sremanap,

In your case, it does not sound as if you need an engine rebuild. It sounds to me like the head gasket was simply replaced but no action was taken to straighten or replace the cylinder head. This time remove the cylinder head and take it to a reputable shop and ask them to check it for straightness. Then if it is not straight as I strongly suspect, your action will vary depending upon whether you are talking about a cast iron or an aluminum head. I'm sorry that I did not catch the year you are working on.

This head gasket failure does, in no way, indicate that you need a complete new engine or engine rebuild.

BTW, since we haven't heard any more from him, I guess toto is in a house that is spinning through the Kansas sky.

Good luck,

 

I have blown a head gasket in my L98 for the second time in 7 months - and this time i was driving it so i know it wasnt abused (i bought it with the gasket blown)

Sounds like you have a warped cylinder head from the first blown head gasket. A relatively straight forward fix.

 

Sorry i didnt state what i had done.

Entire top of the engine was pulled - cylinder heads were pulled and sent to King balancing for planing, 3 way valve job, and new competition GM springs. Fel-pro gaskets were used.

After all of this it was fine for a while, but the heat in AZ coupled with the fact that the fans in the car were not getting the car cooled well enough seems to have popped another one.

There is one little other fact. The second day after it was all put back together i took it across town, and it overheated on me. I looked and it was pouring coolant on the ground. I limped it home keeping it under redline, and pulled the exhaust manifold to find my father had forgotten to tighten the far left head bolt behind the manifold, and coolant was pouring from that hole.

My assumption is that during that drive the water started a breach between cylinders again, and it just took 7 months to completely trash the gasket.

Other theories are welcomed.

I'll also say that the car has 135k miles on it, and im SURE the bottom end could use some refreshing - she just isnt that strong anymore.

 

I wouldn't call that a little fact. A loose head bolt, coupled with the leak it caused and the resulting overheating will definitely cause a blown head gasket.

I still didn't see if you have aluminum or iron heads (then again, I'm getting old and forgetful ). In either event, the head may have warped this time. Back off with the head, back down to the machine shop.

But let's take a closer look at your cooling system. I live in a similar climate to you, and even in 110 degree ambient summer heat stopped in heavy traffic, it never climbs over 225-230. Once it's moving again, it hovers around 200-205 in city driving and 190 on the highway.

Have you cleaned the debris from in front of your radiator (requires removal, simple job)? If not, pull your radiator and you will be AMAZED at the crap stuck to it. I had leaves, gum wrappers, cigarette butts, a McDonalds burger wrapper, and nice dessecated sparrow corpse. All of which was obstructing the air flow by about 50-60%. I sat down with a six pack of beer, some soft brushes, and a bucket full of degreaser/water and went to town. 4 beers later, it was shiny as new and back in the car. Running temps immediately dropped 15-20 degrees across the board.

C4 Corvettes are bottom feeders....they pull their cooling air (and whatever happens to be laying around) from the ground....giant vacuum cleaners, if you will.

Good luck....I'm sure some Phx area members will chime in with a list of good shops there.

 

frizlefrak offers some good info. The only thing I would add is that just because the engine has 135,000 miles does not mean that it necessarily needs freshening. With adequate oil changes, these engines can easily go twice that mileage with no trouble.

Fuel injection is extending engine life radically due to the lack of raw fuel washing the oil from the cylinder walls as happens in a carbureted engine.

Good luck,

 

Friz - Aluminum heads - prone to warping. The cooling system was addressed with a new Dewitt radiator - but the fans themselves werent pushing enough CFM to keep the car cool at idle. I bought new SPAL fans from Dewitt for the car, but didnt get them on until recently so they werent able to help yet.

MB - my thoughts are simply that the car was driven for the last 20k miles by a guy that just flogged the sh_t out of it. He didnt maintain it, and blew the head gasket on it - making it affordable enough for me. Now after blowing the gasket again, i am inclined to make more HP if i am going to get greasy again.