I noticed that my MC wouldnt blow hot air after the engine had reached normal temps unless you were driving/accelerating. Well, it had a SES light on so i took it to a dealer and asked them to check that out while they figured out what the light was. They told me they found bubbles in the coolant while the car was running and that indicates a leaky gasket or a cracked head. Said it would be $1600 to fix it if it was just the gasket.

Anyone else have problems with the gasket/heads in the 3.9? Any idea how difficult it would be to do myself? Ive got a Chilton manual for it and it didnt look too bad.

 

Hi `Brent,
Sorry to read that you are having problems with your 3.9L

How many miles on your Monte ? Has you fluids every been changed ? Is the garage you took your Monte Carlo competent/honest in your opinion ? Did you talk with the tech that checked out your problem, or just the service manager ?

Have you worked on cars before ? Have you ever put on a new head gasket ? Do you have all the tools/knowledge to do the work ?

We have several members that are tech's & several that own the 3.9L engine... I hope they respond to your post...
The more information that you can post about your problem, the easier it will be for member's to help...
Wish you Good Luck 4 Sure...We look forward to your answers....

 

Changing head gaskets are hard to do but they aren't impossible. All of KidSpace's questions are good ones and if you believe that you are mechanically inclined and do have the tools then you should be able to do a head gasket job in a weekend.

However, if I were you, I would go to Autozone or somewhere like it and rent a coolant system pressure test. All you do is take the radiator cap off and hook it up there. Then you will see exactly where your leak is. I don't recommend the shop doing the job if they want $1600 to fix it. Save yourself that money and find out for sure where your problem is.

 

Yea the shop might be bsing you, they tend to do that. Go with the advice above and see how that comes out. Could even be a thermostat. Check everything before a head gasket replacement lol.

 

Ive got aprox 70k miles on it. Ive changed my oil every 3k miles but thats the only fluid that has been changed while ive owned it. The garage is a GM dealer. Ive personally never done business with them but the company i work for takes all of our work vehicles there and weve never had an issue. I did not speak with the tech who diagnosed it. From what i was told they tested the thermostat and found it to be in working order. There concerns were the bubbles in the coolant and a chem test they found combustible gas in the coolant.

I have done a little work on cars but have never torn into the engine.

From the people ive asked so far that have had experience dealing with head gaskets and they've all said 1600 seems a bit much if its just the gasket.

Thanks for your help so far everybody!

 

I think $1600 seems really high for a head gasket...I think more around $1000 would sound about right from a dealer.

Can they confirm that it is infact a leaking gasket, and where is it leaking?

You might want to get a second opinion on something like this. Its a big repair, and their price seems high.

 

Yeah i was thinking it was pretty high. But i asked another shop and they said itd be about the same. Still doesnt make sense to me. The gasket for the V8 is $30. I cant imagine a tech with his salt taking $1570 in labor costs to pull off the heads.

They cant confirm without actually tearing into it. I havent noticed any leaks at all on my car and they didnt make any mention of low coolant levels. ive never noticed coolant in my oil and i changed it about 1500 miles ago.

Ive got a few estimates in the works and i should know a little more tomorrow.

 

I'm guessing you don't have any kind of warranty left, that sucks, please keep me/us posted.

 

Nope, no warranty. Dont think its had it since i got it. Bought it in 09 and it had aprox 39k on it.

 

There's two things that will help you get in the right direction.

1) Do a coolant system pressure test. You can rent a kit from any parts store.

2) Do a compression test on the engine. You should also be able to get that as well from a parts store.

Also, if you could tell us, or find out what the code was that set the SES light off that would help too.