Pontiac Repair: Possible headgasket problem, blown head gasket, intake manifold gasket

Question
Hi

I have a 95 Grand Am,3.1 L engine.
Low coolant light came on,checked and found it to be 1/2 gal low.
Saw a seepage from the bypass pipe oring so i replaced that.I knew the thermostat needed replacement for quite some time as the engine always seemed to run cool by the gauge. so at this time i replaced the tstat and bled the air from the system.
took it for a ride and the temp gauge climbed to past 220/240 and heat was lost,then it suddenly went back to 170 and heat was back hot. Keep doing that so i let it sit overnight and rechecked it cold,topped off and retried it. started and ran fine,no problems ,figured it was fixed.

Next day,started it and within a block,temp gauge shot to 240 plus and coolant was expelling out from under surge cap.shut it down,opened bleeder and it shot out air,topped off,reran it and it was better but kept fluctuating  and was exhausting some white smoke.after running a bit,smoke cleared and it stabilized.

Next day, i started it cold and within no time the upper hose was hard ,and coolant came out from under surge cap and temp gauge shot up.....every time this happens, i have to bleed it again and then its ok.....once i get it bled and engine warms up,its fine until cold start again.....

My question is,is this symptoms of a headgasket ?

Thanks in advance for any assistance

Joe

Answer
Hi Joe:
Yes it sounds like it's more then likely a head gasket if your lucky. not that is lucky but these engines if they are overheated enough they cheack cylinder heads! more then liekely this had a lower intake manifold gasket leaking and that is why the coolant was low and running it low on coolant makes the temp rise and then theys wind up blowing a head gasket. with out seeing it it's hard to say for sure but it sure sounds like a classic case of a blown head gasket. good luck :-)