SoupNazi

I have a 1999 SC1 and I am getting oil in the coolant and coolant in the oil, and searching through the posts i have found that these engines crack heads. Has anyone replaced the head themselves and is it possible to do it without removing the engine. Any advice would help. Thanks

Ssicarman

Welcome to the Board.

The head can be replaced with the engine in the car.
If you have coolant in the oil it may be to late to save the bottom end of the engine. The bearings do not take kindly to the chocolate milkshake oil. You may want to consider installing a low mileage used engine.

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SoupNazi

Thanks for the answer and suggestion.

denisond3

My personal experience is that taking the entire motor out makes a lot of work MUCH easier (like anything to do with the timing chain), and I dont regard the Saturn engine as being especially hard to pull up/out. So if I had a bad head or just a bad headgasket, I would pull the engine, and do the work, including a new set of piston rings, and crank bearings and main seals.

XJAce

Depending on the mileage and how bad the coolant got into the oil, the bottom end maybe used with a new head. We did the head on my roomates 96' SC1 with 88,000 on the clock, the oil wasn't getting any coolant into it, the oil was getting into the cooling system. If you have a lift or a jack to pull the passenger side front tire off you can do the head in the vehicle. Just make sure you torque everything properly, and remember to torque the head bolts in sequence and 90 degree them as a final torque. Reassemble, top off fluids, start it, check for leaks of any sort and go from there. Good luck!!

RC1488

+1. Mixing of both sides could spell disaster later on even with a new head. New engine is in order.

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