We took the heads to a machine shop and had them checked, used new head bolts guy at parts place advised this also new gaskets every place. Marcel who ocassionaly posts here, loaned us a torque wrench and gave lots of helpful advice, he owned and operated a garage many years. The car has 95k miles on it. The blown head gasket was due in a large part to my grandson,s lack of car knowledge. It started to heat up he kept driving in an effort to get home instead of pulling over and letting car cool> I have no idea why the T stat stuck, but I checked it and it,s definitely stuck closed. We also changed the oil. Tell you one thing the old man is sore and will take things easy for a day or two. definitely not an easy job, but not worth 1200 either Guy at machine shop said heads were fine, not warped and did not need a valve job. Car runs good, kid says it has lots more zip

This would be a 3800 engine (the other engines are basically the same procedure). Remove the air duct hose from the air cleaner to throttle body. If the MAF is attached to the throttle body disconnect it (if the TPS and IAC harness is in the way disconnect them and move them out of the way). There should be four stainless steel screws that hold that front housing to the throttle body (try not to drop those screws because you can't retrieve them with a magnet). The MAF can stay attached to that housing. What you are doing is getting to the butterfly or throttle blade. Once that is exposed I use carb. cleaner and soak everything down and start wiping it with a shop rag. Start with the blade closed and get as much as you can. Then prop the throttle wide open and clean up the rest. I have a 9/16 socket that I use to prop the throttle open. The reason GM's get gummed up around the blade is they have their Vac Ports right there. And all the oil vapors from the PCV are drawn to that area and cause that area to build up with gum. And eventually the throttle blade can't close all the way. Thus causing poor idle. Also check all of your vac hoses for cracks. HTH Bob

Things to remember? None, you need to follow service information and do a simple step by step process. DIY'ers, good ones are capable of doing work at this level. However just like pro's there can always be a trap laying somewhere and only experience combined with paying close attention to the details will prevent one from getting caught in it. Some of the things to consider; Definitely pull both heads, and send them out to a machine shop for testing and plan to have the valves serviced. This may or may not use stretch bolts, otherwise known as TTY, (Torque To Yield). If it does then you must replace the head bolts. Plan to replace the plastic upper intake manifold, and examine the lower carefully for pitting of the gasket surface by the coolant. Use extreme care when cleaning the block surface to prevent debris from falling into the lifter valley, which will ultimately make its way to the oil pan. The block surface should be checked for warp-age while this is apart. You will likely have to have a tech come by and do that for you. The main thing is, no-one can tell you if this job is within your abilities or not and it was wise to ask first. If you are not sure that you can handle this consider that it might be cheaper to get this to a pro first and have them do it, then risk a mistake that causes you to lose the engine.

Why I'm not impressed by numbers stats when viewed in perspective: GM offers 48 models in the US; Toyota offers 16. If GM doesn't outsell Toyota, they're even more pathetic than I thought. Ford outselling Honda is not a surprise. Honda is a very small mfg in Japan, hardly anyone drives one. The company long ago made the decision to concentrate on the US market: they were one of the first to introduce models that were US-designed and aimed solely for export, such as the Accord and the entire Acura line. JD Powers survey is INITIAL car quality (first 30 days only). It has nothing to do with reliability. The reliability of US cars has improved, but they still lag behind the Japanese. Depending upon where you live, you may indeed find a Toyota or Honda shop full - because their dealer/repair network is much smaller than the Big 3, so they tend to concentrate where the sales are. IOW, the coastal areas, especially in the West, you have no problem finding repair shops who will take you quickly. In our experience, we've had far more trouble with the 1996 Buick Regal than with any of the Fords we've owned over the last 30 yrs, including the original Escort, the original Contour, and a 1995 Taurus. Our 2003 Hyundai has been almost trouble-free, and the few minor things (door lock failed, seat cushion got stuck and wouldn't fold down) were quickly fixed by cheerful service reps or covered under the extended warranty we purchased. If I had more money to burn, I'd go back to Acura, because our old Integra was the most fun to drive with fabulous Recaro-like seats - but the Hyundai has been a great compact SUV and reliable performer. Plus, it came, as Hondas/Acuras do, with virtually everything on the mid-level model: tinted glass, intermittent wiper, air conditioning, luggage rack, an outrageously good stereo system, etc. etc. The only option I purchased was ABS with traction control, a necessity for a 3800-lb. vehicle - all of which came in well under $20K. Neither the Honda CRV, the Toyota RAV4, nor the Ford Escape/Mazda Tribute could be purchased for anywhere near that price. I'd judge the Hyundai and the Ford to be equal in quality, but Hyundai wins on features for equal price. We plan to replace the Regal next year - we always keep two cars. I'd love half a dozen different cars, ranging from a Mini-S to an Acura MDX to (should I suddenly win the lottery) a Bentley Continental GT. But in terms of return for the money, the best bet will be a used 2005/6 Ford Taurus, when reliability was fairly high and of course, resale-wise it's a steal because nobody wants one any longer. Plus, they don't sell well in San Francisco because the car's simply too big to park anywhere; garages are at a premium around here. I have test-driven the Focus and really like it, but let's face it, a V4 just does not have the pep and durability of the standard Detroit V6. Living in the hills and possessing a "lead foot" makes a V6 the minimum to keep me happy.