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.

Heres an update. - I still am in DIRE need of help.

Since the post, I re-did the compression test, by the book. (Different from my first time)
All Cylinders came out at 170 psi.
When I ran the car, I took video of bubbling underneath the valve spring, and you can see water flowing in on the head, mixing with oil.
Replaced 2 sets of intake gaskets just to be sure.
Checked upper plenum for signs of water, and it was dry and powdery with EGR carbon. No coolant laying in the upper manifold, just a little oil.
Pressure tested the radiator, and the gage fluctuated slightly while the engine was running. I pulled the #2 injector power, and it seemed to stabilize.
Also pulled the #3 injector, and it didn't make much difference. #3 was where I was seeing the bubbles from underneat the valve spring.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hyovsC_qdu8

Tore the engine out of the car over christmas time.
Completely tore it down, and had the block and heads checked for leaks.
All hyd. Lifters came out OK, except for #6, which came out all boogery of oil and water mixed goo.
Gaskets were 100% good. Good Adhesion, and no traces of leak paths.
No signs of HOT spots, and I have photos if anybody wants to see.
The front and rear cover gaskes were stuck on pretty good.
The head gaskets for the most part came off clean, except where it adheeded around the water jacket ports.
All bearings looked great except for rod #5, lower cap bearings were scuffed badly. Bearings fell out of the cap and appeared shrunk.
Machine shop measured the lower rod cap area, and it showed that it was Egg Shaped, and out of round.

I have a stock set of connecting rods
I have the 2170 casting crank (standard for 3800s), ground .030
I have the Correct Pistons, verified by Clevelite (0.020 over)
For whatever reason, the pistons Stick out ABOVE THE DECK of the block.
I measured my reman block, and measured the new block....They are the same deck height. So im Lost why the pistons are sticking up.
Mabee this is OK???
Without the head gasket, if you rotate the engine with the head just sitting there, all 3 pistons hit. With the gasket on, they don't hit.

The heads and block Magg'd fine. According to the shop I took them to, No leaks could be found.
No Heat discoloration of any kind through the motor, so I don't think I overheated the block.
Head bolts - new and had sealant on them from Fel-Pro.
All other fasteners were loc-tite'd.
The only gasket that I Re-used on this engine is the upper nylon plenum to lower aluminum plenum gasket, as it wasn't that old, and didn't show signs of leakage when I removed it.

So, I have 2 engines, all brand new parts, with no trouble found on teardown.
Ive got $2500 in this new one, and I can't put it back together until I find my issues.

Does Anybody have any thoughts, ideas why:
1. The pistions are sticking above the block.
2. Theories or ideas where my coolant might be coming from
Any help is greatly appreciated!!!!
Otherwise I think I may cut my losses and haul all of it to the scrapyard. Kit and Kaboodle

I read somewhere in the last couple days that the pistons DO stick up above the deck and either go slightly into the head or up to the bottom of the head (due to the head gasket height). This was read just by chance and I am by no means a hardcore engine guy so dont be hatin if it turns out I was just blowin smoke... :lol: but I did read it...

Yeah these aren't 0 deck blocks. the piston will stick up above the face ever so slightly..

Where or who on earth would grind a Crank down .030 ? At .020 under I'd consider it garbage... And a .030 over bearing would have to be mad thick..

Also it is always good to have the rods checked/resized before assembly..

Is it possible that you have a cracked head?

I am not sure weather to tell you to junk it or not...

If you go looking for another motor, Look for one that has the Original Rochester / Delphi intake with a date that corresponds to the cars manufacture date... You'd be even better yet if you could yank the upper and make sure its not leaking or ruptured before you buy it..

Like I said I am on motor #3, but I think i got lucky with it...

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If you decide to scrap it, let me know first. I'm only about 30 minutes from the Saginaw area and would interested in buying the car. ;)

Ever so slightly, like oh....10-20 thousanths?
It didn't hit the valves when it ran, and there weren't any witness marks on the head.
They make bearings for the 0.030" grind - Mabee I should junk the crank? I paid big bucks to have it ground, and polished.

I also paid to have the rods resized and new bushings pushed in. Apparently either #5 got forgotten, or it was weak and took a bad set?

The heads were verified by a separate machine shop as the original. He couldn't find any leaks with pressure testing, and Magg'ing the heads.
I paid $210 to have another boneyard set of heads re-done in the meantime, because I also was darn sure they were cracked because of the bubbling you can see in the Youtube video I took.

I was searching for yard motors, but every one Ive found, has had serious issues where they are either packed with dirt on the inside, OR seriously leaking on the outside.

Plus, everywhere I go...."Everybodys got a motor to sell me", Just like what got me in this hole I'm in now.

I've got around $7,000 invested in PARTS....and I have a car that doesnt run.
Where do I go from here?
C

I'll keep you in the forefront of my mind if I decide to cut my losses.

Not sure if it would be better to sell outright, or just part it out.
C

I think you are at the tipping point. Doesn't make any sense to put another dime into it. I know how you feel.. Been there, done that. You put so much money into it, it seems like you just can't justify letting it go. I say sell it to vital49 for what you can get for it. :cry: