Help! Stalling once car is warmed up

[mcampbell26915]

Thanks everyone, I am going to replace intake manifold gaskets and head gaskets. I'm having a friend help me sometime early next week hopefully, any advice or tips for me that I should know before changing head and intake gasket ? Thank you

 

[Jeff73Mach1]

get a shop manual

yes you really do need to start by unhooking the battery

use fender covers to protect your car, bet buckles kill paint

cleanliness is next to godliness

drain the radiator and turn the engine over for about 5 seconds to pump out the coolant in the pump. There is a drain in the side of the block, but it is hard to get to, I consider it easiest to just ignore it and leave coolant in the block and if a little is in the heads when you pull them, just catch it with clean rags as best you can. You are going to drain the oil and change it anyway.

rocker arms and pushrods are mated meaning they go back in the same place and the same orientation get a tray or cardboard box and label and mark them to make this easy.

use a torque wrench, torque in multiple steps using the proper pattern for the part during reassembly

gaskets seal with little to nothing added to them-don't goop em up with a bunch of RTV one exception here is on the end seals-throw the cork ones away and build em up with gasket maker/black rtv I like permatex black ultra. I dry fit the intake with no gaskets, measure the gap visually, and then lay a bead that looks like a weld as thick as the gap+ gasket thickness plus another 1/4 inch or so. You want it to seal the first time, but you don't want to fill the lifter valley with tons of excess gasket maker material. Once you torque the intake down, let the Rtv fully cure before you do anymore work. another thing I like to do is to take a punch and rough up the rails with a dozen or so punches down the middle of the ribs to help keep the rtv in place post curing-it is overkill and unnecessary, but I've always done it that way.

do use thread sealant on the head bolts

use anti seize on the header/exhaust manifold bolts

Take pictures before during and afterwards.

if something feels wrong, it probably is. stop, slow down and ask questions.

 

[mcampbell26915]

Thanks very much for all your help guys, I took off the heads to replace the gasket today and noticed that the cylinder walls were mirror finish smooth and there was a decently deep ridge toward the top of the cylinder wall which I've heard isn't good, so I was advised by a friend of mine who is a mechanic to forget about the head gasket and just get the whole thing rebuilt, because I would apparently need to eventually rebuild it anyway because the rings were going bad ( burning black smoke) and the cylinder walls were really worn down. So unless one of you says that's a really bad idea to get it rebuilt then I will be doing that hopefully within the week. I am also getting the whole fuel system repaired/replaced ( tank sending unit float fuel lines pump and filter ) and new motor mounts. All of this is going to be done for 2000$ , does this sound like a far price? That's including the engine build , I'm just giving them the car and they are taking the engine out building it and putting it back in and adjusting everything perfectly like timing and adjustment screws and everything. I like the idea of being able to have peice of mind if I got the engine rebuilt , and the reliability and the value of the car that goes along with it, but I definitely don't like the 2000$ part. Let me know what you guys think, thanks!

 

[JimNiki]

The motor is obviously tired... I'd ask to get the block and heads cleaned and tested for stress fractures... Even for an additional small cost...

No piece of mind without knowing....?

 

[c9zx]

$2000 sounds too good to be true to me. Even if you bargain shop, the parts alone will be over $900 for quality parts. Add another $700+ for cleaning and machine work. That leaves $400 for labor to remove and replace the fuel system and to dis-assemble, re-assemble the engine, and remove and replace the engine. I would ask for the specifics of the parts to be used (bearings, pistons, rings, oil pump, cam and lifters, timing set, etc) and what machine work will be done (clean, magna flux, bore and hone, deck, recondition rods, install cam bearings, valve job etc.). Do you have any information/referrals from trusted sources for the mechanic and the machine shop? If not, at least get a second estimate. The worst thing that you can do is pay to little and get too little as a result. Just an opinion. Chuck