Need a little help

[dartanion]

Hello to all, I'm looking for a little help I purchased a 93 grand am with a 2.3 liter, engine on the valve cover it says Quad OHC. Am guessing it has over 100,000 miles on it. Before buying the car I was told it had ran hot, and that when the owner went to have an oil change, they were told there was water in the oil,but the price was right so I jumped on it. Now this is what i have seen on the car, the low coolant light stays on it has plenty of coolant in tank, the fuel gauge does not work thats a minor thing at the moment.My main concern is the water in the oil issue,now when bought the car i had to drive it about 20 miles to get it home,while driving it home it did not over heat on me the temp gauge went to the normal operating range, nor did it smoke parked it my garage and let it cool down a bit, checked the oil and i seen very small water droplets on the dip stick and a white looking substance on the black ball of the dip stick.Now this is what I was thinking about doing, running some seafoam in the oil change the oil then see what happens with the fresh oil, if it went bad again was thinking about trying some bars leak engine block sealer in it, have heard it will seal a head gasket if it is leaking. Would I be wrong in trying this or will I be fighting a losing battle with it? Am trying to go cheap first before looking at an engine replacement. Anyone with some insight on this would be deeply appreciated.

 

[Zimgxp]

Those engines have a history of head gaskets/head failures. You might get lucky with a band-aid fix. When I had mine, checker had the lowest price replacment head.

 

[inthechateau]

Quad head gasket

Just remember, Bars leak does not know when to stop sealing. It will do a nasty number on your heater core and radiator as well over time. If the HG is bad now it will only get worse. If you plan on keeping the car do yourself a favor and have it fixed right. I am in the middle of HG change right now and the HG kit is available for 150.00. The 2.3 Quad 4 engine is a great power plant, but GM did not do a good job hooking up its electronics. They are plaged by electrical and EFI issues. Good luck and keep us posted how you make out.

 

[Goatman]

The "QUAD OHC" engine is NOT the same as the QUAD 4 it is the single cam version of that engine , unfortunatly it IS plagued with the same head gasket issues ..
and as said stop leak will not cure it do your self a favor and have the head checked and put a gasket in before it warps too bad and can't be repaired ..