This is a 2002 Pontiac Firebird with the GM 3.8l 3800 Series II Engine. This vehicle came in with an large oil leak on the engine and an oily substance in the radiator. The antifreeze was mixing with engine oil. The problem is common with this series of engine. The lower intake manifold gaskets deteriorate and case coolant to leak into the engine oil, oil is also allowed to contaminate the cooling system resulting in the fouled coolant and soft radiator hoses. This is multi part repair and is somewhat difficult in this particular car due the firewall and wiper cowl location. We will remove the intake plenum and lower manifold valve covers, and the engine accessories such as alternator, belt, and the tensioner. In this case the belt tensioner also has a heater core bypass built into it so there is engine coolant in the belt tensioner as well. Part one will be the teardown, part two will be engine assembly and the final part will miscellaneous assembly, fluids, cleaning and final inspection. This video is part one of this series. As mentioned in the video this vehicle was featured before due to catastrophic A/C system failure. See links below for all past videos.
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Part 2! Compressor Damage took out the whole System | Pontiac Firebird Camaro S-10 Buick https://youtu.be/4N1UsUrjQAI
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96 thoughts on “Oil in the radiator! top end internal tear down! gm 3800 3100 3400 3.8 #mechanic”
  1. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars @danieltaylor9164 says:

    That bracket loosening was painful to watch. But not as painful as it was to do, I'm sure! It takes a special kind of persistence to be a mechanic. Great job.

  2. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars @brianthompson2662 says:

    Ray, I find these videos so therapeutic. Not being Bill gates, I've always had to drive a lot of P.O.S. vehicles and have a few right now. One 2000 V-8 AWD explorer and a rusted out 99 silverado. Throw a perfect (stored) '87 MR2. I'm always working on something. But being 55 with a 30 year old spinal fusion and a work damaged index finger that won't bend anymore, this is FAR beyond a one day job for me!
    Maybe a month. And there'd be a handful of bolts and brackets left over 😂

  3. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars @jimmycheese3817 says:

    Every size nut, bolt, stud… all put on the cowl. There is zero chance I’d get this top portion back together. Kudos Ray.

  4. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars @stevenmiller2837 says:

    Reminds me of my last car; a 1996 Z28. I always wondered how they got that engine in the car to begin with. I'm amazed by what you accomplish on a daily basis!

  5. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars @stevejette2329 says:

    I truly believe that automotive designers and engineers laugh themselves silly because we who repair suffer so much because of their … stupidity ?
    When we need to drop an engine just to change a spark plug ???

  6. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars @Buster-jg9zg says:

    Hi Ray, probably the person is from the UK we just refer to them as Nuts and Bolts you in the USA refer to them as fasteners, same thing.

  7. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars @bobert59 says:

    how on earth does one remember where each bolt goes after amassing a pile of them after tearing down?

  8. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars @basbass429 says:

    Car designed so when there is a problem, customer buys a new car? Really looks like they went all out to make maintenance as difficult as possible.

  9. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars @JasonW. says:

    WWJD on rear brackets:
    Jason would put them back on. You can't deny the next guy the pleasure.

  10. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars @bustedkeel says:

    I don’t understand these terrible gaskets. They haven’t figured out how to make gaskets that keep working?

  11. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars @ilonsdale1 says:

    What's with the doctors phone on hold music 🎶 😅😅

  12. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars @radioace318la says:

    Ray, you have the patience of a saint. That design on this Thunderchicken would make me lose my religion.

  13. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars @dariocontreras4956 says:

    Respect ray working on those engine with little space

  14. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars @robhunter2435 says:

    I do not know why GM shoves half the engine under the cowl. It is not mechanic friendly at all.

  15. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars @MirageDragonMyrgon says:

    Man, watching you fight with those bracket bolts on the back of the valve covers reminds me of that one meme..

    A ratchet "Please come loose."
    A bigger ratchet "I hope it comes loose."
    An even bigger ratchet "I wasn't asking."
    An angle grinder "You should have listened."
    An oxy-acetylene torch "It can't be tight if it's a liquid."

    Keep it up! Even though I'm not particularly mechanically inclined, and don't even own my own vehicle, I've enjoyed watching every one of the videos you put out.

  16. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars @markamcampbell5795 says:

    unbolt the tranny mount and lift the back of the trans to get that bolt out.

  17. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars @markamcampbell5795 says:

    now i know what i was doing wrong taking the fuel lines off.

