My sons '89, 305 (180,000 miles) overheated and stopped running. Engine cracks over slowly, runs for a second or two, then stops. Sounds like it might be a blown head gasket. Should I pull the heads and do a valve job? Or is the engine blown? How do I tell the difference?

 

be optimistic. take the heads off.

 

better make sure a cylinder isnt full of water, if one is then youre going to do damage trying to crank it over like thisthis is a common problem that i have run into personally with the about 87 and up 305 and 350 engines, seems like alot of them have internal engine cooling system leak issues, i dont know what the deal is with these, see it happen all the time, and the later ones into the later 90's have intake gasket issue at the rear driver side corner they leak down the back of the block back there, especially in the trucks, but they dont ever seem to get water in the crankcase or cylinders though, like the earlier 90s and later 80s ones do

you should pull the spark plugs out and then crank over and see if any water shoots out of any of the cylinders, if so then its tear down time, or find a better engine time


good luck

 

Drove the car home, discovered water pump was leaking. Replaced pump, now white smoke (water vapor?) is streaming out of the tailpipe. Appears to be from a leaking intake manifold. Vacuum gauge shows low vacuum, somewhat steady. I guess I'll replace the intake manifold gasket. Any other suggestions?