Head gasket problems are very common on a tune port motor with aluminum heads (probabably the right side on #'s 6 and 8 cylinder) between 80k and 140k miles, and is due to the normal expansion and contraction differences between the iron block and aluminum heads. As long as there is no water in the oil there should be no reason to do anything but have the heads resurfaced (and checked for cracks) and the head gaskets replaced. Having the heads resurfaced or welded should not cause any problems with compression. Since the introduction of hardened seats along with fuel injection, 99% of the the time a valve job is a waste of money. It's usually cheaper to just buy a new radiator, under $200 (about $140 at Autozone) and under an hour to replace. Even with shop supplies and all, you should be able to get the job done for under $1500.

 

Your not gonna know anything till the head(s) are removed. I wouldn't have these guys work on yer baby. It's not like you live in BFE.

Lots of advice here, but you need to make an informed decision. Aluminum heads can be easy or a PIA. To me these are probably the best way to go Summit Racing
And maybe sell yer old ones.

 

If you were in Atlanta I'd have you bring it over and we could have it apart and back together in a weekend.
The only tricky thing with the L98 is the intake manifold is wet - coolant flows through it.

 

Consider this thread as dead. Her last response was last Wednesday on 11/09. An update would've been nice, but it's certainly not mandatory (still, you get a bunch of us, interested in a problem and of course we'd like to see how it turned out!).

 

You know..... In this economy, people are hurting for work. I'd look around and see who really wants to do the work for you. Get one shop bidding against the other and you may get a better deal. Otherwise, if this is not your primary car, I'd put it in the garage and let some forum members come over for beer and pizza and take a whack at it yourself. Then you can afford some extra go fast parts while you're fixing it. JMHO! By the way, if it were me and my car needed a new engine, I would be making steaks and baked potatos for my forum buddies while they helped work on my car. I think we deserve the best.

 

The problematic area is cylinder 7. A lot started weeping near the end of the original warranty and they seemingly let completely loose at 50,000 miles or so.

The mud you're looking at is from galvanic corrosion which has eaten away the head gasket. GM decided that intake gaskets leaks - from mis-posiitioned gaskets - set up the condition that causes the galvanic corrosion. The radiator, if not the heater core are probably too plugged up to flush. You'll need to get all that crap out of the block too which you can do by removing the Knock Sensor and Oil Cooler hose at the Oil Filter.

Depending on how long yours was leaking. it may have grooved the deck of the block or damaged the rod bearings. Assuming you don't have a rattling noise around or from the oil pan, you probably only need to concern yourself with the deck.

I wouldn't buy an 80,000 mile anything with 113 heads - there's a good chance it has or had the same problem. The replacement crate would be a ZZ4 which has the 113 heads (a little more juiced with LT4 valve springs), and those heads are redesigned to keep the intake gaskets in place. I think about 4 grand the last time I looked. You may save a few bills by letting the shop take the carb, intake and a couple other items that aren't necessary for your TPI setup or you could sell them if you're going to do this yourself.

 

Should have posted about the repair before now, sorry.

I ended up getting a new radiator, water pump, thermostat and head gasket.

The owner and I went round and round about the prices he was charging me for the parts. He originally said," I don't gouge".The original price for those parts and labor came in around 2900. In the end I paid 2300 for the labor and parts.

The head was not warped, so I did not have it sent to the machine shop for a refresh. Thought it best to keep it closest to the compression the bottom block was acustomed to. I instructed the owner to clean it up and put it back on the engine with a new head gasket.

Other than taking her there, it was a fairly good repair and the engine runs strong. Couple of things I found I didn't like, one was when he replace the low coolant sensor, he broke it and friggin' taped it with black tape - a $12 part - replaced. The exhaust had a rattle - replaced it with flowmasters and lastly I found out today, the #1 spark plug was so loose, it could be turned by hand, - taken out, gapped and replaced and all the other plugs checked out good.

Thanks everyone. - Robin

 

Never hurts to double-check your mechanic's work.


Larry
______________
not easily impressed....

 

X100

 

For $4000 my mechanic removed, installed, and rebuilt with 3 angle valve job 202 vavles bored and stroked to 383 new cam, new o2 and oil/water temp sensors.
for a bit more i got a new radiator, long tube headers water pump and a new tune on my chip (though admittedly the tune has NEVER been effective, and i may have to have some words with PCMforless, but i cant really blame the mechanic for that)

for a grand total of $5300 after 6% Michigan sales tax and environmental fees.

I do not know what the labor prices are for where you are from, but id not even let that guy look at it anymore, id pay the tow and get the hell out.
wait till he breaks a bolt and charges you $200 to remove it, and after he has done it and billed you its to late.

 

oops, guess i should have read the rest I am sorry.

 

A good shop is always busy and wont compete for anyones business.
Cheap work is never good and good work is never cheap.