My wife'* 2.2l 4 cylinder 1996 Corsica has a loose head/warped head/bad head gasket. It sucks down antifreeze, shudders, shakes, and overheats. White steam out the back.

How difficult is it to take the cylinder head off, check it, grind it if necessary, or get a new (refurbished) cylinder head and put it back on?

Is there any real way to keep this aluminum head from continually working loose - drilling into the block and the head and installing dowels to keep the head from moving, putting on newer, better, more improved gaskets, what?

I like the car, but the heads have been problems for those engines for a long time.

It'* a very good car in all other respects.

wnlewis

Get a Haynes manual or buy a subscription here and it'll walk you through the job.

Sounds like it wasn't put on very well in the first place. They do have issues from time to time, but don't continually work their way loose etc. like you describe.

Have you had the head off before?

What work has been done to it?

Are you sure that the coolant getting into the combustion chamber is doing so by way of the head and/or head gasket?

How many miles on the car?

How long have you owned it?

What region does it live in?

Any modifications done to the car?

You do NOT want to use inserts of any kind on head bolts. They have an upgraded gasket set for the head that will last. The problem is the different rates at which the dissimilar metals expand and the newer gaskets will allow for the changes by being built in layers that allow it to move without destroying the seal.

This is at a minimum the third failure of this kind - cylinder head moving and anti-freeze getting in.

I've never had the head off.

No work, other than replacing the head two previous times.

No. That I am am not certain.

220,000 miles.

17 years.

South Central Kansas

No modifications. Stock in all regards.

I was not proposing a sleeve on the bolts. I was proposing dowels in addition to bolts. Alfa-Romeo solved a similar problem by doing just that.

If head gaskets exist that can take the expansion difference of the aluminum and the cast iron, then that is the thing to do.

My experience with engines that have cast iron blocks and aluminum heads has not been good.

GM and other manufacturers had the same problems with these. In that era the 3.8 V6 was lucky to get over 80 or 90K miles before needing the head gaskets done. The updated gaskets are good and is all you will need. Just make sure to have the head checked before installation.

Disagree.....GM never had head gasket problems on 3.8'*, at 80-90K miles.....upper plenum gaskets and lower intake gaskets yes, but not head gaskets.....

Heads do not move.....they fit over dowels, if PROPERLY TORQUED......DON'T KNOW WHAT GARAGES WORKED ON YOUR VEHICLES, BUT WHY WERE THE HEADS REPLACED?

My bad.....FORD 3.8L V6 were the ones.

Thank you very much! I can probably check the head flatness and hopefully the block flatness. If both are OK, then I will make sure I get the correct gasket. I have a 1992 Mercury 3.8l V6 as well as a 1995 Buick 3.8l (series I) V6. They both share that problem. Probably due to the common heritage of that engine.