possible head gasket prob?

projectmx316 · Post by **projectmx316** » April 5th, 2006, 4:13 pm

hey all i have a 94 mx3 and my prob is that it over heated and i checked everything and i changed the timming belt cause it was really loose after that so after i changed it she still wont start. it trys but nothin i got it to start once but it sounded like it was flutterin when i hit the gas. so could it be a gasket or the head? cause if this is going to take alot of money i might as well go for a bp motor and rebuild it with performance parts then if this motor is fried. but i wanted everyones opinion on this. and where can i get the parts to rebuild if its not expensive im on a tight budget so any advice would be appreciated from u engine masters here thanks.

projectmx316 · Post by **projectmx316** » April 5th, 2006, 4:19 pm

one more question i was wounderin if a bp motor for 200 is good even not running?

torpedan · Post by **torpedan** » April 6th, 2006, 2:14 am

How bad did you over heat it.

Also even if a motor has a low price and its know as a not running motor its usually best to avoid them.

projectmx316 · Post by **projectmx316** » April 6th, 2006, 3:19 am

well when it happened the check engine light turned on and then i saw that it was all the way up on the temp. but i pulled over as soon as posssible

torpedan · Post by **torpedan** » April 6th, 2006, 10:45 am

Did it make it to the red? Also was it low on coolant?

ryanlindenberg · Post by **ryanlindenberg** » April 6th, 2006, 11:32 am

look for coolant in the oil and oil in the coolant. you could also try to pull the ecu codes since the light came on.

MechaManZero · Post by **MechaManZero** » April 6th, 2006, 12:32 pm

You didn't forget about the water pump did ya. If there isn't any flow of coolant your engine isn't going to get cool lol. Plus It's usually good to change the water pump when you are doing the timing belt.

projectmx316 · Post by **projectmx316** » April 7th, 2006, 12:37 am

yeah it wass all the way p it the red and there was no sign of coolent in the oil or vise versa. how can i pull the codes when the engine wont start? i put a new timing belt on it and still nothin. but i did get it to start once but it sounds like shat. it flutters and shakes a little its not smoth at all but if i shut it off then i cant restart it. it trys but nothin and if it does start i have to wait again to try the next day then it will. and when the check engine light turned on i felt the car jerk like it just lost alot of power all of the sudden

torpedan · Post by **torpedan** » April 7th, 2006, 1:07 am

projectmx316 wrote:yeah it wass all the way p it the red and there was no sign of coolent in the oil or vise versa. how can i pull the codes when the engine wont start? i put a new timing belt on it and still nothin. but i did get it to start once but it sounds like shat. it flutters and shakes a little its not smoth at all but if i shut it off then i cant restart it. it trys but nothin and if it does start i have to wait again to try the next day then it will. and when the check engine light turned on i felt the car jerk like it just lost alot of power all of the sudden

Just to state it for the record, your motor might be screwed. Even with severe over heating its possible you wont have oil get in the coolant or vice versa, there are just good chances of it.

You need to do a compression test on your motor. This will let you konw if the motor is either A) trash or if B) the head gasket is blown or the timing is way off.

projectmx316 · Post by **projectmx316** » April 7th, 2006, 2:52 am

thats what i though might be gone. well if it is then how hard is the bp swap compared to just replacin it. is it cheper to rebuild or just do a swap in ur guys opinion

torpedan · Post by **torpedan** » April 7th, 2006, 9:19 am

Its cheaper to just swap in a Junkyard motor. For the most part swapping in a BP is just as difficult as replacing the stock motor.