Hi,

I have to send my transmission off for repair and had to take the engine and transmission out as a unit. The car an 82 has a 2.8L V6 engine. Since I have the engine out I may as well do some work on it.

The car has 84K miles on it so I was thinking of doing the head gasket, am I as well to do it before it goes as I think the V6's are prone to gasket failure.

I may as well change the timing chain. What is the recommended milage to do this anyway.

What about the oil pump. Is it worth change this also at 84K miles or will these do a lot more mileage.

Thanks.

 

The oil pump will typically long outlive the rest of the engine.

 

to that point, I'm not sure I'd touch anything unless it's broken. I sure as hell wouldn't go through all the work to replace head gaskets unless you suspect there's a problem. They may be "prone" to head gasket failures, but the odds are still very low that your motor is likely to suffer a failure. The majority didn't. I've had 3 2.8s. I hammered them all, and they all had between 130k and 180k on them when I got rid of them. In all cases, the cars got sold because the bodies were rotting, but the motors all ran fine, and I never had so much as a valve cover or intake manifold off of any of them.

God, that 180k mile 86 Camaro I had, I bought for $100 with a broken T5. I pulled a T5 out of a pick & pull for $50, put it in the car, and drove that car for 50k miles until the body rotted to the point of being unsafe. That was the most reliable car I've ever had. I pulled that car to redline to shift it every single time for all of those 50k miles.

 

Thanks for the replys. With the head gasket the only thing I am worried about is the car was a long time idle out doors before I got it and I only do about 500 miles a year on it. If the coolant is just sitting there for long period of time is that good or bad. I also have a MK2 Volkswagen golf that I don't use that often either and the gasket went at 125K, very unusualy for them. It also has a cast iron head and rust had cut a channel on the head. I don't want the same thing to happen with the Firebird.


What about the timing chain. That looks pretty indistructable, should I change that at 84K or is it okay for much more mileage.

thanks.

 

Chevy has forgotten more about casting iron heads than Volkswagen will ever know.

Drain the coolant when the car won't be used for extended periods.

The timing chain will last a good while more than 84,000k but the factory design is pretty mediocre and worth replacing.

 

I like that quote, priceless

Thanks.

 

What he said. The timing chain on the 2.8 has a cheezy little spring loaded tensioner. I don't know how this thing holds together at all. Every one I've had apart was missing the phenolic friction surface and the stamped steel tensioner was running directly against the chain, making metal filings and chewing up the chain. As I remember, the replacement chains delete this goofy design. BTW, the 2.8 is an interference engine and will eat valves if the chain goes or if it's installed incorrectly.

 

Thanks for that. I have just ordered a timing set. Hopefully there is no damage done. Maybe it has been replaced already at some point. Have no history with the car so don't know.

Thanks.