AORoads

ooPs. Sorry to hear that. Is it ever gonna get better???/

SunCr

Wow, if it's the second time around, can't help but wonder if the first leak went on long enough to wear a groove in the deck. Mine looked questionable at 50K (and had probably been leaking from at least 25k if not out of the plant). After I cleaned it up and put a straightedge across it, it looked ok, but at 57k, I'm still keeping my fingers crossed. Lot's of bad poop (or good I guess depending on how you look at it) was recorded in the complaint section at www.nhtsa.gov. and of course GM issued a Bulletin in 11/89 and redesigned the 113's. Wish the web existed back then. You might want to find the offending cylinder and put that piston at TDC to get the coolant out. Then squirt a bunch of 30 wt in the hole until you decide what to do.

cv67

Thanks, Sun. Pricing some 400 stuff right now, cant pull the trigger yet but I have to have a backup vehicle. Looks like I break a cardinal rule and break out the plastic. See if I can do this on the cheap...I will get some better heads though. Bitch is I was to take it in for smog tomorrow, tags are up.

I think the original owner had given up with heating problems as he'd replaced everything from the gaskets to the waterpump and (got smart) ditched the car. Cant complain though, its 17 years old, and Ive had some fun in it. What do you expect for 5k?

SunCr

Mine came to about 2k and change, but I also went ahead and replaced the rest of my a/c system (compressor and condensor). New 113's were about $900 from my local Dealer who discounts about 20% for Vette owners. Paid almost as much for an a/c compressor and clutch assembly!

mseven

Yeah but did you put the kill switch in? or the TB bypass?
Seriously though, sorry to hear that

USAsOnlyWay

That sucks, but it sounds like time to pull the trigger on that 420 for 1.7k that Jim's Performance said they would built!

Slalom4me

Me. At least so far.

But I feel like Ripley in 'Alien', Ridley Scott's creepfest from back in '79.

Going back to cuisinartvette's earlier thread 'Coolant overflow puking-89A4',
which I somehow missed while it was in progress, was like watching
the early portions of the film. The crew trying to puzzle out strange
symptoms. At some point, Brett (Harry Dean Staunton) goes looking
for Jonesy, the cat, totally unaware he is about to get a surprise in the
cargo hold...

Now, there's just Newt, Jonesy (the cat), me and the creature.

.

samsonb

How much does it typically cost to replace the head gaskets on an 89?

Are you guys saying the heads are the problem with the head gaskets blowing?

And what are 113's?

comp

Sam Lam

[QUOTE=cuisinartvette]Finally let loose completely this morning, woudnt take water, tons of air blowing any water out of the radiator.
Final score:QUOTE]
Sooooo....what is needed to fix this issue? My 89 has about 44k on the odometer. Something I need to watch out for.

cv67

Gaskets, fluids, probably $100 or so, rest is labor.
Just threw some "sealer" in last night to see if I can limp it through a day and get a smog. If it holds, Im dumping the car. If it doesnt, shes sitting around til I can build something. Not going through all that work to still have a 128k mile car thats still stock. Questioning if I really want to dump 6k in the car (motor and a few interior items) or if its just better to walk at this point. Ill either drive home or be towed and Ill have my answer. Chit happens

Oh, btw 113 are the last 3 casting #'s of the L98 head.

Slalom4me

Don't do it, cuisinartvette. Stop while you are ahead.

If your oil looks good now, you have a situation that is repairable at
modest cost. When the coolant gets into the bearings, the game is
over.

I cringed and wondered what happened to the deck surfaces when I
read about you nursing it home.

Put the keys down and step away from the car, sir.

.

Slalom4me

If you get into disassembly, please take note of what kind of gaskets
are in there.

I gather from earlier posts in this thread that the previous owner had
the gaskets replaced before. Several members had posted about
replacing gaskets with a Felpro item, only to have leaks occur again.
It could be that the work was done with integrity but that the bad
gaskets were used.

Also, can you post here about how many years/miles you've had the
car, what kind of coolant you've used and what you know about the
coolant maintenance performed by past owners.

.

cv67

I got the car at 123k miles 2 years ago from the original owner. Not sure of the coolant he used, Ive usually used Prestone. I have topped it off with some cheap no name stuff from Autozone recently...
Im guessing the headgaskets are Felpro as the intake gaskets were when I got it. I have receipts that the work was done but dont know much else (what was done to the heads if anything). Ive flushed mine twice since Ive had it.

