How I spent my Thanksgiving Day weekend

[DetroitDon]

My daughter overheated the engine in my 93 GL, and it was just too nice of a car to junk. The head was warped and the head gasket blown. I got a nice head from a 97 Aspire on ebay, along with a gasket set for less than $50. It wasn't a bad job, and it hasn't run so smooth in YEARS!


Bad head removed

The bad head assembly

New Aspire head from eBay


Thanks for the information I got here on the forum,

Don

[qaking]

Don, you are right! That is much too nice of a Festiva to junk!

Really clean engine bay! :shock:

[gdawgs]

How exactly does one overheat a Festiva???

Was it low on anti-freeze?

On the hottest days of the year, my temp gage never goes over about 1/3 of the way up.

The highest I've ever gotten mine to go is a little over half. That's on a warm winter day, say 30-40° with the radiator covered up.

Nice looking car by the way.

[DetroitDon]

She called me one day and told me the alternator must have went bad because it wouldn't start......when I got to her place and opened the hood, I found the alternator belt broken,(which as you know also drives the water pump). She never noticed the BRIGHT RED light on the dash, and she kept driving it until the battery drained. By that time the engine boiled itself dry.......

I was VERY luck! The block didn't warp, and there was NO scoring on the cylinder walls. It could've been a lot more problems!

OHHHHHhhhhhh..... the joys of daughters and cars.....

Don

[gdawgs]

Ahhhh! That'll do it. Gotta check those belts.

[Whittey]

I drove about 12 miles without an alternator belt on my aspire. Runs like a charm still. I was surprised. (ad this was after it was already warm, being as it broke half way through the 25mi ride home from work)


-=Whittey=-