Thread: 2002 gtp with blown head gaskets??

Your rod bearings could go if theres coolant in the oil. I would replace the head gaskets, and intakge gaskets, flush the coolant and change the oil ASAP! then change the oil again in 500 miles to check the consistancy again. If you see any metal flakes, be prepared for an engine swap.

Drain the oil first and look for water. Since water is heavier..it might not show on the dipstick. It'll be in the bottom of the pan though.

If you have exhaust in the cooling system, that would be a good indicator, as well as some coolant out the exhaust.

I feel as though youre showing the symptoms of a couple of really bad lower intake manifold gaskets and a stuck/sticking PCV valve.


It's very common at around 80k miles for the LIM gaskets to leak, this causes coolant to go both into the intake ports, (why it smells like coolant from the exhaust) and down your valley pan. Also can be why your cooling system is getting excess pressure if this happens under boost. It will also show signs of coolant in your oil since coolant will mix in the valley. Which is why if left alone, will only get worse and start giving you these problems

If they are bad enough, they will give you all of the symptoms of a blown head gasket without actually being the head gasket )provided you can do a compression / leak down test first to confirm this

Don't jump the gun and just start tearing down the engine, first take your blower and LIM off since they are going to need to be changed reguardless and see if the rubber is seperating from the plastic. It's fairly easey, and can be done in 45 mins to an hour with basic tools.

Word of advise, replace the LIM gaskets with a pair of aluminum replacements VIA GM directly, or ZZPerformance.com or any other similar sites, they are a better quality, and almost never go bad even with running higher boost levels and Be sure to be carefull when replacing the heater core elbow as they always tend to break off/fall apart

Provided that this car is completely stock, the odds are very slim that she blew a head gasket even with overheating the engine.

Also while im thinking about it, check around the ports of the LIM for pitting as the LIM gaskets if left to leak can allow coolant to cause this, and inspect the coolant "o" rings for signs of leaking as well

i picked up my 2nd 97 coupe for 2500 and had the same issues with it and almost at 200k miles its still goin strong, although the valve springs are pretty much done (really bad valve float) i plan to freshen up the valve train soon once my olds is on the road. Good luck with it man, let us know what ya find i'll try to help as much as i can

if it came down to that, I wouldnt know, im not familiar with that brand i normally stick with hastings, or clevite. Or go directly from GM

If you had a spun breaing of any kind you would know it just from listening to the engine. It honestly takes alot to spin a bearing on these motors your more than likely to chip a piston than anything else

There could be other issues as well, but i would just start by trying what I advised first since they should be removed anyway to begin engine tear down

There are alot of threded holes that go through the side of the engine that hold down various pulleys (example would be the SC idler pulley assembly, has one bolt that runs through the cooling system for the block that can leak if its backing out for some reason

no, the bearing is probably bad, but one of the bolts that holds the mount for the pulley blocks off coolant through the engine sometimes those bolts back out and seep coolant from that mount

you can, but with this many miles, and your presant problem, id worry about fixing the issue at hand first, then make a list of things to freshen up the motor first IE valve train, transmission, among other things, then start making a goal of what you want to get out of it before throwing performance into the mix.

These cars respond very well to mods, but you need to support those mods to make them relaible

Best bang for the buck is a 3.4 pulley, PCM, intake, headers or front powerlog, and downpipe, VS cam, with springs if you can swing it if not, springs, rods, and 1.9 rockers give you better power on a budget

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