fyrflt

So my 01 WS6 has been down for a while with a blown head gasket. The engine is a 28,000 mile rebuild. The shop I usually take it to doesn’t want to do head gaskets because they say there’s a tick in the bottom end. I never heard the bottom end tick but now I don’t know what I want to do. I can get a 5.3 relatively easy and just install that. But I don’t know if I want to tear down the 5.7 and rebuild it or just look for a 6.0. Worst case I just say f it and sell the whole thing as a parts car and look for another one. Money is a little tight but I miss the car and not sure what to do. So what would you do?

01CamaroSSTx

iTrader: (3)

How's you oil pressure and have you drained the oil pan and cut open the oil filter to check for metal shavings? Running an engine with coolant in the crankcase can wipe out the bearings and assuming the shop is being honest about the condition of your engine I'd start looking for a replacement engine. If they don't want to do the job and are blowing smoke then you can reach out to another shop to do the work or replace the gasket yourself. Not exactly a fun job pulling cylinder heads with the engine in the car but your only pulling one and if you're someone who's mechanically inclined and has the time then that's your cheapest alternative..GL

Che70velle

iTrader: (6)

If the car is in your possession, start it up briefly and see if you hear a bottom end noise. These cars are notorious for cold start ticking or “piston slap” that goes away once the engine gets some heat in it. Make your decision based on what you hear. Won’t hurt the engine to idle a minute or so with headgasket problems. You might have to throw a battery at it if it hasn’t been ran in a long while and maybe put some coolant in it if it way low. Don’t make a rash decision, based on what someone else thinks. You’ll regret it later.
Pull the spark plugs and spin it over for a few seconds to make sure cylinders aren’t full of coolant, before startup. That would be bad.

TTur1996

If there is water in the oil do NOT run it. Check for that first.

98CayenneT/A

Replace the head gasket yourself. Good half day of work, $150 in parts and you're back on the road.

Nothing really that bad about pulling the head. Some sockets, a ratchet and a couple different extensions and you're good.

Don't know your mechanical ability or what tools you have but honestly you could probably just about do it with a stanley tool set from Walmart lol.

RevGTO

iTrader: (12)

Another factor is whether the car overheated when the gasket blew. It is probably a good idea to get the head surface checked in any case, and if the car overheated, to pull and check the other head and replace that gasket as well.

And this is assuming you check for coolant in the oil and cylinders per above.

USMARINE1108

iTrader: (2)

I'm going through the same thing with a bent rod on my 02 H/C car. I decided to go all out and go with a built LS2. There is a lot that goes into it, but it will be worth it.

Michael_

I'd just put a correct 5.7 junkyard engine in it.
Buy one you can hear running and inspect before buying.