97 Olds 88 won't start

1997 OLDSMOBILE
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ROBAUCOIN
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Hi. My dad's oldsmobile has 120,000 miles and is a 3.8 liter regular engine. It turns over but won't start. He made it home with the overheating lamp on, but when he went to try and start it again it wouldn't go. No smoke coming from exhaust. I took the coolant cap off and it was very low. We put a lot more in and then had to add more later. We filled it up and tried to start it with the cap off but it didn't spit up. The oil looks reasonably clean. I pulled a spark plug off and there is spark. I changed the fuel filter and pressure regulator. One other thing, there seems to be a lot of oil around the head covers. I am out of ideas. Can you help?
I just checked it again and the coolant looks like it's gone again. There's no puddle under it? Weird.
Jun 29, 2007 at 5:03 PM
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2CARPRO JACK
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Need to verify that it has the correct amount of fuel pressure to run the engine. Does it sound normal when cranking'? If it is losing coolant with no leaks, it probably has a blown head gasket, and the coolant could be messing with the o2 sensor reading.
Jun 30, 2007 at 8:40 AM
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ROBAUCOIN
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Can I check the head gasket with a compression tester?
Jun 30, 2007 at 2:23 PM
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2CARPRO JACK
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Usually that will only help if th egasket is blown between 2 cylinders, causing the compression to be passed back and forth between the two. Pull the plugs and see if they are wet with coolant
Jul 1, 2007 at 8:11 AM
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ROBAUCOIN
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Hi. So the head gasket is blown. I have a few last questions. I've never changed a head gasket before so I'm wondering if I should change any other parts while I'm at it and should I do both heads? The car has 120000 miles and the plugs were coated in oil . The compression was 185 psi after 3 revolutions on all the cylinders. I plan on taking the heads into a shop for an overhaul but is there anything else I should change? and can I do this using a Haynes manual? or should I get a different manual?
thanks
Rob
Jul 3, 2007 at 12:24 PM
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2CARPRO JACK
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Head gaskets on ohv (pushrod) engines are pretty straight forward, shouldnt be a problem for you with a manual for guidance. Before you rip it apart, did you verify fuel pressure and it might be a good idea to test for injector pulse, just to rulke out the coincidence of a sensor or the such shorting out
Jul 4, 2007 at 7:27 AM
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ROBAUCOIN
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yes I did. Fuel pressure was good. After I replaced the plugs and the wire set, l got it to run but the tell-tale blue smoke started pouring out the exhaust. Thanks for all the advice, it really helped.
Jul 4, 2007 at 11:56 AM
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2CARPRO JACK
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you're welcome
Jul 5, 2007 at 8:00 AM
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