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3.8 v6 coolant issue... little problem diagnosed as a big one.... wtf
ok, so my Sgt. has a 2001 Monte carlo SS, with the n/a 3.8l fwd v6.
When we returned from our florida deployment in mid march, the temps here were still below freezing for the average. My Sgt took out his car and a little while down the road, he saw it was blowing white smoke out the exhaust and the temp gauge was reading that it was overheating. He stopped the car soon after and turned it off. He let it cool down a bit, then later he tried to start it. It did nothing except for the initial starter click and it wouldnt even turn over at all.
He had it towed to a shop and had them look at it. They found that there was coolant in the cylinders. and that it was either a blown head gasket, or the antifreeze froze and cracked the block while we were away in FL. They said the tested the coolant and it wasnt strong enough. Keep in mind it does get to 20 below 0 here. So they said it also could be a cracked block. The shop gave him a total estimate of 3500 to install in a 100k mile junkyard engine.(the monte ss had 82k). Well my Sgt asked me what i thought since he knew i know abotu cars and i said it seemed too high and we could do it cheaper ourselves. I offered my help if he found an engine.
A few days later, my SGT bought a 68k mile 3.8V6 engine from a local yard with a 2 month warranty for just under a grand. We then got the car to the autocraft shop here on base and began working on it. Heres where it gets good. Going off the assumption the shop was correct with the diagnosis of a cracked block, I started with the engine swap. To jump ahead to the present, the "new" engine is in the car now, just needs TQ convertor bolted up, alt, ac compressor rad, and fuel rails basically installed... so a few more hours of work and itll be done. Since my SGT isnt a mechanic, hes really just watching me as i work and doing whatever i tell him too, so to keep him busy, i had him start tearing down the old motor so we could see exactly what happened. Jumping back now, when removing the old parts while the original engine was in the car, i saw that when i pulled the TB, the orange rubber gasket between that and the intake manifold was torn and damaged. I thought nothing of it considering the "new" engine had a good one. Well upon tear down of the original motor... head gaskets are fine, and i have yet to find any crack in any cylinder. yet 4 cylinders were completely filled with coolant, along with the intake manifold... you see what im getting at now dont you. As it stands now, it "appears" the torn gasket between the TB and intake manifold ruptured and began leaking coolant into the intake manifold therefore creating the white smoke out the exhaust and the overheating condition. When he shut off the car, with the coolant system hot and under pressure, it continued to leak, or "pour" coolant into the intake manifold and as a result filled the majority of the cylinders. When he tried to start it, the engine was hydrolocked and wouldnt even turn over.
The shop did find coolant in the cylinders but no real engine damage had been done. a simple TB gasket and pulling the plugs and cranking the engine over to push out the coolant would have solved the problem. I am kinda annoyed with myself that i trusted the shops diagnosis and i didnt stop myself when i first found that torn gasket.
Anyways, he's still compensating me for the work im doing and i told him once we have that engine block and components checked over and they are good, he can sell then and make his money back for the most part and when all is said and done, he has a lower mileage engine and the learning experience of helping with a complete engine swap.... but once again, may distaste for V6s grow...
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