Hi, Im new to the site and wish I would of found it long ago, I've been going through tech and the rest of the forum and there is just so much information here it is unbelievable.

Im getting ready to pull the motor out of our 92 ssei

It was overheated and now the garage says its getting hydrocarbons in the radiator and that the head gaskets are blown. but readig around here i can see that it probably isnt the case.

Also after the overheating it lost its oil pressure so we are going to tear it down to see what exactly has happened and if it should be rebuilt or replaced.

Was wondering if there are any weak points with 92 ssei and there motors (or the rest of the drivetrain) that I could be taking care of while the motor is out and everything is being rebuilt and the car is already down.

the LIM gaskets probably went, and I'd drain the oil if I were you just in case. It'* not that bad of an install, just remover the supercharger and LIM, and replace the LIM gasket and the plenum between the SC and the manifold. Someone more experienced might chime in with something else but those are just my two cents

I had that happen on my 94. did it blow LOTS of steam out the exhaust when it was on its last legs?

didnt notice much steam from the exhaust but Im not saying it wasn't there, There was so much steam under the hood so it pretty much had my attention there, but it was dark out so I couldn't see where it was coming from. Lost all its power when it happened to and havent tried doing anything with it because of it not having oil pressure.

Scott.. it sounds as if head gaskets are possible. They are so uncommon through overheating and severe abuse situations that we commonly advise to check everything else before the heads come off.

That isn't saying that there couldn't be a crack or other issue. Please give us more information on mileage etc and last known tune up, how badly the motor was overheated. Heck, I personally ran about 15 minutes w/little coolant at highway speeds. Overheated and ran like a champ w/o issues later. My thoughts would be that the overheat would have had to be severe.

Losing oil pressure would usually indicate bad bearings somewhere, doesn't sound like the connecting rod or main bearins as they will make an audible knock when bad. There is also a pressure valve built into the oil filter adapter as a spring and metal sleeve. I might consider checking that to ensure the spring didn't break.

thanks everyone for the quick replys, without going out in the freezing cold to check it, I believe the car has 108k on it now. and last tune up was done at 100K (plugs, wires, air filter, pcv valve. Im sure im forgetting something that was put on it but just the basic tune up parts), Last oil change at 105K .

I wasnt driving at the time, was sleeping in the pass seat but when I woke up to the steaming engine, the gauge was around 240. Had it towed home and tried it to see if it would start the next day and it started right up and sounded ok, then oil pressure left after it was running for 5 to 10 seconds and you could hear the knocking, so just shut it back off after that. Had it towed to a friend that runs a garage because I didnt have time to reallty look at it very much because of work. And thats who said about it was hydrocarbons in the radiator..

A severe overheat can kill heads either by cracking or warping. The hydrocarbons in the radiator are a solid marker for a leaking head gasket or a cracked head. The oil pressure loss could be caused by bearings that have been scoured badly due to oil starvation or loss of lubricity caused by the overheat. I would look for a good used engine without the supercharger.

Scott...did you happen to ask your wife/GF how long she kept driving with all the lights coming on in the driver information center and the dinging?

My reason for asking is to try and get a better idea how much abuse it took. Your symptoms do point to heads, takes a lot though.

I probably should of mentioned and I dont no if its directly related but the car has been in my family for a few years now and ever since we had the low coolant light would go on and off all the time in information center. Coolant was always fine everytime you checked and couldnt figure out what was going on with it before. So I guess im guilty as well as everyone else that drove the car, that when It would come on the only thing you thought was ... " oh that light again" .. Maybe if I found this site sooner I could of worked out some of the little things like that and prevented all this.

But I wouldnt be afraid to say it was very abused that night and driven further than it should of been that hot. and I do no it was hot enough that after it was shut off, it wouldnt even start back up, until I tried it that next morning after it was towed home

Really is sounding like the easiest thing might be to find another motor but, Im still going to tear it down and see whats going on with it. (what can I say, I like to get my hands dirty)

Nothing wrong with a good autopsy.

The low coolant indicator is located between the transmission lines going into the radiator. When you change the motor, I'd suggest tossing a new one in there. Oh..and unplugging the sensor would make the light go off.