I'm not sure where to go first so here's the story. Maybe 5-6+ months ago I had a major overheat and had very low coolant and low oil. Topped off each and was good to go until about a week ago. CEL goes on and I get code P0300 for random cylinder misfire and P0303 for cylinder #3 misfire. Swapped coil pack from #3 to #1 but code came back to #3. Did compression check on the right back with these results:
Cyl 1 - 190
Cyl 3 - 90
Cyl 5 - 180
I added 2 Tbl of oil to #3 rechecked and it went up to 120. Then performed a leak-down test on #3 and got bubbles coming out the top of the radiator cap which told me HG on the right head. There was no obvious oil in the coolant but coolant was being lost. No cappuccino look to the oil. Because I'm trying to save cash and time I flushed the coolant, added fresh plus distilled water and plus this stuff: Blown Head Gasket Leak Repair | Head Gasket Sealer
While I followed the instructions on the box it seemed to hold at first but now CEL is back on with P0303 again. Adding to this I noticed today that I have a nasty valve cover leak that needs to be addressed. I've done some research online and I'm wondering what my options are. If I'm going so far as to get to the valve cover is it really that much additional work to pull the head and have it checked? Is it even worth doing?
On a similar but tangental note of possibly doing the HG I watched a video of a guy doing his HG and he took off everything on the front and top of the engine, getting to pretty much a short block. Can I get away with not pulling everything off the front of the engine?
Cyl 1 - 190
Cyl 3 - 90
Cyl 5 - 180
I added 2 Tbl of oil to #3 rechecked and it went up to 120. Then performed a leak-down test on #3 and got bubbles coming out the top of the radiator cap which told me HG on the right head. There was no obvious oil in the coolant but coolant was being lost. No cappuccino look to the oil. Because I'm trying to save cash and time I flushed the coolant, added fresh plus distilled water and plus this stuff: Blown Head Gasket Leak Repair | Head Gasket Sealer
While I followed the instructions on the box it seemed to hold at first but now CEL is back on with P0303 again. Adding to this I noticed today that I have a nasty valve cover leak that needs to be addressed. I've done some research online and I'm wondering what my options are. If I'm going so far as to get to the valve cover is it really that much additional work to pull the head and have it checked? Is it even worth doing?
On a similar but tangental note of possibly doing the HG I watched a video of a guy doing his HG and he took off everything on the front and top of the engine, getting to pretty much a short block. Can I get away with not pulling everything off the front of the engine?