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Hi all,
I have a '97 Pontiac, Grand AM GT, 3.1 V6.

The engine recently overheated so much that it died out. Running, overheating, rrr, rr, r, dead. I let it sit for a few hours, made sure coolant was topped off, then it restarted and got me home, about 3 miles. It got so hot that now I can't get the plastic oil cap off. Originally the heater core busted, that lead to the overheat. After the overheat I put a new one in, then the coolant pump burst right after that, terrible leak. Before the overheat, a rocker assembly was also not functioning right so I was loosing compression.  

With the exception of the pump going out, it still runs but very sluggish and choppy, pretty much the same as it did when my only problem was the rocker assembly.

My experience (from years ago) is that, that much heat can warp and twist things. Is it true that it's probably not worth fixing or rebuilding the engine? Will I just be chasing one repair after another?

My baby  

Thanks,
Shawn  

while overheating itself will not neccecarily damage the main components, it may damage vital seals, bearings, gaskets, rods, rockers, springs, and the like. if you melted the oil cap, thats pretty hefty. you may just be experiencing the symptoms of a missing cylinder, which you previously stated was a pre-existing condition. if you were going to replace that rocker assembly yourself, i would say go ahead and do it and then see how it runs. if your paying someone to do it, ask them to check around inside the heads for any signs of heat damage. if there are ANY signs, i would repair the rocker assembly, clean it up real good, and get out of that car quick. unforutnately, with it being a front wheel drive car, cannot as easily check the bottom of the motor for damage, but the good news is there are probably half the parts in the bottom as there is in the top of the motor, and they rarely go out before the top, so if the top is fine, just feel it out from there. i used to have a 1996 bronco that had a leak in the radiator. i overheated that truck probably 4 times before my radiatior arrived, and the truck ran fine for another year or so. i gave the truck to my step brother, who neglected to change the oil and the motor siezed, but im pretty sure that was the 30,000 mile oil in a 350,000 mile motor which did that truck in.

i hope that helps.
sincerely,
blazer240z  

It overheated to the point where it wouldnt run and the oil fill cap melted?
It doesn't sound good.Your head gaskets are probably cooked at least.Before you start dumping money into that engine i would price a low mileage used motor.  

New hope It does run, and when I drive it around the block it runs just the same as it did before the overheat, running rough, bad ticking and air leaking problem (probably the rocker assembly), lacking power but it has small bursts of power much of the time.

I feel like maybe it's worth rebuilding and maybe even just fixing the cooling system and the rocker assembly, or whatever the power loss is. Maybe I'll get a few years out of it before I rebuild the entire car.

Thanks so much!