Could it possibly be something else? I wish it was something else. Please let it be something else. Of course, the car should have died a long time ago after the way I treat it. (91 gta 120,000)
I had a tune up about two months ago. The other day, the car suddenly started to idle badly again, which was suspicious. The mechanic pulled out two bad spark plugs but it didn't fix the problem. I didn't get to see how they were burnt, but I've heard this is a way to tell it is a blown gasket. Also, my coolant has disappeared and it's not on the driveway! ARGH!
What should I do? I'm not taking it back to that guy, if he couldn't tell it was a blown head gasket right away? Should I have it towed? This is going to cost me an arm and a leg, too, isn't it? If it can be fixed, will my car ever be the same again? Also, is there anything else I should look for while the engine is being worked on?
Any advice or chastisement is welcome.

 

could be a bad intake gasket. Is there coolant in the oil? Does the car puff white smoke out the tail pipe? Chances are it is a bad head gasket the parts are cheap. The labor is what will kill you. Why dont you try fixing it yourself? We on the board can help you. I found this sight to be more helpful than a Chiltons or a Haynes.

Oh yeah its big bucks to change head gaskets

 

A blow head gasket is just one way a motor can suddenly start running rough.
Some other things are carburator flooding, EFI fuel injector bad carbon stuck on a valve face (holding the valve off the seat) collapsed lifter, warn cam lobe, broken rocker arm, broken valve spring. Ignition problems(cap, rotor,wires, plugs)

The way to tell if you do in fact have a blown head gasket
is to perform a compression test. 1 or 2 cylinders' compression test guage reading will be very low compared to the others.
Check the appearance of the oil on the dipstick. If it is muddy
(milky brown) that is water in the oil. (headgasket)
If the compression test is ok and the oil appears good, inspect the ignition system ( rotor, cap etc) then remove the valve covers and check the action of the valve springs as someone turns the motor over. Any that appear to not move like the others
indicates valvetrain trouble.

 

hey F-bird what do you think happened to his coolant he said disappeared? Thats why I thought it was a head gasket myself. I has one let go on a ford 3.8 I lost all my coolant out of the tail pipe.

 

Thanks for the help! Of course, the mechanic did say something about the old valves, but I didn't want to hear about my car being old! I forgot to check for coolant in the oil because I was too freaked that it had almost all disappeared. I'll check first thing in the morning. But it yeah could be the valves now that I remember. I am just about ready to take it apart for fun but I would never be able to put it back together again! I picked a good car to learn on I'm an artist not a mechanic. It would become a very creative lawn ornament... Could I have prevented a blown gasket?

 

did the car overheat at all?

 

run compression or leak down test and that should either pin point gasket or other problems in the heads or eliminate it.

 

Ok, I have a lot better information now. A compression test was run and that was ok, it didn't turn up anything. The mechainic had only said that my valve springs were weak but that was due to old age. There was no coolant in the oil.

 

a compression test will not tell you if you have a bad head gasket. a leak down test on the other hand will. if you do have a head gasket leaking you will have one or more spark plugs that have a reddish build up on them. also a head gasket more times than not will not leak coolant into the oil. most times it will end up in a cylinder, be burnt, and go out the tail pipe. so check your plugs, keep collant in it, and have a leakdown test done.

 

My dad took the car out on the freeway and around. It ran fine! GRrr!
The only thing he had to say was that it idled kinda slow, and it didn't like city driving which I already knew. (he hates my car) (I'm not sure of the correct idle speed, I'll look that one up). It wasn't idleing rough any more, however. The coolant hasn't gone anywhere, yet, but havent checked for any internal leaks either since it ran ok. If it was the head gasket, it wouldn't suddenly improve like this, would it? I feel like a dope! Well thanks for your help anyway. If it acts up again I'll try a different topic.

 

i think i know the problem. asl/pic?

 

my 89 s10 blazer would run fine for a while after i cleaned the plugs, then it would finally foul the plug out again, and idle, and run like crap. so yes it could happen. i know my blazer isnt the same as a firebird, but i am running the 3/4 350 in it which is the 4.3L(262 cu in). so they are actually quite a bit the same. like i said before, check the plugs the next time it seems like its running like crap, and if one or more have a reddish buildup on them, then its a head gasket