96 trans am

I dont know where to ask this, but I guess I will take a shot here. Today I was driving my car (auto) and down shifted to third to slow down, rpms went up to about 3000-3500 rpms and its started making a loud sound like it had a hole in the muffler or something. One of my friends told me it might be a blown head gasket, can any one help me out on this. Also this is on a chrysler pacifica 2004. If this is in the wrong section I'm sorry just dont know where to post it and I know there are alot of smart people on here.

Thanks
Elena

00_STANG_KILLER

It probably just backfired or something? Does it have any drivability issues?

Shawn MacAnanny

iTrader: (12)

you must be joking? I'm a fifth vodka into it tonight and i see "this is on a chrysler pacifica 2004". Um well first off 3000-3500 rpm is half the rpm an ls1 can operate at semi safely so i cant imagine what that would hurt. A hole in our mufflers dont really give a sound as most of our mufflers are straight through and louder than hell. Secondly if it were a blown head gasket you would be MISSING COOLANT, have COOLANT MIXING WITH OIL, or have your COOLANT OVER FLOW PRESSURIZING.

Most importantly i give this thread 2 more posts before it's banned. And I'm pretty well into the alcohol and caught it. So the admins should be a few ahead of me

96 trans am

thanks ******** for the comments, since I dont know anything about vehicles as most girls dont, I thought I could ask a simple question on here, my husband said it would be a good site to ask a question on but I guess we have ******* here

00_STANG_KILLER

dont drag me into this i was trying to help

96 trans am

I'm not 00 stang thanks for trying to help, I dont think it is a back fire because the sound is constant now and gets louder the higher the rpms are.

Shawn MacAnanny

iTrader: (12)

I wasnt being an ******* all the way. Did you check what i said? coolant in oil? if your coolant low? if there excess pressure left in the coolant tank when left over night (cooling system cooland down hence coolant recesssing).

You shouldnt downshift to decelerate though as its bad for the valve body and completely unnecessary asside from an Art Carr and and Allisson trans or a manual trans. It wasnt an assholic comment in the sense that you posted this on the "LS1 Generation 3 engine internal" section which is a totally different engine and vehicle manufacturer than your setup. No one here is really going to be abel to give you an ACCURATE guess as its enterily based on what we know on a topic completely asside from the forum we are claiming to know upon.

BTW a 96 trans am would have abn LT1. Maybe you should try the LT1 internal section? Hell yeah im and ******* when im drunk.

96 trans am

my husband referred me to this website, because he thought someone might be able to help me since there are alot more people on this site than a LT1 site, I know the difference between my husbands lt1 96 and ls1 2000, but thats about all i know. All Im trying to do is ask a question about what happen to my other car, because my husband didnt think pacificas had a forum website. Thanks

Shawn MacAnanny

iTrader: (12)

Well i appologize. Seriously i dont know why you downshifted. Do as i said. Check the coolant like i said. Thats the sure sign. The next would be a compression and radiator 'capless' leakdown test (too look for bubbles) this would indicate a blown headgasket.

Did you get a check engine light? Are you seeing a reduced fuel mileage (if you've driven that long since it happened). It the engine still 'stumbling' or lackign power?

For god sakes dont downshift an automatic anymore unless you have a compression braking automatic valve body.

96 trans am

No check engine light came on and it just happen today so i dont know if the fuel mileage reduced or not. The engine just started making a loud sound, but i dont think it is lagging any power. Also how do I check the coolant, I know where to put coolant in, but dont know what to look for. And how do I do a radiator and compression leakdown test? Thanks for your help.

35th SS

iTrader: (2)

check your trans oil dipstick if its still in full.engine must be running in park.

Shawn MacAnanny

iTrader: (12)

A compression test would involed you going to a parts store, buying a compression tester. A compression tester is a gauge (like your speedometer, or tachometer) that measures aire pressure, particularly cylinder pressure. What you do is unthread all of your spark plugs on a WARM engine (so that the piston rings seal) and you crank the engine over (turn the key to start). This gauge will measure the 'compression' each cylinder makes. each cylinder should be withing i think 5% of another.

If one is off you do a leak down test. a leak down is where you take a fitting and put it into the spark plug hole and pump compressed air into the cylinder and you monitor the speed and ammount the cylinder 'leaks down' to determine how bad it is. If its a coolant leak you will see bubbles in the coolant/headgasket leak you will see bubble in the coolant. if it's a piston ring leak you will hear air through your oil fill cap. If it's an intake valve leak you will hear air leaking through your intake, and if it's an exhaust leak you can possibly hear air leaking through it provied the exhaust isnt too restrictive.

i HIGHLY doubt you damaged the engine at all at 3500 rpm. Our Ford deisel dump truck i have personally daily downshifted it to around 3400 and there are no problems with it. If anything you damaged the valve body in the transmission. as mentioned check the transmission fluid. You check this after you have driven the car. you test it warm, with the engine running, and the transmission i park. The transmission fluid should be a red color.