96 Corsica needs HELP!!!

[weezil]

Hey guys! You got a real newbie here. I recently purchesed a 96 Corsica with the 3.1L V6 in it. When I bought it I knew that there was a problem with the head gasket cause the thing leaks coolant horribly and over heats within 5 minutes of starting the car. I took it to a shop and they gave me a quote of $1200 dollars to replace both head gaskets! I think that is way too much, but the shop owner said that in order to even get the intake manifold off you need some special tools, let alone take the heads off. Now does anyone know what "special" tools he is refering too? If I can I would love to do the work myself not only to save money but also to get a little more knowledge on working on cars. This would be my first time working on a GM car...I'm a Ford guy "Oh God, Please don't kill me?"...how difficult would this be for me? I have some people that are willing to help but like I said I want to do most of the work myself. Or would just putting another motor in it be a better option? In my heart I would love to switch over to a 3.4 Liter but I'm going to get this up and running well and then sell it, so I don't want to put that much money into it. BUT...while the engine is apart no one needs to know that I stuck a 3.4 intake manifold on right? I mean how much power would that give me? Curious, if I do need to switch motors...Which one would be the best choice? Obviously, if I could find a low miles 96 3.1 from another Corsi/Beret that would be ideal, but unlikely for about $300-$400 which is about how much I would spend. Would an older 3.1 work? Possibly from like a 92 or 93 Corsi...? I don't think there would be that much of a diffrence between the two...however I could be way off.

I got a few more questions as well...For instance can someone tell me about my motor? How's it hold up? What the hp and trq ratings? Just general info about it...problem areas...strengths...your opinions on the motor...ect.
Thanks for all the help you guys and gals. I really appreciate it!

[tractorman]

From my experience, I'd say it's likely that your intake gaskets are leaking, not the head gaskets. I'd make sure of that before opening it up. These 3100's are real good engines, but the intake gaskets are a real problem. I'm preaching the gospel of Fel-pro's new "problem saver" gaskets lately- I just got some to put in my 01 lumina.

The only "special tools" that I needed to replace the intake gasket were the release tools for the fuel lines. You can get cheap plastic release tools that work fine for about $8. You gotta be careful pulling the injectors- clean off the top of the lower intake real good, and oil up the o-rings and they'll come out easy enough. VERY IMPORTANT!! Keep all the pushrods in order- intakes and exhausts are different lengths- you don't want to get them mixed up.

Check and see if you have coolant in the oil. If so be sure to change the oil right away, and don't run it until the problem is fixed. If you're lucky it'll be alright, but if it's been run too long with coolant in the oil, the bearings will be ruined.

My advice is don't bother with a 3400 intake. It couldn't make much difference, and you're just askin' for trouble. A 3100 runs pretty well in stock form- no reason to mess with a good thing. They have about 160hp I think.

[Carlspike]

don't bother with an engine change, it's 90% likely that it's your lower intake manifold gaskets. i wouldn't completely rule out the heads though, i've got a 96 lumina that did have a head gasket leak but the intakes are a lot more common. if you have some mechanical knowledge then you could do the heads or the intake yourself, and probably cut your bill in half. if you don't want to do it yourself bribe a mechanically inclined friend to help you or something. other than the intakes and the dummy 0-rings the 3100's are great engines, i've had 3 cars with the 3.1 litre and they've all been great for me. fix that coolant leak and you should have a decent car.

[j95z]

no special tools probably lower intake gasket or possibly timing cover gasket i had both go on me at the same time $1200 for lim way too much gaskets and bolts from dealer only $85

[SHOoff]

What a poor excuse to get business. Special tools. HAH! No, there arent any. And if you do the head gaskets yourself the hardest part is probably going to be taking the heads to get resurfaced when your vehicle has no heads on it (find a nice friend).

Where exactly is the coolant leaking at?

Most of the time when the intake gaskets go bad they leak in a particular spot, so that's why we ask.

Is it burning the coolant? If unsure, is it making a lot of white exhaust?
Is there coolant in your oil?

^ Could rule out it being a head gasket.

1200 bucks... well, I'm pretty sure that with parts and the labor, that's about the right price. I remember being quoted at $11xx before for a set on a 3.1.

Another thing.... dont try to test the limits. If the head gaskets are not blown and you keep overheating it, you will blow them eventually.

[weezil]

There does seem to be some white smoke when the car starts up. From where I can tell when the car is off after running alittle bit, the leak seems to be up front and in the lower intake manifold area. But we can't really be sure. We know that some coolant is leaking onto the exhaust manifolds up front, cause we can hear it sizzling. But when the car has been turned off, nothing is glowing red and there isn't any unusal hot spots under the engine, so the bad part must be getting some coolant. We haven't been driving the thing other then getting it on and off the trailer and into the garage. When we brought it home, I actually tried to bribe some of my friends to help me push the thing to the garage for the estimate. Said I would shovel their driveways the next snowstorm (I live in Iowa). So yeah, I wasn't going to really punish this thing until I feel that the motor is running decent. Even then I'm only thinking of getting the thing up to 80-85 for about 15 minutes and then let her go. Besides I'm fixing this car up to sell to my girlfriend. Thanks alot guys, I appreciate it.

[Juglenaut]

you would not only keep the pushrods matched to the spot they were removed, you would want to keep the lifter/follower, pushrod, rocker, and nut assy matched to the valve they were removed from. If just changing the gasket then the lifters should stay in the head unless tip upside down I believe, but if you are going to get them cleaned then yeah match everything from valve train to the every bolt removed for ease of reinstallation. Bolt matching, and valve train location will save you time and money.

I bought several plano organizers oriented the box so that I knew which valve train assy came from what cylinder, exh, int.

I got quoted 300 a head to install gaskets, 4/6/8 cylinder.

[SHOoff]

Hmm.... I'm not gonna take a guess at wether or not the head gaskets are blown or not by sitting at my computer. I will assume that the lower intake gaskets are probably the origional, if not the only problem with it. Meaning, if the lower intake gaskets blew and made it overheat, it may have been overheated enough to blow the head gakets.

[oleman]

There are NO special tools required, except for the heator hose fitting on the intake manf. The late model fuel lines just use an O-ring.
Get a good quality socket, believe to be 5.5 mm, to remove the tappet covers.
The other problem is the rip-off price for a gasket set, cost more than 6 pistons!!!
This is a trickly little engine for a first timer but you can work on it.
NOW, the real problem is that running on a coolent and oil mixture for very long will take out the engine bearings, and overheating will scuff the pistons and engine bores, so after fixing the leak you will still have a bad engine. You need to make a decision on how much work $$ you want to do.
Good luck, pay attention to details and ask questions.