tsi18psi

Im trying to fix a 97 lumina.
It is a 3.1 v6.
It is over heating,the heads are filling with water,all water ends up in oil pan.Heads are pushin water into the air box
Its notthe intake gasket causing the over heating.
Anybody have anyidea whats going on here?Blown headgasket,cracked heads maybe????
I need to get this fixed asap.
Thanks

beverlykasper

yes you really need to fix it ASAP. It happend to my friends once where in his heads are filled with water, his mechanic figured out that he has a blown head gasket.

astroDZak

If the problem started after it got hot then I would think a cracked head but either way the only fix is to remove the head.
Once its removed then you should send it out to a machine shop to have it checked for cracks. If the head gasket is definately visably blown the head is most likely warped and if not cracked it should be planed down to make it 100% flat again.
My past experience with the 3.1 has been more often cracked heads usually in the valve seat area.

Greywolf

Zak is right. If water is crossing over into the oil system it can happen in a lot of places - the first suspect is a bad head gasket, but head gaskets don't usually come unglued unless the heads are warped or cracked from overheating. Another way to get a leaker is to replace a head gasket and not torque it right, or skip retorquing it after a few hundred miles.

Using the wrong sealent, gouging the gasket surfaces, or not cleaning off the old gasket material is another way to open it up to a leak - beware of these when it goes back together. But definitely get the head(s) checked over thoroughly by a shop. Cracks are hard to see sometimes, and it's worth the extra bucks not to have to pull the thing down again because you guessed the heads were okay but they were not.