  18. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars @markamcampbell5795 says:

    i had a 91 olds cutlass with a 3.4-liter dohc engine I loaned it to a friend and the three back sparkplugs popped out while they were driving. her boyfriend sort of fixed it but the plugs were still loose and the helicoils came out with the plugs. they drove it that way and returned it to me saying this car has no power. took the engine out and almost had it rebuilt then the neighbor caught the town on fire and burned my house and garage down.

  19. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars @kevinf5073 says:

    Trolls are the folks that got picked last in dodgeball in school because they know for a fact they suck at life. Keep customizing folks. Haters gonna hate. I for one enjoy seeing custom vehicles and the people who drive them.

  20. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars @user-mt5ex9xc9y says:

    Screw the trolls! Everybody thinks that they have a “better” way but the trolls don’t understand that sometimes we simply have to deal with what’s in front of us. The trolls probably can’t do 99% of this or haven’t tried. They simply watched Eric O or Ivan the Russians videos and they are now “experts”. Eric O does give a better reach around 😂. I love these videos and wish I could still do this stuff. I broke my back and hip so I watch some of these like my ex watched murder mysteries.

  21. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars @tigerbalmenema says:

    I think the joke about the fasteners is that they dont make things go fast. They keep things from moving so they should be called stoppeners… but that might be beyond a dad joke. More of a dud joke… 😂

  22. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars @stanbrown5425 says:

    🇺🇲👍……………🍆🇨🇳

  23. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars @gillesthibault429 says:

    …This one job looked like one that would have been easier with the ability to utter a few (or more than a few) choice expletives…😂😂😂

  24. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars @garybarker9139 says:

    Better to take the engine out!

  25. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars @timetryp422 says:

    Ray has an astounding memory for putting complex stuff back together.

  26. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars @mybigfartsreallystin says:

    A Firebird with Ferrari hubcaps…

    …does that make it a "Pegasus"?…

  27. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars @anthonyfreeman5858 says:

    I think “Duck” Tape has become an acceptable way of saying “Duct” Tape because saying the 2 – T’s is a little bit daunting where as the “K & T” together flows more easily. That is our English lesson for today, y’all.
    Ya know, if you leave the “K” & the “T” off, you still have “Duc Tape (still pronounced Duck Tape”).

  28. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars @kyleb3293 says:

    I can do these in my sleep, RWD Fbody included xD Use Fel-pro problem solvers and be done with it!

  29. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars @kennylove188 says:

    What a PAIN of a teardown, working under that firewall hole !

  30. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Hola! @Sarahs-Faith says:

    I love every single video you put out, and I haven’t complained about anything, but I have to ask. What’s up with the meditating / elevator music? I’m not a fan of that. I like it better without the music. I like all the background noises and radio music that gets captured by accident.
    I mean unless your going for a “Bob Ross” kinda thing in which case your on the right road. 😅❤

  31. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars @bubbles_brains9937 says:

    'Firechicken"(ugh)…. GMC's best kept "Secret" Customizations all to one side.. its not my choice of a sports car(thos others do LOVE this style of car) I'm a 70's MOPAR guy…. gimme that old style Distributor with the points gap anytime!(Minus the ballast resistor of course)

  32. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars @jkfeatherranch says:

    What a perfectly timely video, I'm about to start this job on my 1998 Firebird with the 3800 this weekend. Has a rebuilt engine but for some boneheaded reason they installed plastic gaskets on it, and the upper is leaking. Might as well do the lowers too.

  33. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars @jerrycunningham5608 says:

    I've been waiting for you to zip tie that wiring harness up out of the way and I wonder how many little bits and pieces of debris have fell down into that motor

  34. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars @ryanedwardson6541 says:

    Wow…. with as much of a pain as this appeared to be, I wonder if it would have made sense just to drop the drive train out the bottom? Or is there sub frame shenanigans that would require an alignment after?

  35. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars @WinzloCom says:

    New drinking game, chug anytime he says “penetration”.😂

  36. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars @rmax2 says:

    That bracket would have been lost in a boating accident! 😂

  37. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars @toomanybikes says:

    With rear main seal in play maybe drop the front cradle to simplify life

  38. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars @jerrycunningham5608 says:

    Ray the way you work on a firebird motor is to pull the body off

  39. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars @Javelin3o4 says:

    I enjoyed watching this video since I did the same job and then head gaskets on my 2000 Camaro with the same engine. I put the updated metal coolant elbows on mine as well as replaced the coolant line clips that go onto the housing with a aftermarket kit.

  40. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars @richardhardin9469 says:

    Dear Ray, How much time is saved on the average repair job using your "electron ratchets/impact wrench" vs non electron. Also, has this reduced the official book time on jobs? Thanks.