gasket on that side from the head not being torqued right. Maybe they reused the intake gaskets and one of them blew. Maybe they reused the hoses and one of them blew. There are alot of variables here. You may want to get a pressure tester that attaches to the radiator where the cap goes, and pressurize the system and listen for the hissing of the leak (car turned off) and then see if you can see it once you know where to look based on sound. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zach Posted April 9, 2005 Author Share Posted April 9, 2005 yeah after reading the thread about overheating sub i realised i was not to precise in what i said but i don't know hardly anything about cars in gen. just starting drivng about a year ago and this is my first car. the guy that's helped me get this car running told me the more i run it the better it'd be - even though it was running hot and i had to fill the rad. with water almost everytime i entered it , it was not running hot when this incodent happened. but the smoke seemed to be coming from where the head connects the where you pour the oil in - i'm using a 10-30w valvoline "maxlife". i replaced the oil pan gasket because it was leaking and is still leaking a tad (was not able to get 2 bolts in due to oil pan not lining up with thread holes and the lack of access due to the cross member). the head itself does not seem to be leaking oil so i'm not really sure what's going on i appreciate any advice though Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
karinvail Posted April 9, 2005 Share Posted April 9, 2005 if the coolant level is low enough, the guage does not work properly because it's at the top of the engine near the thermostat. My guess is that it was low on coolant and the engine got cooked (sounds very similar to an incident I had just a couple months ago that led me to this website in my search for a new engine). I personally junked my engine and put in another engine from a crashed wagon, but it's only because I knew it already had a cracked block before the overheat. Have a look at the plastic covers on the front of the engine that cover the timing belts. Mine were melted *really* badly after the overheat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zach Posted April 9, 2005 Author Share Posted April 9, 2005 well i appreciate the advice i wasnt running any anti-freeze because it's pretty warm here right now, but i had my buddy look at it and he said the head that they just fixed blew so i'm pretty much done with this car im going to sell it for parts if anyone wants it let me know the only thing messed up to my knowledge is the left head and a pinhole in the radiator. i really was hoping that i could get this peice of crap fixed so i could lift it and do all the fun stuff with it but if it's not even going to run whats the point. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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