problems after 3400 top swap

[19Cutlass94]

I don't even torque my upper manifold bolts to 18ft•lbs. last time I tried I cracked every ear on the manifold. I think mine is torqued to around 8 or 9 ft•lbs.

I'll try and find a link for ya about the radiator I bought.

[3400-95-Modified]

Rock auto has odd prices because most parts come from closeouts so some are priced very low in comparison to another which may be only a slight difference in the part, it's not priced based upon what it is really.

[Purple pit]

That's what blows me away. I always do finger thight, then move around in a cross hatch and when everything feels thight then comes the final torque.

[TGP37]

You mention plugs 2 and 4 look cleaner....

Suppose the spark plugs are bending from almost hydro-locking? If there is a coolant weep when shut down. Especially if the combustion pressure is seeping into the cooling system it would push coolant into the chamber during heat soak. If it sits a while it should drain down into the oil but starting it with coolant could hydro-lock, bend stuff.

That might explain the bending.


I'm guessing the head gasket is failing between 2-4.....that could also explain pressure loss instead of a bent valve. Unless you confirmed otherwise.....skimmed the thread.

[fat rabbit]

Lately I haven't had any problems with the new spark plugs, although I have yet to remove them all and check. Every morning before I go to work I check the coolant level in the reservoir and notice no coolant loss, I really just can't explain why my engine decided to dump out white smoke 1 random morning.... It isn't presenting a problem now, that I'm aware of.

I went ahead and ordered a new 1 3/8 thick radiator (Vista Pro #432387) Rockauto always shows up to my door in less then 3 days so I should be receiving it soon.

[Purple pit]

Still here, still watching and waiting for everything to be fine.

[AMcLeodIII]

Some odd similarities......I feel "less alone" now myself.

Read...... http://60degreev6.com/forum/showthre...ly-Ailing-3100

[fat rabbit]

My new radiator came in on Friday, I pulled it out of the box and measured it get a 1' thick core(they claim 1' 3/8") Next day I installed it with a new low coolant light sensor, only to come back to the same problem of running hot(radiator fans running all the time)

I did notice though that when the radiator was removed I got a good look at the engine block to find a light film of ether coolant or maybe something else running down from the head gasket, I looked everywhere else and it seems to only come from the front head gasket and leak down the block. It hardly leaks, I actually didn't really notice it leaking all down the front of the block till recently as dirt likes to stick to it.

So I'm back to blaming the head gasket again, I don't know why its leaking? Could it have been a chance of me not torquing it down and yielding it correctly, I did sadly wrench on the motor for over 36 hours strait...Should I be ok just replacing the one head gasket or should I go and do both, I don't think the rear is leaking. Also what is everyone's views on ARP head studs compared to GM TTY bolts?

[caffeine]

Stock head bolts are still holding fine in my motor with 14 psi.

[fat rabbit]

Did you ever replace yours at one point or are you still running OEM from the factory install?

I'm not so worried about them holding(as my engine is stock) but more worried about the chance of installing them nicorrectly and not evenly holding the head too the block, by my understanding head studs are better at evenly applying pressure across the head to the block and don't need to be yielded. But I won't know the real problem of why the coolant or what ever it is coming out till I tare the head off again...... I think I just suck at rebuilding engines lol

[caffeine]

Just factory installed head bolts.

[fat rabbit]

A couple days ago my engine started to get smoke blowing out from the rear manifold, not knowing what all to expect I got all the gaskets to tare down the engine all the way to the block. Tarring down the engine I found that my power steering line decided to go out spraying fluid all over the rear manifold causing it to smoke, but having all the gaskets and being half way there I went and started replacing the head gaskets.... again

Inspecting everything I found the rear cylinder head gasket to be good, all the cylinders looked the same with no signs of problems. It wasn't until I pulled off the front cylinder head is were I'm scratching my head with, cylinder 2 is carbon up bad, cylinder 4 is as clean as the rear cylinder head and cylinder 6 looks as bad as #2 on the roof yet the crown looks clean. I had the heads sent out 3000 miles ago and they got cleaned, what would cause carbon to build up that fast?

The Chevy dealer goofed up and didn't get my head gaskets ordered so I tried my luck with Victor Reinz nitroseal head gaskets and I will note that there the same as GM head gaskets, the only difference is GM puts a tap that says "this side up" and the GM head gaskets also have excess gasket material were the lower intake meets with the part number on it were Victor Reinz puts there part number near the middle of the gasket and they only ran $17.99 a gasket at CARQUEST.

[fat rabbit]

Its been a little bit and I thought I'd give an update.

After installing the new head gaskets and power steering line the smoking went away but I was still getting hesitation at varying rpm's, getting sick and tired of even looking at the car I started riding my bike everyday to work and dropped off my car at a well known friends shop to have it diagnosed.

The engine was smoked and checked for leaks only to find my egr leaking slightly(I hear is normal) and leaking from the throttle body shaft seals. The MAF sensor was also taken apart and cleaned along with a case relearn, I was told that the next logical step to perfect it would be an in-house tune or tune myself. Otherwise for the for the past week I've only felt the engine hesitate once under load when cold, maybe the whole problem was just the MAF sensor being dirty or it just needed the case relearn.

Is there anyone who makes new throttle body shaft seals, a way to stop the leak or is this just a common problem?

[Purple pit]

TB shaft seals? I have never seen them, less the seal for the TPS.

[talon2swords]

The problem to the hesitation ended up being the cracked upper intake, taking off the old one I could see the cracks going into the runners. I picked up another one from the junkyard and for the past 2 days I haven't had any hesitation issues...

I tried the 3400 upper and lower intake on top of the 3100 for my 99 Lumina. It was a fail. Every time I put a replacement upper intake on the lower, it would eventually crack. Sometimes the cracks were real small, but it would eventually form and I would get lean and misfire code. In addition, the post 2000 egr would not work right and make the trans shift funny, but it may have been leaking so that may have been my fault, don't know. Anyhow, I gave up and put the original pre-2000 intake assembly back on. IMO, I would get an original matched set of manifolds (upper and lower) from a donor car, or machine the two in tandem to be completely flat.