Originally Posted by cronk
I did a head gasket job on a Grand am for a co worker several years ago. Had a 3.1 or 3.4 can really remember, but same engine family. It had a leaky lower intake gasket and the co worker never checked his fluids and ran it low on coolant and overheated it.
Before I even agreed to do the job, I advised him we should sent the heads to the local machine shop, they would clean them and pressure check for cracks for $100.
Didnt even get to that stage, once removed, one had a visible crack between the valves.
Got a pair of junkyard heads, sent to machine shop for cleaning and inspection. They got a clean bill of health from the machine shop. They went on with a set of Felpro gaskets and new tty bolts. No sealer or goo on the head gaskets, and a set of the improved design Felpro lower intake gadkets.
Car ran well afterwards and the engine outlasted the rest of the car!
Moral of the story is, dont trust the heads on a car that was overheated! Call a local machine shop and see what they will charge to clean and pressure test them and check for cracks. In my area, it runs about $50-80 per head.
Cracks between the valves on 3.1/3.4 heads don't condemn the heads. There's no water there and cracks are common in that location. I've pressure tested literally hundreds of pairs of 2.8/3.1/3.4 heads, never had one leak from a crack between the valves. Cracks into the spark plug hole always leaked. The heads you discarded were likely still good. 2.2/2.5 Chrysler heads would crack between the seats as well, same deal, no water there, no leak.
I did a head gasket job on a Grand am for a co worker several years ago. Had a 3.1 or 3.4 can really remember, but same engine family. It had a leaky lower intake gasket and the co worker never checked his fluids and ran it low on coolant and overheated it.
Before I even agreed to do the job, I advised him we should sent the heads to the local machine shop, they would clean them and pressure check for cracks for $100.
Didnt even get to that stage, once removed, one had a visible crack between the valves.
Got a pair of junkyard heads, sent to machine shop for cleaning and inspection. They got a clean bill of health from the machine shop. They went on with a set of Felpro gaskets and new tty bolts. No sealer or goo on the head gaskets, and a set of the improved design Felpro lower intake gadkets.
Car ran well afterwards and the engine outlasted the rest of the car!
Moral of the story is, dont trust the heads on a car that was overheated! Call a local machine shop and see what they will charge to clean and pressure test them and check for cracks. In my area, it runs about $50-80 per head.
Cracks between the valves on 3.1/3.4 heads don't condemn the heads. There's no water there and cracks are common in that location. I've pressure tested literally hundreds of pairs of 2.8/3.1/3.4 heads, never had one leak from a crack between the valves. Cracks into the spark plug hole always leaked. The heads you discarded were likely still good. 2.2/2.5 Chrysler heads would crack between the seats as well, same deal, no water there, no leak.
