Bought a car and 100 miles later the head is bad.

[nixtux]

I bought this car because I was told the top half was rebuilt.

It was bullshit and the lowlife hasn't responded to emails.

Fuck him. I'll fix it because I don't care to endure lawsuits.
And I'm tired of this shit. This fucker needs to be a good person.
He's not and should be ashamed of himself. He knew this would happen.

I bought this car Monday after working Sunday night. Paid cash!
Took it home, parked it, went to sleep, woke up Tuesday with a
fucking parking ticket!!!!!!!!!!!! Fuck!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Then I took my truck to my friends to store it for the winter.

It's a high compression motor and blew a gasket. Had to get it towed the
rest of th way. Not a big deal because it happens.

Went and got this car that I paid more for than the truck! Bitch broke down
less than 100 miles.

I'm fucked because this douchebag won't even reply to my emails.

I don't care for anything back I just figure since it's, "You should be able to buy a used motor for about $400 and have it put in for $300, which would be alot less than what you're talking about." A LOT IS TWO WORDS ASSHOLE!!!!
I LEARNED THIS WHEN I WAS 11! YOU ARE WHAT 28!!!!!!! DIE FUCKER!

best quote I got was 550ish for the motor. 850 for motor tranny! good deal
in my opinion since I just want this fucking thing to last! god damn is it
hard to buy from someone fucking honest! FUCK!

I can put the motor in and pull it if I had a fucking place to.

I don't beat my vehicles and fuck ford. Oval motherfuckers.

I just want to know what I can do with this vehicle considering I'm more than 3000 in the hole!

[nixtux]

I think the 13hr quote is bullshit too! $1,700 to fix a bad head is a lot.

But it is what it is. They don't pull motors for people and know most the
time they can get more from people because they don't know.

I just don't have the energy or room anymore. I just want a car that runs
without the bullshit from scam artists.

I'm not hard on vehicles. I go the speed limit and drive modest; less a little
fun because I love torque.

This asshole fucked me and fuck him. He don't want anything. There is
nothing I can other than break his face! Which would land me in jail.

Whatever, I just want to get this car running so I have something that gets
better than 8 on the highway.

The seller, fuck him, he's a cunt and I wish nothing more than bad luck for
his fucking ass.

13 hours to pull a set of heads? I had a 3400 block with a rotating assembly when I started one day. 13 hours later I had a complete engine bolted to the transmission in a Pontiac minivan that was just short a starter, coolant and was waiting on me to finish plugging stuff back in. That does suck though, man. I see exactly where you are coming from and I feel for you. I wish there were something I could do to help. Just think. One day this cornhole will screw over the wrong person and they will do the job you wanted

[Firehawk94]

Somebody on here please help this guy out, Im sure one of yall have a write up for changing headgaskets on a 3400. Dude $1700 for changing headgaskets is bullcrap. DO NOT pay that. This website has all the help and info you need to do the work yourself, we can step you through it. Changing headgaskets isnt a hard feat to accomplish you just have to take your time and do it right. The dude that sold you that car is a real ass, but you are smart to not want to file a suit, reason being, after all the court costs and attorney fees and not to mention the time it take justs to get a case through the court system, you could have had the car fixed and put 5000mi on it.

But yea man, just try and do it yourself, buy the gaskets and just have basic mechanics handtools handy as well as your trusty 60degreev6 members and you can push through this dilemma. Keep ya head up!!

[bszopi]

Where are you located? Perhaps there is someone close that can help you out. I've done headgaskets in a weekend before, taking my time, so it shouldn't be too hard to get it done. And it sure would save you a lot of $$.

[asylummotorsports]

Well buying a car with 220K on it with an engine known for having cylinder head/intake manifold issues in and of itself is probably a recipe for disaster to begin with.

And so far I have not read anything that proves the seller did anything but perhaps embellish the condition of the car. GUESS WHAT? ALL sellers do it!

Did you ask for receipts or proof that the work claimed had actually been performed?

Ranting is good for the soul I suppose, but this is a little excessive, at least in my humble opinion.

Engines can be had for ~$300-$400 (www.car-parts.com) and it's likely easier to swap an engine than do head gaskets on a 3400, so why, especially with that mileage.

I wish you all the best and hope you get it sorted, but caveat emptor.

[WrathOfSocrus]

They said there is coolant getting into the oil so clearly there is either a gasket issue whether they were improperly torqued or a warped head.

I can see on the car fax that the dealer replaced the U/LIM and gaskets at 96,000. And the seller said he had the heads tested and new gaskets put in prior to selling it. I assume he did it himself.

