So in a fit of madness I bought a '97 Lesabre with engine issues. Car is rust free in great shape with 85k miles. It was suffering from a leaky intake. Previous owner continued to add water and drive the vehicle until it overheated on a trip to the point the engine stopped.
He let it cool and drove it home having to stop several time for overheat. His mechanic replaced the upper intake manifold but now it runs like crap
Compression Test #1 140 #3 140 #5 140 #2 180 #4 120 #6 140
Chocolate shake visible in oil fill so I know there is water in the engine. Assuming at least bad head gasket since the manifold is new.
So if you made it this far here's my question. If this was your project that you wanted for your daily drive would you
Pull the heads and have them magna fluxed, shaved and reinstall (unknown cost at this time)
Or replace the engine? My favorite local junkyard has one that just came in that he says is still in the car and I can hear it run. He wants $700 for it.
Your experience greatly appreciated. My biggest worry is fixing the top end and a shortly after having a bottom end failure due to running on chocolate milk for an unknown time frame.
Steve B.