check for the milkshake oil if its not nasty in there you might be alright with just slapping a head gasket on there. i would throw a coolant pressure checker on there and see if you start losing pressure. if you do you might have a cracked head. pull the valve cover off with the pressure checker on there and see what happens. more than likely your block is fine, but i have seen that head crack inbetween the #1 and #2 cylinders. hope all works out and hopefully its just the head gasket.
i pulled the VC today and the top end looked really clean like someone actually took care of the car...i did an oil change the yesterday... it looked dark... but not really bad... i didnt notice coolant or anything.... im not loosing any...car is staying nice and cool.... is it possible for the gasket to go between the 2 pistons and not hit any coolant journals...???
To swap the entire motor, you mean? Or do you mean swapping out the car, itself? ... because that would be about as simple as posting another CraigsList ad and letting some other poor sap tackle that mess.
Usually pulling the motor/trans on any FWD car involves removing both wheels, disconnecting the CV shafts, motor mounts, electrical harnesses, throttle/shift linkages, and exhaust, then dragging that sucker out the top with an engine hoist. Some dudes can have it done and over with in a few hours; someone like me, it'd take me all friggin' weekend to even pull it, and another weekend to reinstall it. Hope you've got a nice garage, or at least plenty of yard space, and some kind of engine hoist and an engine stand, if you want to tackle something like that; otherwise, you're probably better off either biting the bullet and paying a shop to do the rebuild (if you feel the car is worth pouring that kind of money into) or ditching it in a for sale ad and taking the loss.
Well i put it out in a field under some treed and started pulling off the header and the intake manifold. I also pulled the battery out and the intake... i think im going to pull the head and check for a cracked head gasket... if i get over whelmed... im just gonna put a new engine in it i found one for $800 and another for $900 this way im still under $2000 for a good running car...
Problem Found... i took off the head and found 2 burnt valves... check it out... there is also a few scrape marks in the cyls of the engine where the valves were broke not really deep but i can feel them... other then that there is alot of cross hatching on the cyls and they look good... here are some pics... $250 to get the heads redone with new valves and preasure check and everything.... think i should do it?
CC #1 G]
CC #2
CC 3,4
Block
My garage
For $250 to get your head redone ... why not? Still way cheaper than you were previously expecting when you thought it might be the entire motor. Get the head reconditioned, maybe milled down, slap that puppy back together, and you got yourself a solid ride again.