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I thought it was a head gasket...
Greetings,
... a little background on the car....
My son has a '95 Formula with the LT1... great car...
His girlfriend was looking for a 1st car, so I offered to help her find something cheap. She wanted cool, but inexpensive.
I found a '95 Camaro with a dead 4L60E. The car had 162,000 miles and came with a replacement transmission. The guy had bought it for his son, but his son ended-up getting a truck. He didn't have anywhere to work on, either. Just what I needed... cool and cheap.
The body was in really good shape, and the interior only needs a headliner. The registration and inspection expired two years ago, so I wasn't expecting a ready-to-drive car. I paid $1000 for the car and replacement transmission.
... short story getting long... sorry
The car needed the "A" shift solenoid, a new fuel pump, and a new fuel tank. Then, it wouldn't pass the pipe-sniffer. Then it started setting an EGR code. What a bargain...
I cleanded the EGR passage in the intake manifold and the EGR codes went away, and it passed the pipe-sniffer test...
... getting to my point... be patient...
While at the emission-check station, the radiator burped-up coolant all over the floor. The dash gauge never indicated an overheat condition, though.
I got out on the road, and the temps droped from normal back to below-normal... where it usually sits. I thought nothing of it.
About an hour later, my son went over to her house and she started the car. It puked-up all over the street again... with a cold engine. He removed the radiator cap and started the engine. Coolant *shot* out of the radiator all over the place.
I figured it had to be a blown head gasket. What else would put air into the cooling system?
I pulled the heads. I was expecting major gasket carnage, but didn't see much out of the ordinary.
Should I just put new head gaskets on it and slap it back together, or should I check some other stuff out? I'm not too familiar with all the ways of the 3.4.
The block is cast iron as are the heads. If we're not going to hotrod the car, should I bother dropping cash on having the heads inspected by a machine shop? I want to get it back on the road for as little as possible.
Thanks,
... a little background on the car....
My son has a '95 Formula with the LT1... great car...
His girlfriend was looking for a 1st car, so I offered to help her find something cheap. She wanted cool, but inexpensive.
I found a '95 Camaro with a dead 4L60E. The car had 162,000 miles and came with a replacement transmission. The guy had bought it for his son, but his son ended-up getting a truck. He didn't have anywhere to work on, either. Just what I needed... cool and cheap.
The body was in really good shape, and the interior only needs a headliner. The registration and inspection expired two years ago, so I wasn't expecting a ready-to-drive car. I paid $1000 for the car and replacement transmission.
... short story getting long... sorry
The car needed the "A" shift solenoid, a new fuel pump, and a new fuel tank. Then, it wouldn't pass the pipe-sniffer. Then it started setting an EGR code. What a bargain...
I cleanded the EGR passage in the intake manifold and the EGR codes went away, and it passed the pipe-sniffer test...
... getting to my point... be patient...
While at the emission-check station, the radiator burped-up coolant all over the floor. The dash gauge never indicated an overheat condition, though.
I got out on the road, and the temps droped from normal back to below-normal... where it usually sits. I thought nothing of it.
About an hour later, my son went over to her house and she started the car. It puked-up all over the street again... with a cold engine. He removed the radiator cap and started the engine. Coolant *shot* out of the radiator all over the place.
I figured it had to be a blown head gasket. What else would put air into the cooling system?
I pulled the heads. I was expecting major gasket carnage, but didn't see much out of the ordinary.
Should I just put new head gaskets on it and slap it back together, or should I check some other stuff out? I'm not too familiar with all the ways of the 3.4.
The block is cast iron as are the heads. If we're not going to hotrod the car, should I bother dropping cash on having the heads inspected by a machine shop? I want to get it back on the road for as little as possible.
Thanks,
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