Need Serious Help and Advice
 

Hi gang,

Its been a while since Ive been here, mainly because It's been awfully busy at work and school, and I've been forced to slowly Piece Meal my moms car back together.

Heres the story
98 L36 Bonnie, on engine #3.
First one blew apart (Thank you GM for the intake manifold issue)
Second one wore out after 60K miles (THank you PowerPro Engines for selling me a non-repairable engine)
Third one has 700 miles and its smoking like a mother, and im getting coolant in the crankcase.
I spent MONTHS on engine #3 making sure everything was Perfect during assembly.
Engine was machined by the local machine shop, heads were also refreshed and gone through professionally. Hone Aligned and spun by hand beautifully.
I DID have issues with my machine shop trying to pawn off a cracked block the first time. Had to fight with them to get a good block the second time around.
I paid to have the block and heads checked before machining....but it didnt help to catch the first motor they tried to give me.

Fell Pro Gaskets top to bottom. Heads torqued per the GM ESI manual, as all the rest of the fasteners were too.

Well, it ran great for 2 weeks, and when I changed the oil at 700mi I noticed coolant scumming up the filler neck and cap.
I did a compression test, all cylinders except for the front two were 145psi. The other two were 135psi. I didnt think that was too far out, so I changed the intake gaskets, and didn't see anything out of the ordinary. No Melting, no cracking. The intake was a Bugger to get off, as I had it sealed very well.
New gaskets on, and still getting moisture.
Took it for a drive to get the remaining air pockets out, and suddenly the car was engulfed in a cloud of bluish white smoke.
It continued all the way home.
What do I do?
Cut my $7,000 invested as a loss?
Crush the car and forever be done with it?
Right now im looking at pulling it out and putting in a $500 junkyard motor.
Honestly, I am beside myself with stress and grief. I honestly do not know what to do, and I need some solid advice. It took me alot of hard work to get this thing together and in the car (by myself, by the way), and only to find out i'm no further ahead than when I started, except for more in debt.
What do I do? :?:

Did install a new upper intake on engine #3?

Ted, Yes I installed a new Dorman Heavy Duty Upper Intake AND, because it was a 98 lower manifold, I fabbed up a 1/2" aluminum EGR tube and pressed that in. (Pulled the 3/4" egr tube out), Installed a Trans Cooler, AND 180 degree thermostat.

Engine #1 and #2 both had New Dorman's as well. Engine #2 had all of the above.

Loc-tite on the LIM bolts? And were those bolt holes chased with a tap prior to installing the lower? LIM bolts tend to back out a little bit if no threadlocker is put on them.

Everything was spotless when I put the engine back together. Sonic Cleaned, threads re-tapped and cleaned, bolts were also wire wheeled and re-threaded.
LocTite used on the Lower and upper bolts.

Head bolts were new (torque to yield bolts) with sealant on them. I believe they were also Fel-Pro.

It was the same casting number as my 98 block, but I was told it came from an 03 car.

Here's the kit.
http://www.northernautoparts.com/Pro...ctModelId=9591
Pistons 0.020"
Main Crank 0.030"
Rods 0.020"
And the assembly lube was the better stuff, for longer break in periods.
I had the entire thing lubed up slick, and made sure that nothing was in the bolt holes to cause a non sealing issue.
The head deck was cleaned with a lint free cloth and oil remover. So were the head/intake interfaces.
The Oil Pump Primed Instantly due to the vaseline pack in the oil pump cavity, and my oil pressure is about 80-90 psi all the time.

At this point there's no reason to think the engine needes to be replaced. If coolant is in the oil then change the oil ASAP. After changing the oil I'd remove the throttle body & check for coolant in the intake. I haven't done one of these let so see what others have to say. Did you install the PCV valve in the intake?

Ted,

I checked the intake when I pulled it off to replace the gaskets.
There was coolant in the intake, but it was where it was supposed to be. The EGR port on the upper intake was dry. The manifold does have around 60K miles on it...I didnt think it would have to be replaced already. It looks good.
Yes, AC DELCO PCV valve - I learned my lesson of using others. (They dont work)

It's a treat. I honestly dont know how you guys are keeping your engines going, let alone any performance mods to them. I cant even keep this stocker on the road.
Corey

Hmm....this is gonna be a tricky one.

Did this smoke come from the front of the car, or the rear? If from the front, the good news would be that the engine wasn't ingesting coolant at all

Hey, I just had an idea. Do you have, or have access to, a cooling system pressurizer? My idea is to apply pressure to the system...we will say 15 lbs, which is I think the max allowable. Cooling systems are sealed, so there should not be any pressure drop over time. If there is, that means coolant is escaping somewhere (before pressurising, make sure the cooling system is full, so no air can escape, but water can...so you can see where it leaks at). Just to be safe, remove all your sparkplugs, and blow out all the chambers so it is nice and dry before you start. If you loose pressure, and can't see where the leak is, blow out the chambers again. If there is moisture there...you will know at that time if it is the manifold.

EDIT - I think for this test you might need to remove the T-stat too. Not sure though.

Judging from what I have read it would seem that you may have possibly cooked a head gasket when the engine got ran hot.. Thats a lot of heat for the head gaskets to deal with with no cooling... and to have 2 adjacent cylinders low on compression leads me to believe that a head gasket is fried.....

Sorry to hear it tho... I am on motor 3 ,myself and if I ever have an issue again I will do the complete build myself...lol

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It was from the Tailpipe. I don't but I think I might make the investment. Likewise with an Evac head for it. That way I can pull the air out before I run it.