Hi, I have a Chevy Cruze, for which I believe, the engine head gasket is broken. It is currently driveable for a short distance, before it gets super hot and pressurized. I got this as a project car and I would like to repair it myself. I believe the overall active project time would be around 12 - 14 hrs for me. but it might sit for a time period undrivable while I take the engine head to the machine shop for crack inspection and plane. I have read a few threads about not leaving the Car overnight and I would like to oblige the rule. Asking for suggestions how to go about this, I am willing to tow it using another car and take it home and bring it back once the head is back from machine shop. but not sure if it is doable with the sloped driveway, let me know if someone has done this before. also just curious, does any one know if we have equipment for machine shop work in DMS?
This is honestly best done in a driveway or on the street. Pulling a head is reasonably easy and doesn’t require a lift or special tools. All you need is a socket wrench and a torque wrench for reassembly. It can sit for as long as needed and nobody will be any the wiser as your hood can stay shut.
There is no easy way to get an undrivable car into DMS.
We have a machine shop but you’d be best to go to a shop that specializes in it. I used Cylinder Head Sales once but it’s been many many years. I don’t know who the current preferred ships are. @TLAR ?
Replace your head bolts with new ones from the dealer.
You have not done this before have you…(R & R a head gasket on a car and actually have it run and drive afterward) ?
Have you checked the VIN to see if your bucket falls under the head gasket recall?
Coolant mixing in the oil does not make the oil a superior lubricant.
In theory you could drive your Cruz in and using the lift (if you have the training) take advantage of the lift and the other handy tools to remove the cyl head. Most difficult to remove is typically the given exhaust connection between the head and the downpipe. (your choice here based one clearance, access, deterioration of hardware etc). If you have not done this before - cell phone photos are a good idea as well as old school labels on misc connections. Then drag your cruz or have it towed to your storage place until you get the head back from a qualified machine shop and reassemble it.
The Makerspace does not have the capability to pressure test your aluminum head for cracks. As for for checking the head for flatness and / or surfacing it(if or where you get it surfaced you will want to KNOW how much material was removed, so that you buy the correct head gasket) - you would have to consult the machine shop. Then there is checking for wear on valve guides, valves(will you be buying new valves?), cutting of the valve seats, lapping the valves into the valve seats and checking the make sure they seal.
This is all dependent on the condition of the block.
This is a great time to replace typical wear items and maintenance items, i.e. any worn soft mounts, water pump, spark plugs, thermostat, coolant hoses, vacume lines, drive belt and pulleys, etc.
It probably sounded like a cheap fix at first…
@mdredmond I totally agree that it wouldnt need very special tools and I wish to do in my garage itself. However, bare minimum, I would need a floor jack, torque wrench, breaker bar, cam lock kit, power impact wrench, etc. I dont have any of these with me 
@TLAR I havent done it for Cruze, but have done for other vehicles, a very long time back though 
I will check about the recall, its 2012 model and bought it from auction, highly doubt they would still cover for it, anyways will check about that. also will keep a note to check and replace typical wear items. Thank you for the suggestions.
I am actually looking for suggestions to drag it back up into auto area, once the head is back from machine shop.
The car is currently in driving condition, so I can get in to remove the head.
I think, of course not 100% sure, after removing the head we could push it down the driveway and I can tow back to my place. pushing down may not be super easy, but I feel it could be done.
Pushing it down isn’t the hard part. It’s getting it back up the ramp that’s difficult…
It’s not super hard to get up and down the ramp if that’s what you’re asking about. You’ll still have brakes for going down and you can generally round up enough folks and/or bring enough friends to push it up once you’ve got the head work done.
Do you have the correct engine / cam timing fixture kit for this task? Perhaps try O’reilly auto parts for their free loaner tool program if not.
As someone who drives a Chevy daily that was bought with what I was told had a “bad headgasket”(I was skeptical) but have yet to replace the head gasket, I must ask, why do you think it has a “bad headgasket”?
The other thing is, do you really think a head gasket is worth it? Have you added up what’s is actually going to cost? Is a used engine possibly the more economical choice? That would definitely make more sense to do at the makerspace.
Another option to make it more makerspace friendly would be to get another head. But if you haven’t confirmed it really has a bad headgasket, you could end up wasting a lot of time and money.
@Josh_Bishop totally agree with you. actually I am second guessing about the head gasket, it could be a bad oil cooler problem too. Need to test more, but its too cold for me to look into it now.
as for the engine replacement option, time and being economical: I got this as a project car, i guess as much work i put in it, as much as i would enjoy it
Yes, but what made you think it had a bad headgasket to begin with?
Coolant in the oil? Oil in the coolant? Did you test the cooling system for exhaust gas?
With mine, the previous owner saw brown sludge in the cooling system and milky residue on the underside of valve cover but no coolant in the oil.
So what was the actual problem? A little milkiness on the valve cover is normal, especially if you aren’t driving the car long and you’re using e85 which the PO was. As for the cooling system, I suspect either someone added oil directly to the cooling system and/or incompatible coolants were mixed, these are dexcool cars and when I asked the PO what color coolant he put in it, he said “the yellow one”.
Too be sure it wasn’t a head gasket issue, I flushed, and flushed, and flushed the system. I never actually got it flushed, whatever nasty coagulated sludge was in it was un-phased by detergent which really points to it being incompatible coolants. While flushing and running it, I added UV dye to the oil that never showed up in the cooling system.
All of the rubber in the cooling system was soft and swollen. So being sure the oil wasn’t actively leaking into the cooling system, I replaced all the rubber lines in the cooling system and the radiator. The radiator has rubber seals that you can’t see for the end tanks.
The car runs great, no new contamination in the cooling system and I got a deal on a car with a “bad headgasket”.