I decided against the head gaskets. The exhaust manifold is covered with heat shields and I rounded off one bolt heads trying to remove the shrouds, so the heck with them. The machine never leaks oil so I'll take a chance. I got a lot of it back together. Those vacuum lines and environmental sensors are a pain. The back rocker cover had to go on before anything else back there can be bolted back. Alternator is back in, lost a bolt for the thermostat pipe - somewhere underneath on a metal shelf. Oh well I'll get all the back stuff put in before I release the engine and push it back where it was.
I put it back together with the intake gasket and it ran but I had the same problem - so - I tore it down again. I'd still be tearing it down if it weren't for one bracket that I cannot remove. I gave up on the engine. so now its looking for a new set of wheels. I junked the car.
problenm is the heads. there's a visible crack between the coolant passage and number 5 and number 6 cylinder. I gave up on it. heads are 335 apiece. I got a new car - at least here in the sticks I can now get around.
Well, that will be a more comfortable feeling about reliability for a while. $335. Doesn't sound like much more than scrap value!
Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours......
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