DazzlinDave

Hi all. I dont know where to start this,so bear with me.....

I have an '89 rs with 3.4l from '95 bird and 4sp OAD

I was coming home from a family trip, and somehow i lost the plastic rad petcock from the radiator. I was traveling up a fairly high and long grade on I 90 when the petcock let go. Before it let go, the engine was running out of power ( i was going about 30 mph in 2nd gear, and aprox 3500 rpm ). I was watching the temp gauge (manual autometer ), and it didnt go above 240 f.
After I made up a plug for the petcock (a red wirenut and some silicone that a nice passerby gave me) and filling up with water, I started the car, and drove maybe another mile up the hill before it got hot again ( 240)..this was with the rad cap off,so as not to blow out my new Mc Giver petcock. Once cool again,I topped the rad, and was not able to start it afterwards.

I can get the engine to turn over, and it seems like it is trying to start,but it is acting like it is flooded...I pulled the sparkplugs, and found something weird. All 3 plugs on the passanger side look like they are brand new...barely a trace of any carbon on them, and the drivers side look normal. They were all wet with gas..no shock there.

I have checked the timing chain ( pointer on zero, and distrib rotor points to #1 cyl ) seems fine
I have spark from coil and from sparkplug wire, but havent checked for spark from the plug itself.
I have tried turning the distributor adv and retard and the cranking changes accordingly.

I havent tried to check the ecm yet.

Does anyone have an idea as what might be going on? The electrics seem to be working like they should.....

I must be overlooking something simple I hope. Bad "vacation" and a $600 towing bill must be getting to me

Also, anybody know which petcock I need? I have found there are 3 difrent ones for the plastic rad, and have only been able to see 1 that wont work

ScottieB

check for water in the oil. is the oil creamy? check for burnt wires... i dunno.

drdave88

iTrader: (3)

do a compression test, make sure youve got even and normal compression in all cylinders.

2_point8_boy

Sounds like you definitly have a problem with that head. Sounds like there's water getting into the cylinders and steam cleaning everything. I would do a compression check after taking a look at the oil. If everything there checks out ok, I would suspect an intake manifold gasket leak. The GM 6-60 motors have always had problems with intake manifold gaskets.

DazzlinDave

Oil is still looking good.
I havent had a chance to check anything today, but will do a compression test tomorrow. I have found some old printouts a buddy gave me from alldata with the testing specs on the distributor electrics..maybe water from the rad got into something it shouldnt have.... ..Come to think of it,I changed the ign module 3 times last year,but got them at Autozone. Seemed like I went through their good-better-best selection. Maybe my time was up

DazzlinDave

OK, got the cold test compression results :


#5 60 lbs #6 110 lbs

#3 100 lbs #4 105 lbs

#1 90 lbs #2 140 lbs



Front of car


Looks like cylinders 1,3,5 all have water blowing out as i crank for testing, with #3 having the most water. I cant see any water in the oil ( on the dipstick ).

So, gasket or head?
Thanks

pairtoe

iTrader: (4)

man that really sucks, i would say its the gasket. but def check the head while its off.

2_point8_boy

At that point I would pull both heads and send them out to a machine shope to be checked for cracks, have the valves done, and the mating surface checked for warpage. It's a little more right now, but it'll save you a tremendous amount of trouble down the road.

DazzlinDave

I agree about checking both the heads. The engine has 140k on it, so it wouldnt hurt to do them. I'm concerned about the block also being messed up though.How durable/strong is the 3.4 block? I have great oil pressure yet. 70lbs cold, and drops to 30 lbs after a good run and idleing...autometer mechanical gauge.

I dont know if this is proper place to ask, but what do we have for head choices now adays?. I dont want to try 3400 heads and have to change pistons, etc. Just simple change over. I need this car back on road 2 weeks ago type of thing

Im starting to see what happened on my trip........gasket blew/head cracked, and built up a crap load of pressure, enough to blow the rad petcock out of bottom of rad.

DazzlinDave

Finally got word back from the machine shop....the head is cracked.Rather nice big and long crack on #5 intake side.
What do you guys think about a remanufactured head from Napa/Autozone/places like that? If they're ok, should I get 2 new instead of just 1? or maybe look for another 3.4??

2.8RS

iTrader: (5)

I would get atleast one rebuilt head. Just getting one new head will cost a whole lot less than buying a new motor and then swapping it in.

KrisW

iTrader: (5)

I would get a SET of heads from another 87 and up 2.8/3.1/3.4 from an f-car or s-truck. The junkyards are full of them.

I don't like remanufactured heads because they repair the cracks and then sell them to you! A good friend of mine worked at Jasper engine and their crack repairs would boggle the mind...

Better to get another set of used heads and then test them at the machine shop again. I know it costs money, but it's not a whole lot and having a virgin (never-cracked) head casting is worth it. After securing a good core, you can then do a head job and be satisfied that you have many miles ahead of you to travel.

Just my two cents..

DazzlinDave

Well, after a lengthy time i have some news.

The other original head ended up having 2 nasty cracks.Its been almost 6 weeks trying to find a 2nd good head for rebuilding. But i now have 2 good heads,bolts gaskets,etc to top the engine off.

I cant believe heads for the 2.8/3.4 are in limited supply here in Seattle area ( for the 884 series).Tons of older junk around still

Now to find the thread on setting valve lash.......thanks to all contributors to it.Many hours and harsh words saved with it i'm sure

I'll keep posting to let you all know how its cominmg along.