Blown Head Gasket on Van
 

The engine has 130K 0n the clock. Should I replace the engine, have it rebuilt or see if a shop can replace the head gaskets?

Thanks for your help.

what kind of van and what engine is it?

Duh when you are not thinking right you can be slow at times. Meaning me. LOL

Nice question, it is a 1998 Pontiac Transport with the infamous 3400 engine. The king of LIM failures.

Blown head gasket on a 3400? :? Never heard of that happening (or being a common failure) on that engine.

I know the 3.4 dohc was pretty prone to failure but not the newer ohv 3400?

You're kidding, right? The 3400's are notorious for head gaskets and LIM's.

Same here for the head gasket but the LIM history is dismal.

Dealer wants to replace the engine for $5,400. I dont think so.

No, I'm serious. I was only aware of the failure-prone LIM gaskets.

I'll keep the head gasket failures in mind now. ;)

Oh Boy...

If the engine was run low on coolant( Bad LIM gaskets ) the Alluminum heads will not tollerate it and the head gaskets will fail in short order... If the bottom end is still good I would be tempted to yank the heads and get a head gasket kit that will include everything you need... But the heads will have to be straightened and cut at the machine shop to make sure they are true or the head gaskets will live a short life...

I have seen LIM issues on the 3400 like crazy.... And in turn that would cause a head gasket failure... But we have yet to come across a totally destroyed 3400...

Which brings me back to the question... How is the bottom end? Was it doing any knocking? and would you have the patience to rip into the 3400 parked under the hood of the Van? This can be a Royal PITA...

If you have the Patience for this you can save yourself a lot of money...

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The bottom end was not having any problems. The engine has overheated twice in 3 weeks. Both times I have shut it off within 2 minutes and had it towed. I do not really have the experience to do this type of work.

Anyone have any recomendations on what type of shop to call and get estimates from? I do not think my trusty gas station can handle a job like this one.[/quote]