Okay, here's the story. Friend wanted to drive my car, I let him, he drove the ***** off of it, and white smoke started coming up from under the hood. Soon as I saw the smoke, he shut the car off. Well, all I know is that it cranks over, won't start, and it blew the hoses going to the heater core in the firewall off and leaked coolant there.

I need your guys's opinions here, two of them. Worst possible situation, not so bad possible situation. Thanks, and I'm now without a daily driver.

 

get a coupler and put those 2 hoses together. check for any other leaks. this is usually a sign you need to spend 50-75$ and replace ALL of your heater hoses (if not done so already). those things go out... also get new clamps, the GM one's SUCK.

worse case scenario: blown head gasket, but im 95% sure it's ok. check your oil for coolant/water, is it chocolately/milky? if so, head gasket, if not.. just a blown hose. it happens... due to pressure that the engine puts out versus old hoses/clamps.

 

Thanks! Last night when we looked at the oil it looked chocolaty/milky but I was so pissed off It could've impared my judgement. Going to tow it home now, I'll check it when I get there.

 

dont let anyone drive your car

 

Yeah. I've learned the hard way. Got it home, started it and coolant spewed out of the exhaust. Blown headgasket. :'(

 

I actually thing the worst possible situation is a cracked head. I've seen heads crack from the combustion chamber to the water jacket, allowing compression into the cooling system and cooling systems tend not to like 180PSI worth of engine compression very much.

My advise is that when you pull the heads, send them out to a machinist and have them checked for warpage and cracks. That way, you don't have to do it twice.

 

We might just completely swap out the engine for a new one. The GMHPP 3.4 crate engine will be a direct bolt in, right? I won't need to get a tune or anything?

 

Noah, that actually happened to me once, though I was doing some wide circles in the back of a bowling alley.

I blew the head gasket, tore it all apart, was ready to send the heads out to be checked, but for the same amount of money found a complete engine. I had to put on all my accessories (he lied and didn't give me them), my upper intake and throttle body (his were all corroded), but had an engine with half the miles, reliable, and what could possibly be a small cam (can't know for sure unless I pull the cam).

There are many possibilities of things that could of happened. Ill list it out:

Best Scenario: Blown Head Gasket
Middle Scenario: Cracked/Warped head
Worst Scenario(s): Cracked/Warped block and/or head

For these possible scenarios, I choose to replace the entire engine (since I hadn't even begun on the rebuild of the V8 I have for her).

/edit: To answer your question: You'd need to put on your intake, sensors, + everything, but yes I can be done.

 

I think it's deffinatly either a cracked / warped head, and not a head gasket, because there's no coolant in the oil, but it spews coolant out of the exhaust, leading me to believe it's getting into the valves or something like that.

 

You won't need a tune right away. Larger injectors, bump the fuel pressure to an adequate level, set timing, IAC/TPS and you should be fine. But to maximize the engine's performance though, a tune is a definite....

Good luck.

 

does this actually do anything heat wise, performance wise? I've seen people suggesting to put a coupler on the hoses going to the heater core but never heard/read a reason why people would do that..........

 

It doesn't do anything but close up your cooling system again and get rid of your heater.

 

hey Noah, try to find a low mileage 3.4 instead of the GMHPP 3.4. that way youve got the injectors and all that stuff you need for swapping. its also a lot cheaper and that extra money you would have spent on that engine, you can put it toward regasketing the whole thing, upgraded parts, performance, etc. i got a 57k mile 3.4 with everything from the p/s pump to the ECM and harness shipped from Florida to Michigan for $750. any of the stuff you dont need you can sell too and make some $$ back. just my thoughts on it.

 

i agree, you might as well lok for a low mileage 3.4 as it doesnt hurt to try. I found a 46k mile 3.4 and got everything for $350

The guy said "hmmm V-6s....nobody wants those" so he gave it to me for real cheap..SCORE!! lol