Since this thread has gotten this far without anyone even questioning the head gasket issue, I will. Generally speaking with the 3x00 engines, the coolant in the oil issue is most likely NOT the head gasket. The first LIM gasket lasted to 96k. The second set supposedly lasted ~120k. On a 10 year old car with 220k on the odometer, 22k a year is a lot of mileage to go through. Even if the gaskets had been replaced properly, a car driven that hard probably wouldn't last the 40-60k you have seen with previous cars.

Since you are not interested in fixing it yourself and certainly not interested in paying $1700 to get new gaskets on the top end of a high mileage motor, I would go with Brad's suggestion of finding someone on here that may be local to you. That goes double if you are thinking of giving up on the old motor and doing a swap. If head gaskets cost that much at a shop then an engine replacement has to cost probably twice the book value of the car lol. You should find the rubes that use this mechanic and try to sell them the Brooklyn bridge to help offset the cost of your repairs.

Since you found a loose connection by the heater core hose I would go over it and make sure it isn't the only loose connection. More than likely if the gaskets had recently been replaced by someone at home they probably messed something up. Maybe another loose connection or improper torque during assembly. Since the car isn't road worthy as it is, it probably wouldn't do much harm to take the UIM off and see if the LIM bolts are loose. If not then they may be have been tightened too much and damaged the gaskets. With the LIM off it should be easy to see where it was leaking. If it does turn out to be a head sealing problem then the cost of a machine shop checking over the deck and head surfaces plus gaskets for reassembly is enough money to just buy another engine. Either way the old engine would have to come out so it would probably live longer with a much lower mileage engine.

Many people here (myself included) have an engine hoist and stand ready to hold a 60* in the air easily. It's just a matter of getting all of the parts, tools, and people together to Make It Happen. Speaking of Make It Happen, I have to get this starter out of this truck in my driveway.

[no_doz]

private seller or not the lemon law is in effect as long as it falls within the price range listed by the government.

[nixtux]

Thanks for all the advice and whatnot.

What I plan is to replace the motor/transmission. I'd do it myself but I don't
have a garage anymore. But the quote I got from a local shop was fair and
the guy came highly recommended. In the end, doing both the motor and
trans, it comes out to about $1,700 which is better than doing just the
head on the motor in it.

Although the transmission isn't bad, I still want to replace it because I hate
transmission issues and the local yard has one with 12k.

As for the motor and transmission, I have to wait about two weeks before I
can afford to pay the shop to swap. But if there is anyone near Saint Cloud,
MN who wants the old motor/transmission, I would suspect you can come get
them if someone wants them.

I know you guys on here are always looking for parts for one thing or another
so might as well make the most of it.

I made a post in transmissions inquiring about any improvements to the
transmission. So if anyone has any advice for it, I'd like to read it.

Thanks

[01GPGT]

i was thinking the 13hr was BS my self so today i checked the Hour book we have for jobs. and yup it says it right there 13hrs but it also tells you to remove a bunch of un-nessisary junk that could just be flopped over.

hope you git it figured out

[pocket-rocket]

Not to laugh at the book, but wow! O.O It took me 3 hours to pull a set of heads on a DOHC in a 96 Monte Z34 in the junkyard today. I know for a fact it would take less time to pull 3x00 heads. St. Cloud. I've been there a few times To bad I am a long ways away from you :/

[SofaKingWeToddDid]

3 hours, thats pretty damn good.
i need a friend like you close by who wouldnt mind comming over and helping with a timing belt!! haha im gonna buy the tools and do it myself, for the price anyone around here wants for it i could get the tools, do it myself and have something cool to add to the tool collection.

[pocket-rocket]

Yeah, and I realized as I was carrying my toolbox out there... "Wow, this thing doesn't feel as heavy as last time- that can't be from getting back into the swing of things from working already!" I've been roofing for 3 days now after only having a job 2 1/2 months out of the last 21 months. Yes, you read that right, 21 months... Needless to say I figured out why my toolbox was lighter this time around when I opened it up. In the mad rush to beat the forecasted rain, I failed to put my wrench roll with my combination wrenches in it in my toolbox... So yeah, minus my wrenches, that's actually a pretty good time, I think. Now where is that thread with the facepalm pics at...

[Superdave]

it's a couple hour job, and i bet it's just the LIM gaskets. You could fix it yourself for around $100.

[SofaKingWeToddDid]

now, could a guy get the heads off a DOHC in 3 hours?

[pocket-rocket]

now, could a guy get the heads off a DOHC in 3 hours?

Yes, without wrenches even