Head Gasket

[wild_card_06]

How hard is it to replace the head gasket?

[4kQuad]

Depends on what kind of tools you can get your hands on.

I have said this in threads before and it is Not a slam at you. But if you don't know what a torque wrench is or how to set one, or what a torque pattern is.

It may be harder than you wish to jump into.


From there it's not much harder than a lot of other cars.

[sunrunner_pei]

If this sight doesn't make you nervous on top of what Lee has already mentioned, then it shouldn't be too bad. The dealership took a day to do mine.

http://www.gaownersclub.com/gallery/albums/2003%20GAGT/intake_manifold/IMG_2540.jpg (http://www.gaownersclub.com/gallery/thumbnails.php?album=35)

[slowbird]

How many kms were on the engine, and why'd the Head-gasket go?

[wild_card_06]

80,000 miles im not sure why it went out.

[ab60188]

I think my head gaskets are bad also... Im also not sure why they went.. I brought it in got the thermostat replaced and it still over heated.. so i brought it to a Pontiac garage they took it apart and replaced the intake manifold gasket. Apparently that was bad... worked good for about 3 days... overheated this morning.. it's gonna go back.. my guess is it's a head gasket... anyone know why they go so fast?

[DarkPhoenix]

My girlfriend's car just had it's headgasket done, and it has 50k on the odometer. It was losing coolant, never overheating, but losing collant and getting poor gas mileage. The mechanic told me, after the head gasket was done, that there was a crack in the block and the engine wouldn't las much longer. Anyone ever heard of the 3400 having problems with cracks in the block, even if the car was never over heated? It's an 01 GAGT BTW.

[ENGGUY]

Reason they go. Same reason for most problems on cars nowadays. Too much cutting corners in the manufacturing process. Bad engineering too. Things just need to be made a bit stronger. But be happy its a GM vehicle, they really do have the best power train of all the others. The hondas and lexus, BMW's etc have as many or more problems.

[blinklit]

well,i was warned about the 3.4 when i bought it.it seems they are very well known to go through head/dome gaskets.poor r&d,or if you work at gm,good job,more parts and labor sold.
from what i've been told,the gaskets are a piss poor design and fail at around 120,000kms to 160,000kms.and this seems to be true.also i have heard that a big reason is the long life coolant is toooooo acidic.i was told that the best thing to do after warranty is up and the gaskets go is to replace the coolant with the regular type and the likelyhood of it happening again is reduced.
i was told that napa now has a gasket kit that has a steel core and is made by the same company who supplies gm with their oe gaskets.i found a gm mech that will do mine for $500.00cdn,gasket kit and taxes inc,so i figgure that that's worth it for all the work involved and if it leaks again i have some warranty rather than do it myself.
all in all,i'm NOT IMPRESSED,and gm sales reflect my opinion.they best get their shit together,people around here are switching to other makers due to big issues like this,honestly,this is likely my last new gm product after 38 years of gm.i'm quality loyal,not brand loyal.

[AJSpeedAM100MPH]

I agree with blinklit. GM has really shown bad quality with these 3400 engines. On my fathers transport with a 3.4 engine, he had the gaskets fixed three times and the third time he had to do it himself. Then about a month ago we replaced my grand am's gaskets. I will tell you, it took my dad and I over 8 hours to complete the job, but its all fixed with no more leaks. The job cost about 100 dollars which is better then paying a 1,000, but it your not carefull you could break other parts or forget how to put the engine back together. I suggest buying an owners manual before you start this job. I have heard about the antifreeze being to acidic too, so that was changed along with the oil after words. Even though i love my grand am's power it not worth the trouble.
When buying a new car, stay away from the 3.4 V6 engines in the GMs. You will benifit in the long run, trust me!