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New 2001 rodeo 3.2L owner with a blown headgasket.

392 views 0 replies 1 participant last post by  samingman5 
#1 ·
Hello everyone! Coming to you from Atlanta, GA!

I stumbled into the world of Rodeo fandom last May of 2020. I wrecked my car then laid off for COVID and spent my last dollars on a[highlight=#ffff00]2001 Rodeo V6 3.2L[/highlight]. This car turned out to be my dream car......meaning I have always wanted to learn how to work on a car like a real man (LOL) and boy was this the answer. After a couple months of driving I had to replace the EGR valve, clean out the exhaust manifold from carbon build up, learn how to temporarily bypass the throttle body because the coolant lines that connected were so dry rotted they cracked all the way into the engine valley which is impossible to reach without removing the manifold as I found out haha all jokes aside, I need some advice!!

ANY ADVICE IS GOOD ADVICE FOR A ROOKIE LIKE ME!!
- when I first started working on the car I did not connect a coolant hose properly which ultimately lead my engine to overheat. I instantly pulled over shut the car off and let it cool. I patched up what I could, refilled the radiator and reservoir, and burped the coolant of any air. Ever since then I have not has any overheat issues.
- several months later I started having codes come up to replace O2 sensors, and change spark plugs (which I did when I first purchased the vehicle), and even a code for faulty Catalytic convertor. However, These codes cleared on their own and I never saw them again.
- Then one day my car made a terrible sound when I first cranked it up. the engine seemed like it was knocking and rattling I just shut it off and had it towed to my family mechanic. He said the timing was off so I towed the car home and learned how to replace the timing belt and water pump thanks to this forum. (What worries me of course is what caused this? maybe just an old timing belt, but maybe worse).
- When I cranked her back up finally she sounded beautiful, let the car idle for a while to relearn the idle control. I took it for a test drive for about 30 minutes and it seemed fined. the next morning I went to crank it back up it threw a lean mix ratio code. (I'm sorry I do not have the codes with me I will update later if necessary). When I got off work I cranked her up, no new codes thrown, and drove to my mechanic. He called me finally and said I blew a head gasket on bank 2 and the reason I wasn't overheating is because the leak may not be large enough to prevent the coolant from flowing through the engine. But the coolant is definitely being burned off in the exhaust which is what I'm assuming the o2 sensor and CAT codes were yelling about.

So my main question is this, seeing as its an aluminum engine block, is it worth me disassembling my engine to try and replace the head gasket? the vehicle has about 175K miles on it and I know aluminum is notorious for warping and or cracking from overheating. OR should I say screw it and buy a new/used engine and do an engine swap? Again, I do want to learn as much as possible but I also don't want to waste all those hours. I know some of you guys are experts on these engines and I would love y'alls input!!

P.S. I was very relieved when I learned I had a noninterference engine while I was replacing the timing belt hahahah I probably would have completely destroyed this car.
 
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