Just had a few questions I has hoping someone could answer. My 96 Buick Century 3100 is consuming oil pretty bad. I know this isn't a Buick forum, but i figured I should ask this here because the Aerostar and Buick both had pushrod v6 engines. I'm also getting oil in the coolant. I took some of the spark plugs off and they had a white residue all over them which I'm guessing is coolant getting into the combustion chamber. So I did some research and I found that the 3100 engine has faulty intake manifold gaskets. I know mine is bad because I saw it leaking. So I am going to change that, but I don't know for sure if my head gaskets are leaking, but I'm probably going to change them anyway to check the head for warping. I don't have any kind of coolant pressure machine or compression checker. I want to try to do this myself because I know it is an expensive repair. So, here are my main questions :
1. What are the most important things to do when replacing the gaskets?

2. Do I need any special tools for the job (like something for the push rods)

3. And I was just wondering what the procedure was to change the gaskets (mainly regarding the valve train and the heads)

The car has 77,000 miles on it

 

all i know about Buicks is the 2.8L the wife had back in the 1980s.
beast to work on, 2 day job to change the plugs.

rent a cooling system pressure tester from auto parts store, Autozone comes to mind, call ahead
look for champagne bubbles in radiator coolant at neck while engine running at 2k rpm.
any greasy residue on inside of rad. neck?

get a Chilton's for your Buick

head bolts probably one time use, stretch to yield, replace with new

have valves 3 angle ground if you pull heads. check with your local racing hot rod shops for valve job shop references

pull the fuel injectors and soak the lower 1/3s in Chevron Techron Concentrate overnight. removes the water corrosion buildup from spray nozzles.

 

Here's a good info source for your needs: The BEST Source For All Your GM 60ºV6 Needs

 

Thanks for the help

 

ouh, about gaskets... to save gaskets ones I was adviced to change thermostat with 82 dgr C. yes, she warms up inside for longer time, but I had never had gasket related problems and ones I had to replace bad ring and reused gaskets (i let them be in diesel fuel for 2 days to make them soft againe).... and they did not fail....

 

If you put a lower temp t-stat, the overcooling tends to waste fuel. I have never had a head gasket problem either, and I use the OE temp t-stats. Blowing a head gasket is most often the result of the vehicle overheating at some point in time. However, on that engine there seems to be an electrolysis problem and just a poor design. Thats another thumbs down for GM. Thats why to my knowledge, GM is the only auto company that has a private label on a stop leak type product.