Head gasket?

[RED GA]

I have a 2000 Grand Am with the 2.4 twin cam. Day after I bought the car the head gasket blew. It began blowing allot of white smoke out the back, my oil light came on while this was happening, oil is leaking from the outside too and there was allot of chattering from the valve train. This all happened in about 3 minutes and the car stalled itself. It wont even crank now.

My question is should I look into replacing the gasket or start looking for a new engine?

What are some checks to help decide if the engine should be saved or scraped.

Any insight or good advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Kevlar]

First of all, you need to have a factory service manual. Next, begin the repair process by removing the head. Label evrything and take lots of.pictures as you go to make it easier to put back together later. First do a visual inspection to see if there is any obvious damage. The head may look ok, but may be warped or have a crack that can't be seen. Take it to a good machine shop and have them clean and check it. If it's usable, have them go through it, resurface, reseat the valves as needed, etc. If the head is shot, it can be replaced with a new or rebuilt one.

Now, the block. With the head off, check the cylinder walls for a ridge at the top or visible scoring on the walls, cracks, etc. If the cylinders are still in good shape, a fresh head should do the trick for you.

You'll want to take care of other things like a new water pump, timing gears/chains if needed, that sort of thing.

 

[Twinpilot001]

Herres whats 1st!! Get ready=??= pull whatever off you need to view the oil pump!!!!!!!!!!! There is a gear on the crankshaft drives the pump!!= its a metal gear on crank & a hard like "WOOD" in the pump!! Usually - when -if?? the head gasket goes bad - the water gets in the oil (white smoke) and dilutes the oil!! then the oil pump gear -FAILS - due to lack of good lube/oil!! no oil = lower crankshaft - siezing!! If thats the case?? u will need a reputable mechanic or at least a good machine shop for a rebuild or - another engine!! Same thing happened to me & many others too!!