well today after having this car for almost 6 months and workig on getting it running with a new radiator, dizzy, spark plugs, plug wires, driveshaft, ect, i just some gas in the tank and sprayed some starting fluid down the carb i got it to fire, just not start so i thought i was doing good untill i heard fluid hitting the ground, so i got under the car thinking it was a tranny line leak, after searching all the lines i decided to play around with the lower radiator hose, and low and behold its a head gasket leaking!!!!!!-.-, so im either going to repair this old engine or just replace it...idk yet, what do you guys think?

 

With all you have done already, the head gaskets aren't that much of a leap ahead. Just make sure it's a head gasket and not a freeze plug pushed out, cracked head or block (especially around the coolant plug bolts in the sides of the block), or some problem with the intake or thermostat housing. I had a timing cover go bad on my 2.8 (one of the reasons I got rid of it) that leaked coolant out of the passenger's side where the pass-through for the water pump to the engine block was, right under the alternator bracket. Check EVERYTHING before you decide that it's a head gasket gone bad, because, chances are, with everything else that was FUBARed with your car, the engine could be royally messed up as well.

 

pics coming soon, not a blown head

 

as you can see that is broken off from where it connects to my engine block, so all that water/anti freeze is running out of that

 

LOL... Mine broke within 10 minutes of my having bought my car... It's called the heater control valve. If you can't afford the $20 or so to replace it, pull the rubber hose off of the fitting on the pipe to the left of it, and the hose off of the pipe where the HCV is broken off, and connect the end of the long hose between the water pump (shouldn't have touched this fitting) and the intake heater pipe (where the hose with the broken HCV pipe is). This will get you running.

BTW, when you fill the engine, pull the 2-wire sending unit out of the intake next to the thermostat housing (where the upper radiator hose connects) and fill the system slowly through that hole to push out trapped air.

 

They put carbs on the V6 is 90????

 

ah! thank you again dan, yeah my buddy from down the street came down and helped me locate that, im glad its noting serious, any certain store i can buy this from? or will any old autozone do

 

yeah, only the v8s are fuel injected, the v6 got the carbs

 

Bought mine from AZ... On the way home. Put it in the next morning and began six months of other work at the same time.

:edit: That's something new, I suppose. A carbed GM V6 in 1990... I thought they all were either throttle body or multi-port injected? Didn't read that part.

 

so i just pop off the hoses on the old one, remove, then do in reverse order with the new one right?

 

??????????????

 

You may have to physically break the pipe out of the short hose to get it out. And don't break any more off or it could take hours to put the new valve in.

 

i couldnt get the hoses off but im also losing daylight so i just stopped for the night, running tomorrow to get a new one so i can install it, also wrong form but i figured out my head light problem dan

 

PM me....

 

i have never seen a 90 with a carb, you must have a swapped engine/induction, it should be multiport.

 

nope its all factory guys i promise lol, also i might add when trying to start it i keep getting a popping sound

 

The carb was dropped in 84-85 after that it was all fuel injection
someone has pulled the wool over your eyes.

Only the s10-s15 n bla bla truck line didn't go real fuel injection till late in the game.


Either a truck engine, someone swapped on a carb or it wasn't built for the US.

 

it might be fuel injected, hell i dont know lol, hold on ill get a pic

 

my engine bay looks nothing like this now but its still the same engine

 

that's fuel injected...

 

Thats a MPFI engine like the rest of us have.

Multi Port Fuel Injection

that's a throtlebody, not a carb

hope ya got the MAF n rest of the needed airintake stuff back on there by now.

 

yup, like i said the engine bay lookes different now

 

can i get your guys help on another form? https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/elec...ml#post4567219

 

Tip #1 keep all your questoin about a V6 car in this V6 section if you can, works out better.

And dunno, you can find lots of unsued plugs n connections on cars.
To dark to go look at mine.

 

i was going to make a new thread about it in the v6 forms but i figured this would be easy too, might do that tomorrow when i have a spare moment

 

Just ask a mod to move it...

 

well i got the broken plastic peices from that old heater control valve, i had to pry them out...literally, anyways im going tomorrow to get a new one from zone, I also got newer plug wires off my neighbor for $20 so im going to try and start this thing finally, any tips here guys?, also i never really got my other question answered about the engine making a popping sound with i put some starting fluid down the throttle body.

 

The engine may not be using the right firing order or be on the right time, the firing order needing to be taken care of before you start and the timing after you can get the engine warmed up (if possible). Keep in mind that when you get everything done with setting the engine up to run, you'll need to disconnect the battery and run an idle relearn.

 

well when i go out tomorrow to put on my new plug wires and my new heater control valve im going to re check the fireing order. is there anything else besides that? maybe not enough fuel or anything? i only put 5 gallons in but i dont know, and how do i do an idle relearn?

 

Just my , but those saying you have fuel injection are most certainly right, any 3rd gen made in 85 or later got fuel injection and the new larger journal crank(they were prone to breaking, but from what I've heard are now nye impossible to break since being beefed up) furthermore, displacement was increased to 3.1l by 90 at the latest, thinking it was 87 or 89, but rly don't know, but for all intents and purposes it's still pretty much the same engine, just stroked to a 3.1.

As for as the OP, check you don't have a freeze plug out, and check the block isn't cracked, I found leaking coolant when I rebuilt my engine, much to my horror, after removing my header to get a better look I found a 3-4 inch crack
If it is cracked, but not badly, ie. not overlapping badly, not large(2" or more being large) you might be able to have it welded and it should hold permanently.
If it's the HGs they're not all that bad to replace, $100 at most if you do it yourself, can be done in a day if you know what you're doing, 3 if you don't, or if you keep having to run to your apt for tools/parts to drag them down to your car 500 ft away every 5m....and find yourself short 1 rocker arm pivot and 2 rocker arm nuts 6 days for both, and don't ask how I know the latter,lol....

 

lol thanks rs, yeah i just kinda had one of those moments when i said my car was carbed, and iv already found what was leaking, its my heater control valve but i do apperciate you posting, any help is really helpful for well just about anyone on here.

 

Ah, sounds like an easy fix, gl with it.

 

ty