Back ground on the problem. he was having weird stall problems with his car and SES lights now and then. Took it to a local mechanic who replaced his intake gaskets and crank positon sesnor. Got the car back and it ran fine for 2 days then the problem started again. This time on the way home from school his car shut off on the highway, towed it to another shop for 2nd opionon and found out the head gaskets blew on him. His options are $2500 for a jasper replacement engine or $1500 for a junk yard replacement. The car is one owner and has 67k miles on it SE, I was not aware of the intake issue untill I came to this board a few days ago. Is there anything he can do? call GM and complain etc??

Right now his father want to go to with the jasper motor for $2500. I think it'* jasper its some company in Chicago that rebuilds motors and install them with a 2 year warantee.

What should he do?

The first thing he needs to do is take it to another shop. Head gaskets VERY, VERY rarely fail on a 3800. That mechanic seems to be a little mislead.

Me, I would try to diagnose the current engine before spending ANY money.

I'd agree with Vital... See the thread on "Plastic Intake Plenum ..." mine blew up about 2 weeks ago. I replaced all the gaskets, cleaned the intake, etc... nothing. Replaced the UIM like a good Bonneville owner and wa la! first crank! Definitely search otu a new mechanic if you won't be doing it yourself.
Nim

btw someones gettin pwned by the stealership/mechanic....

I would bring it right back to guy number 1. He diagnosed it, worked on it and 2 days later it breaks down again.

Hmmmmmm

If they want to stick with the new motor idea (probably not neccessary, but sounds nice), the Jasper is definitely the way to go. That'* all they do is make engines (if I remember right).

http://www.jasperengines.com/

I seriously doubt head gaskets. I've seen 2 sets fail here in 3 years, and one set was questionable.

It'* 99 percent likely it'* the upper intake failure, not a gasket of any kind. But it'* also very likely it'* too late if that gunk is still in the oil pan soaking into the bearings.

bad news, the 2nd guys did a through investigation and said the motor is trashed and is full of coolant, it hydrolocked the motor. He will need to rebuild or get a junk yard donor. His father is leaning towards the new motor. Im sure the guy who put the intake manifold on did not install it properly, and caused the coolant to seap into the combustion chambers.

Take it back to the first guy...how can you charge for a repair that only lasts 2 days? that'* crazy!

He did NOT put it back wrong. He fixed the wrong thing. He changed the LIM seals and gaskets, instead of replacing the upper manifold as he should have. He'* responsible for the ultimate total failure.