3rd part of overheating malibu?

Question

It worked for a couple of days with the heater on, but now it doesn’t. Also you have to add more anti-freeze every 1-2 days. Since I don't see any visible leak then I am guessing that the problem is a blown head gasket or leak in the manifold, but I thought that manifold leaks would leak out of the engine, unlike a head gasket. But I also thought that when a head gasket blows you usually lose a lot of power. The check engine light came on and it said it was because of a miss fire in cylinder 3. So don’t' see how that is related to the overheating. So is there a good away to see if the head gasket is blown or not?

Thanks,

Brad

It is the V6 1998, and if it did have a rear manifold leak, would i see the anti-freeze coming out?

Answer 1

hey brad, still at it huh?
well it sounds like Greg has been there before he may have the right answer to the problem. If you want to check on the head gasket then do a proper compression test on the cylinders. go to the auto parts place and get a good screw in compression tester. the book that should come with it will tell you how to test to determine if it's the head gasket. if it shows that the head gasket is good then you can test the intake gasket with a pressure test put on the radiator. with the tool from the auto parts place you pump up the radiator and cooling system with air and see if it leaks down. it is possible for the head gasket to leak anti-freeze without fouling a cylinder out. it is also possible for the intake to leak and not drip outside the engine. check the color of the oil and look to see what the coolant water looks like. it just depends on where the leak is as to what you will see, so with those two tests it should tell you what is going on. you may also have a head gasket that is fouling out the number three cylinder and not put water in the oil. pull out the number three plug and match it to a plug chart in the tune-up section of a chiltons.

Answer 2

If you have a blown head gasket you will have a misfire from low compression in two cylinders if the gasket is blown that way. The gasket can also blow so that it causes water in your oil. It can also blow on the top or bottom and that will create a misfire and low compression in one cylinder. The small coolant loss may be going out the exhaust. Look for white smoke that indicates anti freeze in the exhaust. The best way to diagnose a head gasket is with a compression check. A partiy plugged radiator can also cause overheating. Remember when looking for cooling system leaks that when the engine is turned off and starts to cool it creates a vacuum in the system and leaks stop.

Answer 3

IF ITS A 3.1 OR 3.4 I WOULD BET MY LIFE YOU HAVE A LOWER INTAKE MANIFOLD GASKET LEAKING