Hi all,

I'm a bit lost and need some advice. My car is a 2002 Park Avenue (base NA model) that I inherited from my grandfather. At first I didn't think I wanted to drive it, but it'* a great car. It also has sentimental value.

It now has about 120k miles on it and has had the upper intake fail. I thought I had gotten to it soon enough, but after taking the heads to a local machine shop, there are cracks between the intake and exhaust valves in 3 places.

I'm not sure what to do at this point. I was thinking about buying a crate engine, but sure I can afford it. I'm worried that since the heads got hot enough to crack that there might be other damage to the crank or cam bearings. I do have an engine hoist and can remove and rebuild it and get re-manufactured heads, but by the time I'm done it sounds like it'* close to the price of getting a rebuilt tall block.

Should I be this worried about pulling the block out? Is it worth it to just get a rebuilt? Even if I decide to rebuild it myself, should I have the crank polished, or does that depend on what it looks like? Ohhhh, I'm so confused!

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Wayne

It is possible the engine had enough coolant in the lower block to stay cool enough, yet the heads being higher having no coolant. IMOanyway.

3800'* are very common in junkyards. Right now I am working on getting my 4th engine(I abuse them)and I spend about $200 per occurance.

If you suspect the crank to be damaged, at least inspect the bearing surfaces and check the clearances.

We have quite a few members here that have experience tearing the engines down and inspecting. Feel free to ask any questions!

Holy smokes, cracked heads on a 3.8L? Been working as a tech at a GM dealer for almost 7 years and have never had to dig deeper than lower intake gaskets on a 3.8L. If it were me I'd just pick up a couple used ones at a local scrap yard.

And I thought I abused my engines! At this point I really have no reason to believe there is crank surface damage, just a little scared after the head cracks. I don't remember seeing anything milky or foamy in the oil, but haven't drained it yet. It sounds like it'* possible to check the surfaces by just pulling the oil pan and removing a boss or two while the engine is still in the car?

I'd be happy if it just needed the heads replaced. Thanks for the replies!

Wayne

I meant to say end cap, not boss......

If it happened recently, you may still have time left.
My first coolant issue led me to spun bearing, did a crank swap and bearings. Spun another 3 weeks later.
Last engine I toasted, I punched a rod through the block. Got pictures somewhere around here. These are pretty tough engines.

Check the bottom of your oil cap. That is a good place to see coolant build up.

The inside of the cap looks fairly clean to me. I'm going to try to upload a pic...

Wayne

Yours is clean, this is what you DON'T want to see....

Cracked heads the way you describe is very very very very common on 3800'*. Most never pull the heads and have them magnafluxed to find out. It'* always between the valves. When looking for heads to port, it can be tough to find a set that isn't cracked.

A local was looking for a set of heads. He bought 8 sets before he had two that weren't cracked.

Had you not pulled them, you would have never noticed it in the way the motor ran etc.