Slalom4me

The FelPro 1010 gaskets have repeatedly been associated with
head gasket failures. Read this thread w/ pics for some examples
The FelPro 1003 is said to be a better choice - remarks about mods
for it are in the thread above.

To the rest of us, if something odd is going on with your cooling system
suspect the worst and test early. Time after time in C4 Tech, someone
starts a thread, red herrings get chased and then the gasket blows.

As mentioned earlier in this thread, 5 & 7 are the main (but not only)
suspects. Inspect the plugs, have a leakdown (not a compression)
test done.

A LISLE 75500 - COMBUSTION LEAK DETECTOR is a small investment
and a proactive way of finding bad gaskets before they find you.

Like I said, I'm sorry I didn't notice this thread earlier - I would have
jumped in right away. This head gasket issue has been a peeve of
mine for years.

.

kopbet89c4

Damn, I was beating the **** out on mine at the strip when my head gaskets blew. I can recall that it was right on the #7 as well. Since I have a Helms and a little be more knowledge about my car, I feel a HG job would be easier than replacing my weatherstripping.

SunCr

Stumbled across the problem in 2000 when mine finally let loose (and found this Forum because of it - where amazingly enough, others had experienced the same failure). My research showed that it wasn't uncommon for an OEM aluminum head motors (it wasn't just GM) to suffer from this annoyance. The Dilberts who designed them seemingly ignored the fact that two unlike metals with a wetting agent between them needed to be completely separated from the other. Otherwise, any moisture that came between them would set the stage for galvanic corrosion and failure. Looking at the complaints that were posted on the NHTSA site (and some of it appeared to be litigation), GM issued a
Service Bulletin in Nov '89 (just after the beginning of the '90 production run) announcing a new head design for all aluminum head V8 production (it wasn't just the Vette) incorporating a new intake gasket, longer mounting bolts and a brief blurb (subsequently removed) that the design was to correct a galvanic corrosion problem. In other words, GM engineering was telling the world that it was incorrectly positioned intake gaskets causing coolant to weep or leak between the two disimilar metals which set the stage for the chemical reaction that eventually led to all sorts of nasty results. Those heads didn't make it into production until '91 and after that, the L98 was killed (though those heads are still used on the ZZ4 crate motors and available from GM Performance Parts - note they currently come with LT4 Valves, Springs and Retainers). I don't believe the LT Motors shove coolant through the intake and some of the V6 designs have switched to a composite (which has all sorts of other problems).

I do remember somone else on this Forum posting that it wasn't only an issue with intake gasket alignment, but that the head gasket material itself was the crux of the problem and that all of the OEMs switched to another design. I didn't look into it any further and simply bought current production heads and gaskets and put my Vette back together. I do know that the problem continues to pop up around here - a couple, like Cusiniart, have been fixed and then failed again. The problem seems to be particularly acute in the '89, and for all Years, it's allmost always at #7. If I had a low mileage Vette (damn I guess I do since it has 57 k on it), I'd keep an eye on it. Telltale signs are plugged up heater cores and radiators, coolant that looks like crap in about 6 months, less than a perfect idle, rust on the plug threads (don't slather them in anti-seize - use machine oil instead) and rust welded thermostat bolts (a Dealer snapped one of mine off back in '92 after telling me the coolant was "really dirty" and the thermostat was shot - had they - or me - if I could have gotten ahold of it - read GM's Bulletin, I probably could have gotten it fixed right under the warranty).

Slalom4me

About the coolant, the main thing is that you aren't using straight
water and that, at least while you've had it, the coolant has been
changed.

Rules of Thumb
- don't use tap water, by itself or mixed with coolant. PERIOD!
- dilute coolant with distilled water.
- only use DexCool in cars that came with it.
- change glycol-based coolants at least every two years.
- check for voltage and make sure that ground straps are present/functional

Suggested by Slalom4me
- if a new major aluminum component is installed that has contact
with coolant (radiator, heads, manifold, block), use new coolant and
then replace it again after 2-3 months.

.

bogus

when bastet44's head gasket went, it was the FelPro 1010, at #7, down at about 7 o'clock on the cylinder. I will have to find some pictures of the blown head gasket.

SunCr - Your summary jingles my memory on this... I have read bits of that in other places, but never so clearly laid out.

samsonb

Is there a better head gasket that will fix this problem, or would you have to get new heads?

I'm planning on getting an 89 vette. When I do, would it be best to go ahead and replace the head gaskets before I have a problem? It looks like it is a matter of when not if.