[jakepinky0724]

So, my sister blew her head gaskets on her car. Its a 1992 buick skylark with a 3800 in it with only 80k miles. she ran out of oil and blew the head gaskets and ive been trying to take the headers off ever since. Anyone have any tips on what exactly to do? The engine bay is very crowded and not very well put together...So far i've had to remove just about everything just to get the front exhaust manifold off, now ive got to worry about the rear exhaust manifold. Does anyone have any tips on how I could remove them? I think I'll have to remove everything, maybe pull the engine out entirely.

 

[Sortaslow]

A bit confused...running it out of oil did not blow the head gaskets.Or, did she run it out of coolant and kill the head gaskets and run it out of oil and also damage the crankshaft/bearings and cam bearings,camshaft,oil pump and all other lubricated internals?As far as access to the rearward manifold,take the mounts loose and rock the motor forward.

 

[jakepinky0724]

A bit confused...running it out of oil did not blow the head gaskets.Or, did she run it out of coolant and kill the head gaskets and run it out of oil and also damage the crankshaft/bearings and cam bearings,camshaft,oil pump and all other lubricated internals?As far as access to the rearward manifold,take the mounts loose and rock the motor forward.

She ran out of oil and coolant

 

[Sortaslow]

take the top engine dogbone loose and rock the motor forward.This will give you more access/better angle of attack.The motor/transaxle will then rotate.

 

[dezldave961]

The Skylark is an N-body (Grand Am, etc.) not W-body, So it has side mounts rather than dogbones.

I believe the concern is more about the headache of pulling everything to get at the head gaskets, especially the rear manifold that's probably buried against the firewall, and under a bunch of other things that need removing, first.

Example:

 

[digitalgpbandit]

I am sorry to hear about your sister's situation. Before you start tearing anything apart further is the engine locked up? That would be my concern at this point

 

[jakepinky0724]

I am sorry to hear about your sister's situation. Before you start tearing anything apart further is the engine locked up? That would be my concern at this point

Not locked up. It could be at this point, I'll have to check.

He is right, its quite the headache getting to those head gaskets. Its blocked by the firewall and intake manifold. It's horrible.

 

[digitalgpbandit]

I had a '95 Grand Am with the 3100... same body, but a 60 degree v6 instead of the 90 degree 3300 v6 so a little more room in the engine bay, but still a pain even just to change the back spark plugs.

If the body is still in good shape I would just swap out the motor with a junkyard one. Car-part.com is a great salvage yard search site. There is a handful of 3300's not too far from me between $200-300. Maybe you'll get lucky and find a low mileage replacement. Just a thought

 

[widtrak77]

If its actually a 3800 just find a good used one from a salvage yard. They are not easy engines to rebuild and there's a lot more involved than just changing head gaskets. The factory built them the best. Don't waste your time and resources