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My Suburban died yesterday

Mikey von

Mikey von

1/2 ton status
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Location
Burney, CA
So I was headed down the hill into town (60 miles) yesterday and had some problems with my 6.2L Suburban. A little history first. It is a strong runner and has given me few problems. I have had some issues keeping her cool when pulling large hills or while towing. She has never gotten too hot (220 max) and has cooled back down to around 190. She has started running a little warmer at around 200 lately.

So I am cruising along and pulling into the valley. I had just pulled a small hill and checked the temp. It was right at 200. A mile or so later (I am in flat country now) I look down and see the temp pegged past the red. I pull over right away and notice white smoke coming out of the drivers side exhaust (true duals).

I waited for it to cool down to about 200 and tried starting it. It ground a little and made some ugly clunking sounds, but started. She smoked a lot out of the drivers side. I tried to limp off the highway, but her temp jumped right back up to 240 +. I shut her down again and waited some more. I tried to start her again and she made some ugly grinding noises and the starter freewheeled. Being frustrated and wanting to get off the highway I keep trying to start her. Most of the time it sounded like the started freewheeled and every once and awhile I got grinding.

I had to get towed to a friends parents house not far from where I broke down. They have an acre or two and she can sit there till I figure a way to bring back up the mountain. I did notice a lot of oil around the drivers side wheel well, but it was getting dark and I needed to get home.

So, obviously I have a problem with my starter and/or fly wheel.

My larger problem is either my head or head gasket correct?

What are my next steps once I get her home?

Is there an easy way to see if I am toast or it is just a head gasket?
 
pull the head and go from there. or pull the engine and do it on a stand since you prolly messed up the flywheel.
 
I would say start with pulling the head and see what you see. I've heard of injectors getting stuck open and toasting a cylinder. I've got a 6.2 sitting in my basement if you need one. I'm only half way across the country.
 
well, i have always wanted to tear into an engine. I guess this is my chance. If I did torq the flywheel, I need to pull the engine correct? If i did not, I can pull the heads with the engine in? Should that be the first thing I check?

I still need to get the dang thing home.
 
Do you have a tow rig? Or is this it? I had a vechile brake down on me before and I couldn't afford a tow at the time so I bought a $100 tow bar and attached it to the front of my truck and had a buddy pull me home so I could work on it. Funny story too, his dad is a trucker and we got stuck in a field pulling my truck out and so we wrapped the tires in semi truck snow chains (WAY TO BIG) and beat the hell out of his dads fenders as we pulled my truck out. I also had a rear wheel bearing out and it smoked like a tire fire on the 20 mile trip to my house. The wheel and axle were so hot when we got there I thought my truck was going to catch fire so I was running back and forth to my appartment getting pitchers of water to dump on the thing. Damn it was fun to be a kid!
 
Sounds like you either cracked a head or blew a head gasket. The reason it won't start is because it is hydro locked (water in cylinder) water does not compress so once water gets into the cylinder and trys to get compressed the engine will lock up and could bend connecting rods, break pistons, or even worse blow out the side of a cylinder wall.
 
I agree with 4X4HIGH on this one. Hydro lock is not one of those good things. If would be some what easy if you had access to a compresion tester or leakdown tester for the 6.2. I would first check your your antifreeze level, and oil level. Determine what actually leaked on the left fender. Pull the cover down from the torque conter (assuming it's an auto) and look at the flywheel. If it's junk, you need to either pull the motor or trans. It may as well be the motor. If not pull the left exhaust manifold and you'll more than likely see white in one or two ports. Pull the head and look for these cylinders to be your problem.
 
hopefully i will get her home this coming week. we will know more. I have been starting to look for a $1000 or so beater 4x4 to get me through winter.
 
When the head gaskets went on my '83 pick-up with the 6.2 it did the same thing. Hydro-locked and gave the starter fits. No damage though...I'd have my wife try the starter (3 seconds on the key)and I could see it struggling to turn over. We did that a couple of times and eventually the coolant got pushed through the rings and valves. Once it was past TDC it fired right up but smoked a fair bit of white smoke from the passenger side.

When I dis-assembled I found three of the TTY head bolts on the passenger side were near enough to loose. :mad:

I replaced all the TTY bolts (crappy idea IMO) with ARP studs and haven't looked back. Do your waterpump while you're at it...

Rene
 
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