1994 3.8 LX Head Gasket Symtpoms

Bobs21x

Bobs21x

1st Gear Poster
Joined
Oct 18, 2023
Messages
31
Location
N. Texas
Vehicle Details
94 LX 3.8
Country flag
I replaced the water pump last Fall and just added a new radiator this month. The upper radiator hose stays tight with pressure for days after driving it.
I still can't keep coolant in the radiator, and it is beginning to overheat. The thing is' there's not a drop on the ground.
Yesterday, I drove it about 65 miles to a friend's house and it overheated, and the light came on. I pulled over and let it cool down and noticed a ton of water belching out of my overflow bottle. I added nearly two gallons to it after this episode.
Does anyone know if these cars had different rotation water pumps? I am fearing that it could be the head gasket or something else catastrophic. My oil pressure is good and is normal color on the diptstick.
 
Did you fill through the vent tube on the intake manifold? If you don't get all of the air out of the cooling system it can trap air inside which will cause it to overheat.
 
I burped it through the vent but did not fill it through the vent tube. I raised the front end and cracked the vent until the air was gone, or so I thought. I will triple check everything once I get it home. I left the car at my friends in fear of it overheating at night on the 65 mile journey home. The new radiator did not have a fill hole, so I added an inline fill and cap. in the upper radiator hose.
 
Every time I thought I was having a hg problem, it was the oil filter adapter gasket, but that may only be the 4.6 cars.
 
Head gaskets can fail in a few different ways. One is a leak between the cooling system and the crankcase. In that case, your engine oil will start to look like chocolate milk. Another way is it can leak between the cooling system and the combustion chamber, which based on your description of the hose staying pressurized, I suspect that is what you have going on. Get yourself one of these. It is easy to use and will tell you quickly whether you have combustion gases in the cooling system, which on a 3.8 would almost definitely be a bad head gasket.
 
Lastly, I seen no water or wetness from the exhaust.
I will get a better diagnosis when I get it home. I was just getting it ready to be my daily driver when this all went South.
Thanks for the link MadMikeyL 👍
 
Are the head gaskets original? The link MadMikey posted is good for diagnosis. I would also check the condition of the oil for the aforementioned milkshake. When the head gaskets went on my old '92 3.8 it ran fine and the only obvious sign something was wrong was it was using coolant. One cylinder had coolant pouring out of it when I pulled the plugs.

Good news is head gaskets are pretty simple on the 3.8 N/A and once you have it done the engine should be just about bullet proof.
 
I found a complete Fel-pro kit (HS 8857 PT-6) for $78.

Does this kit compare to what you folks have used before that did the HG repair on a 3.8? I think it has the good gaskets in it.
 
That’s a good kit, but not a good price. That same kit is on Rockauto right now for $31. Also you will need new head bolts as they are one-time use.
 
I saw that on Rock Aito after I posted. lol

I was also looking at the Mahle Fasteners. Any preference there?

I searched originally for a Flat Out brand head gaskets since our cars seem to like pushing out the head gaskets
 
Last edited:
Bobs21x said:
I think it has the good gaskets in it.
Click to expand...

Those are standard composite gaskets .. the good ones are the MLS ( multi layered steel ); but you need to resurface the heads and the block to the correct Rough Average. You'll be fine with standard gaskets, and check the heads for flatness .. it's cheap insurance to have them resurfaced either way
 
For sure getting the heads resurfaced and checked out.

Which fastener at Rock Auto of this list?
 

Attachments

  • IMG_8474.png
    IMG_8474.png
    676.7 KB · Views: 4
Bobs21x said:
For sure getting the heads resurfaced and checked out.

Which fastener at Rock Auto of this list?
Click to expand...

None of the above

arpstore.com

Cylinder Head Stud Kit for Chevy V6 2.8L 60˚ M11

It is for good reason that virtually every top professional enginebuilder relies on ARP Pro Series head studs for their all-out competitionpowerplants. Simply stated, there’s not a better stud setupon the market today.For openers, ARP only uses premium grade 8740 alloy anda proprietary ARP2000®...
arpstore.com arpstore.com
 
I couldn’t find any when I searched their web site. The Chevy ones you added will work for me? That’s information I did not have! lol
I 100% agree on ARP.
 
I would go with the Mahle head bolts. I’ve never heard of the other two brands. The ARP head studs are nice, but likely overkill for a 3.8NA. If you do go with ARP, order a set for a Chevy 2.8 V6. They fit supposedly better than the one specifically for the 3.8, and were also cheaper last time I checked. I have them on my 90 XR7, and they hold up just fine with 18psi.
 
Back in the day they didn't have the MLS gaskets so I always just used the standard Perma-Torque Fel-Pro gaskets without any issue. You should at the very least check for flatness, but I just usually have the heads resurfaced regardless. I'm surprised Fel-Pro doesn't still make head bolts for these.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Back
Top