Brother's 4.3L V6 BLEW UP today!

[Drew99GT]

Yup, another victim of GM's crappy intake gaskets. My brother was complaining that his 96 S15 Jimmy severly overheated on the way home from work a couple nights ago. Well, the shop called and said coolent is in the crankcase, and the intake gasket was the culprit. I just don't know about GM anymore after looking at this website.

http://www.PetitionOnline.com/mod_perl/signed.cgi?GMcnsmrs&2301

This is EXACTLY why I am selling my 99 Grand Am GT. It already externally leaks right at the thermostat housing, but I see no signs of coolent in the oil. I do on occasion have to top off the coolent on that POS. Be carefull, all you late model GM owners. It's a known fact that the GM gaskets are crap. Check yours out before this happens because all the bearings are scraped clean on his motor.

 

[Greaser]

It's not just a late model thing.Back in 84 the 2.8L Chev engine had the same problem.My father's 84 S-15 did the same thing,intake gasket leaking coolant into crankcase.When I got my 85 S-10 new I went out and bought Fel-Pro intake gaskets and changed them about 3 mounths after I got it.It's still on the road to-day with-out any problems.My sister purchased an 86 S-10 and didn't change her gaskets,guess what..right.It kinda sux having to change gaskets on a brand new engine..but I'm glad I did...just a little FYI..thats it has happened in the past also.

 

[boxcartommie22]

time to get a ford

 

[MolaKule]

The S-10 1.9 L was notorious for head gasket leaks.

I replaced three gaskets and two heads on the 1982 S-1O.

Time to get a Nissan Frontier.

[ March 12, 2003, 10:38 PM: Message edited by: MolaKule ]

 

[sprintman]

The new Oz Fords are currently being evaluated in the US by Ford mgmt. Check www.fordperformancevehicles.com.au for some of the available 'hotties' which possibly could be available for you guys one day. Brembo brake option on GT (std GT-P) is nice!

 

[mebanditws6]

Interesting The only leak I had on my old 91 S10 4.3 was a small oil leak. There was never an intake manifold gasket leak on it or anything like that. My grandpa had it before me from brand new to 102k, and it never gave him any problems then either.

Jason

 

[Greaser]

My experiances were with the Chev. 2.8L engine...I have the tried and true straight six 4.0L in both my Jeeps and don't have to worry about an intake leak getting coolant into the crankcase...it can't

..just have to get bugged about other oil leaks with the ole' tractor motor...but I'm ready for em'...it's comforting to know what to exspect from an engine thats been around 20 years in almost the same variation

 

[slickracer]

I had mine replaced in my 99 4.3 at 37,000 miles. The truck was 11 months out of warranty, but they covered it 100%. The tech also did a complete flush and change to green antifreeze.

 

[jason07-1zzfe]

Great. I wish she didn't have to have a Grand Prix. I tried to convince her to get a BMW but that didn't interest her

.

Guess I better get the oil analyzed darn near every drain. Cheaper than a new engine. Maybe I shouldn't waste the Red Line oil in it either. Or are there replacement gaskets (NOT MADE BY GM) that will last. May be good PM to change them out now.

GM has managed to screw up all kinds of things lately. The copper issue, the knocking, and this... What a bunch of pieces of crap. They NEED to recall with that many failures, or extend the warranty on that part indefinitely. Of course they won't do that though.

 

[joee12]

quote:

---

Originally posted by Jason Troxell:
Great. I wish she didn't have to have a Grand Prix. I tried to convince her to get a BMW but that didn't interest her

.

Guess I better get the oil analyzed darn near every drain. Cheaper than a new engine. Maybe I shouldn't waste the Red Line oil in it either. Or are there replacement gaskets (NOT MADE BY GM) that will last. May be good PM to change them out now.

GM has managed to screw up all kinds of things lately. The copper issue, the knocking, and this... What a bunch of pieces of crap. They NEED to recall with that many failures, or extend the warranty on that part indefinitely. Of course they won't do that though.

---

Jason, don't give up

!! Every car ,no matter what make or model has it's bugs. Honda/Acura has brake and transmission problems, Toyota has the sludge thing, and let's not forget the Ford quirks either. Even though some cars are better than others, none of them are perfect. -Joe

 

[Greaser]

quote:

---

Originally posted by Jason Troxell:
Great. I wish she didn't have to have a Grand Prix. I tried to convince her to get a BMW but that didn't interest her

.

Guess I better get the oil analyzed darn near every drain. Cheaper than a new engine. Maybe I shouldn't waste the Red Line oil in it either. Or are there replacement gaskets (NOT MADE BY GM) that will last. May be good PM to change them out now.

GM has managed to screw up all kinds of things lately. The copper issue, the knocking, and this... What a bunch of pieces of crap. They NEED to recall with that many failures, or extend the warranty on that part indefinitely. Of course they won't do that though.

---

I have never had any problems with Fel-Pro gaskets...I would change them out with those...you'll sleep better at night

 

[novadude]

quote:

---

Well, the shop called and said coolent is in the crankcase, and the intake gasket was the culprit.

---

Hold on a minute...

Are you sure that the coolant in the oil was not a result of the overheating??? I am aware that GM has bigproblems with the 60 deg V6 (2.8/3.1/3.4), but the 4.3 is a 90 deg V6, which is exactly like a tried-and-true 350 V8.

I have NEVER heard of anyone having intake gasket problems with a 350.

Did GM do something to screw up the gasket sealing on newer 90 deg engines? I know they reduce the number of intake bolts on V8's, but I have never heard of problems from this.

 

[wtd]

The Vortec 350 from 96-98 had many intake manifold leaking problems. This was caused from overtorquing the intake bolts at the factory. The intake gaskets on my 98 350 started leaking at 24,000 miles and was fixed under warrenty.

Go to any chevy truck forum and do a search on "intake manifold gaskets" and you will find many posts about it.

Wayne

 

[novadude]

hmmm... guess I learned something.

I know lots of people are running the Vortec heads on "hot rod" engines without incident. I did not realize the GM plant was screwing up the installs.

 

[Drew99GT]

If you guys do install new gaskets before it blows, which is quite advisable, go with roll gaskets. The GM ones are made form a material like a cork!!! Very cheapo.

 

[CROW]

In my family we had three 2.8 L GM V-6 engines (two 1982 and a 1986). Two went a little over 100,000 miles, did not burn oil and ran good when traded. One went 116,000 and ran OK but burned a little oil when traded. Guess we were just lucky. I always thought these were pretty good motors based on the service we got from them.

 

[Greaser]

quote:

---

Originally posted by CROW:
In my family we had three 2.8 L GM V-6 engines (two 1982 and a 1986). Two went a little over 100,000 miles, did not burn oil and ran good when traded. One went 116,000 and ran OK but burned a little oil when traded. Guess we were just lucky. I always thought these were pretty good motors based on the service we got from them.

---

Yes you were lucky.The aluminum intake manifold reacted to the cast block because the thin paper gasket separating them rotted away allowing the process of the two metals to rapidly increase.May-be a different climate made a difference for you,don't know where abouts you reside,but colder weather seemed to increase the chances of this coolant leak.

 

[Drew99GT]

It overheated because practically 100% of the engine coolent is now in the crankcaes

He's not stupid enough to continue running an engine that is overheating.

 

[eldawg4100]

well... you cant severly overheat an engine and always expect it to just start back up and have no problems!!!

 

[Jimbo]

I had no problems with my '94 C1500 4.3, but I know of a few Ford 3.8's that blew head gaskets and my kid's Toyota 3400 did the same thing. Toyota had a "secret" extended warranty that paid for it.