You didn't mention the reason for replacing the gasket in the first place. I'm guessing it was leaking. Did the engine overheat?

 

The car has never overheated in the three years I've owned it. The heat wasn't working as well as it should, checked the coolant and it was low. Couldn't find any leaky hoses, water pump wasn't weeping, so I started digging deeper. The coolant looked ok, the oil seemed a little off color. Compression check and leak down test went well. I decided to just go after the intake since it is such a common issue. The intake had been done before, but poorly. They used a cheap gasket set and most of the rtv they used in the lifter valley mating surface was too far out and squeezed out the side more than it applied to the surface. One water jacket in the gasket was bad and they somehow managed to tear one of the gasket surfaces for an intake runner, so I stopped at the intake and left it alone. I should mention the car only has 90k miles and is regularly maintained. I'm by no means a professional, but I've been working on cars most of my life and have done this job on three other 3100 motors before. This one just doesn't like me. Sorry for the novel.

 

Don't be. It's useful information.

Are you getting a check engine light at all?

There are some good tips on this page:
https://www.enginebuildermag.com/201...0-3-1l-engine/

I can't recall 100% the layout, but the head gasket could have failed between the oil and coolant galleries, but the cylinder could still have a good seal.

My very first car was a Corsica. They were awesome little cars. I think it was a 4 cyl, but I had the 3.1 V6 in my next car, a Grand Prix. It always had cooling issues and finally the head gasket on it blew and it overheated. I had the aluminum heads machined but it never ran right again. I don't think I torqued it properly (young me )

 

No CEL, no codes, the computer seems to think everything is fine.

Thanks for the link, I'll check it out in a minute.

If heads go bad or are bad, I'm going to grab a long block from the junkyard, strip it down, and send it off to a machine shop for new bearings and to get decked, then I'll build it up with roller cam and rockers and all fel-pro gaskets and arp bolts. I'll let the wife drive this engine til it blows in the meantime.I know it sounds dumb to do all that for a 25 year old compact, but this car is mint and my wife absolutely loves it.

I bought the car because my best friend had one in high school and we beat the ever living **** out of it and it never let us down. They are good cars, light, maneuverable, and decently quick with the 3.1 also, cheap parts is a huge plus.