a new owner of a 98 lesbre v6 and i need advice

[1998buicklesabre]

not really looking to do head gasket on it....

i've never done head gasket before on these do i just remoevd the intake then removed vavles covers and then remove all the head bolts and pull them off?

[1998buicklesabre]

i think my plan is i'm just gonna do the intake gaskets and then run it till it quits steaming and then i'll run some seafoam in a vacuum line to help clear up some of the moister

like i said i just wanna do a quick reapir/patch job so the car will last for about another 1-1.5 half

[PLAGUE PHANTOM]

Take the valve covers off and remove said # of bolts to remove the head. Clean the coolant out, clean the mating surfaces the head gasket is on and replace the gasket. You may need to disconnect the spark plug wires also.

Now would be a good time to replace the head gaskets if they look like crap (i would). It saves you the hassel of removing everything again and starting over. Might as well change them while the heads are off.

Doing this will give you more than 1.5 years on the car. I'd say around 2-3 until the lower intake gaskets need changed again

[1998buicklesabre]

will i need to buy new head bolts are they reusable?

[PLAGUE PHANTOM]

Yes the bolts can be reused.

[1998buicklesabre]

okay well i guess what i'm gonna do it... pull the intake off and if doesn't look like it was leaking i'll pull the heads off but if the intake gasket are come plete junk i'm just gonna do them and run seafoam in the crackcase and intake...

i'll let y'all know how it goes

[myfirstbonnie]

OK, let's start with the plenum. Replace it. You probably have the burn through where the EGR tube comes up to the throttlebody. Read through this: http://www.pontiacbonnevilleclub.com/fo ... =53&t=1061 Clear the coolant out of the cylinders by pulling all the spark plugs and turning the car over several times. Next, drain the oil and then drain the coolant. Refill the oil with some cheap stuff and start the engine for a couple seconds so the new oil can flush out any coolant that may be in the bearings. Drain the oil again.

Don't even mess with the heads until you do a compression check. Most auto supplies will loan you a gauge. Report your numbers back here.

You can go ahead and replace the UIM (plenum) and LIM gaskets and that will give you a good idea of the coolant loss.

[00Beast]

To get coolant out of the cylinders remove the spark plugs and turn the engine over. You don't need to remove the heads. Just disconnect the wiring connection from the ICM (under the coil packs) so it doesn't try to spark. Then squirt a little oil in cylinders and turn it over once to prevent rust and lubricate the top rings.

[1998buicklesabre]

alright thanks alot

the car is not at my house its at my dads he has a big shop i use. so i'm gonna head over there right now and start working on it

and i'm do a compression test and i'll let you guys know what my numbers are

thanks for all the help everyone

[00Beast]

No the head bolts are NOT reusable. They are torque-to-yield, and MUST be replaced once they are loosened from their original torque.


The head gaskets rarely fail on these cars unless they are severely over-heated. Lets inspect the upper plenum and the lower intake gaskets first, and go from there.

[PLAGUE PHANTOM]

I tend to reuse my head bolts. All i do is clean them and let them soak in motor oil overnight before reusing them. Never had any problems.

[00Beast]

I don't care, they're not to be re-used. They're designed to stretch a certain amount, and once they're loosened they're junk. They're not like older cars where the bolts are re-usable.The more they are tightened, the more they stretch and the either don't apply the proper torque or worst-case they can break off upon re-installation They're cheap enough, replace them.

However, I don't think the OP necessarily needs any of this info, as I don't think his heads need removing.

There is no need to remove the heads to get any coolant out of the cylinders. That's a massive waste of time and money.

[PLAGUE PHANTOM]

i get were your going. He says he has coolant/water in his cylinders so i do not know of any other way of getting it out. Unless the spark plug treatment works on these motors.

[00Beast]

Pull the plugs and turn the motor over.

[PLAGUE PHANTOM]

Yup that sounds easier than ripping the heads off. Ihope his head gaskets are still good. I think they'll be fine but if i was in his shoes i would change them anyway. That's just my opinion

[crzydmnd72]

For what its worth, on my sons 95, it was purchased with failed upper and lower. I just drained oil and coolant, removed the sparkplugs, spun with a wrench to drain the cylinders, refilled with cheap oil, installed fresh plugs and lit it up for about 30 seconds, just to see if it was salvagable.

Removing the heads did not even cross my mind lol. and no, the head bolts are not reusable on these motors.

It got a good used upper, and new felpro lowers to see how it would run, and its doing fine 2 years later. We will install the good UIM and metal LIM gaskets at some point

[1998buicklesabre]

alright guys so i pulled the upper and lower intake off the car today

so upon removing the upper intake i found there to be a ton of water in it so i'm guessing that its not the headgasket since there is no way for water to come into the intake from blown head gaskets

i didn't drain the oil i wasn't able to get oil today but i just got home from orileys and i bought upper and lower intakes gaskets new elbow new plugs and wires 10 qts of cheap oil and a couple oil filters

also i pulled all the plugs once the intake was off and cranked it over till i figured all the water was out and then i sparyed some wd-40 type stuff into the cylinders to help keep it from rusting

[00Beast]

You obviously haven't read this: http://www.pontiacbonnevilleclub.com/fo ... =53&t=1061

It's not the upper intake gasket that's leaking, it's the plastic plenum itself. The plenum needs to be replaced with the sleeved unit to prevent this from ever happening again.

[crzydmnd72]

Well, it appears you have a failed upper at least. See that pipe sticking up on the right side? Look at the UIM, where the hole is for that pipe. Theres probably an eroded opening in that wall.

Edited to agree with Ed. There isnt a repair for that plastic upper. Just replace and be done with it. I bought the APN, recommended in the techinfo article, but I waited 15 days to get it shipped to me.

[1998buicklesabre]

well i have had time to read much of anything as i have only owned this car for 48hours now.....

i'll inspect the intake tomorrow and if i have problems with it i'll have to buy a new upper intake