Hello. I am pretty new to "self" auto repair ($$$) and am attempting to replace the valve and head gaskets in my son's car (see above).
The car has 137,000 miles on it and "was" running smoothly. First the head gasket blew and we temporarily fixed it with "Bars Leaks Coolant and Head Gasket Sealant." It worked great, but a week later he blew a valve gasket (on the exhaust side.) At least we assume so, b/c oil had blown all over from the drivers-side of the engine compartment. Note: He told me he heard a knocking sound when he accelerated that day. Any ideas on that? A rod maybe?
Anyway, we figur that if we're gonna fix the valve gasket issue we may as well fix the head gasket as well. I know this is a big job, but really it's something that we can do...with help from this forum, hopefully!
So far we have the AC and fuel lines removed, intake manifold removed, but we are stuck on a rusted bolt on the exhaust manifold where it connects to the exhaust pipe. If we can't get that off I plan to remove the exhaust pipe straps, etc, and "slide" the exhaust manifold off the studs and leave it connected to the pipe while we work on the engine. Does anyone see a problem with that approach?
Can someone recommend the best web site where I can purchase the head gasket set? I also anticipate replacing the timing set if necessary so those parts/gaskets as well.
Also, each time I have a different problem/issue, I think it's best to start a new thread. Correct?
Thanks to all of you for your thoughts!

In my opinion it would be cheaper to just dump the current motor and find a replacement motor from a:

1999–2002 Chevrolet Cavalier Z24
1999–2001 Pontiac Sunfire GT
2000–2001 Pontiac Grand Am
2000–2001 Oldsmobile Alero


The temp fix probably made everything a lot worse. Including messing with the thermostat, radiator, coolant lines / passages/ ways, water pump, and overflow tank.


I assume now the head gasket is completely shot, and your blowing oil out of the head gasket because the head and/or the block warped, and maybe even cracked the head. Once you ran low on oil it probably spun rod bearing #3.


To start, you would need the head decked and checked to see if it is cracked, block decked and checked to see if it cracked any....the head maybe the block probably not. New rod bearings, and maybe even the crank reground smaller for larger bearings. This is really a COMPLETE engine rebuild from scratch almost at this point since you tried to fix it and probably made it 100 time worse.


In closing get a new / used motor from the above years. you could get one from older years but that evolves more work and wiring.






PRND321 Till I DIE
Old Motor: 160whp & 152ft/lbs, 1/4 Mile 15.4 @88.2
M45 + LD9 + 4T40-E, GO GO GO

bars leak does NOT fix anything. just makes more problems. if it can plug a leaking gasket it can plug up other stuff that you dont want it to plug up. like a radiator or heater core. seen it at least a dozen times. rather than spend the $$ to get a head gasket replaced people throw that god awful crap in and it lasts for a little while longer, then the head gasket completely blows out or some other kinda carnige insues. but in that time the radiator ends up being clogged with that @!#$ and the heater core gets gunked up. they wind up spending more to replace the rad, hoses, thermostat, water pump and blow out the rest of the cooling system on top of the original repair than they would have to just do the gasketin the first place. so have fun with that. not to mention its pretty much impossible to get all the crap out of the coolant passages in the block and head without a complete teardown and cleaning.

at this point like MD said the head is probably either warped or cracked from most likely overheating and if its knocking its done anyway. i'd start wrapping my head around getting a new motor. you can pickup a lower milage one for probably less than what someone would have charged to do the head gasket job. only thing i would reccomend is getting a runner not one that has been sitting for any kinda time. itll be easier to do that at this point than fix whats wrong.

Thanks guys for the info/opinions. And yes, opinions DO matter. Don't we all want to know what others have experienced? Well anyway, he spent $1,200 on the car and to buy another engine would prolly run, what, another $1,000? That'd put it over blue book, but he does need a car for transportation. Decisions! I figure we can continue to take it apart and take the parts to a machine shop for them to analyze. If nothing else, he's learning about cars so that's a good thing, right?
BTW, last night I had the wonderful opportunity to "try" to remove the harmonic balancer. LOL. And I thought I was strong. I was quickly humbled. A 20" breaker bar wouldn't even help to get that bolt off. Air-gun time?

Oh! I supported the engine from below with a jack, and a wooden block to protect the oil pan, but when I began jacking the engine up to get to the timing chain housing that pitches the engine towards the firewall. Now don't laugh, but I need to know, can I place a small piece of plywood under the trans pan and jack that up without damage/adverse issues to that or the seal? Ok, you can laugh now!

The harmonic balancer "should" be torqued to 129 lb ft + 90°. You shouldn't need an impact, but it will come off pretty easy with one. You'll need a pulley puller to get the balancer off. Do not pry it off or you could / will mess up the front timing cover seal.

DO NOT JACK UP ON THE OIL PAN. Place the jack on the front lower motor mount on the passenger side. Leave the trans mount in. Do not jack an auto off the trans pan. It will buckle and smash / dent in.









PRND321 Till I DIE
Old Motor: 160whp & 152ft/lbs, 1/4 Mile 15.4 @88.2
M45 + LD9 + 4T40-E, GO GO GO

Ok, thanks a lot!
I do, however, need to remove the passenger-side motor mount in order to get the timing chain housing cover off. Any suggestions when I get to that point?

To be more clear, it looks like I will need to jack the motor up pretty high to get all of the "upper" motor mount bolts off (in order to get to that timing chain housing.) In order to do that won't I need to detach the motor from that lower mount as well?
Also, is there any chance of damage occurring by leaving the "driver's-side" motor mount attached. It is gonna be at a pretty descent angle, being raised so much on the passenger side and all...

I personally do not know. If your going to that much effort...it might be easier and faster to just remove the motor with our without the trans.




PRND321 Till I DIE
Old Motor: 160whp & 152ft/lbs, 1/4 Mile 15.4 @88.2
M45 + LD9 + 4T40-E, GO GO GO

You can do everything while it's in the car (besides resurface the block, but on a composite, stock-style gasket, it shouldn't be a big deal).

PAUL SEELY wrote:To be more clear, it looks like I will need to jack the motor up pretty high to get all of the "upper" motor mount bolts off (in order to get to that timing chain housing.) In order to do that won't I need to detach the motor from that lower mount as well?
Also, is there any chance of damage occurring by leaving the "driver's-side" motor mount attached. It is gonna be at a pretty descent angle, being raised so much on the passenger side and all...

No, you don't have to jack it up that high at all. You're just supporting the passenger side so there's no stress on the mount when you remove it temporarily. You only need to remove the mount to slide the timing housing cover and gasket out between the mount and engine.


2001 Olds Alero (LD9)
650 whp / 543 ft-lb
@turboalero

Also,

PAUL SEELY wrote:I supported the engine from below with a jack, and a wooden block to protect the oil pan

This is fine. You will not dent an LD9 oil pan lol. People who scream DO NOT JACK ON OIL PAN are used to the @!#$ty thin bottomed, unreinforced sheet metal oil pans on most cars that cave in at any slight bump. A wood block and a floor jack is just fine to support it.

You don't need to jack it up high, you just need to support it right where it is.. and remove the mount. Not the mounting piece on the block, but the mounting component that links the block to the engine bay's mount side. I'm not familiar with the Cavalier mount but the N-Body one is as simple as removing 2 nuts and 2 bolts and a plate slides upward and off and there's your gap that you can slide the timing cover and gasket out of and then re-attach the mount and continue work.


2001 Olds Alero (LD9)
650 whp / 543 ft-lb
@turboalero

@ [ion] C2:
What a relief. Great info, thank you.