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Oh what the head gasket!

Chevy305

Chevy305

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So I think I might have a blown head gasket :doah:

Last month I took my truck on a 3hr drive up to New Hampshire on one of the hottest days of the year in a ton of stop and go traffic. It never got hotter than 210, my fans kick on at 205 anyway. But anyways, I noticed I started loosing a little coolant and the driverside exhaust has a nice burnt coolant smell. There is no evidence of combustion gasses in coolant or coolant in the oil. I drove it all the way back home with no problems. It then sat a few days until I started it again and the driverside exhaust made a very nice white fog... :doah:The passenger side was clear as could be. So then it sat for almost a month while I was travelling for work. I start it up today and it blows a **** load of water out of the driverside exhaust. But the exhaust doesn't fog up and the coolant smell is very minimal. Any chance it just fixed itself? :dunno:

I'm going to give the engine a compression test on the driverside to be sure before I tear into it. Would a leakdown test be a better way of testing it?

This is the head gasket I have in it now:
http://www.jegs.com/i/JEGS+Performance+Products/555/210044/10002/-1
Is it any good? Or should I use something different?
 
The original engine in my Burb started leaking like that, headgasket was leaking water into a cylinder, apparently not enough for it to get into the oil, never noticed it in there.

Every once and awhile, it would act funny when trying to start, like a quick lag. I would have to replace lost coolant every so often, wasn't sure where it was going.

Then one day, I went out to start it, hit he starter, engine rotated then stopped suddenly. Wouldn't start, like it locked up. I started removing spark plugs, and naturally, the last one, cylinder #8, a bunch of water poured out.

Checked the oil after the plugs were removed and there was definitely water in it, not a ton like a blown headgasket usually dumps in, but enough to notice.

Basically, I didn't blow up the head gasket or the motor, the gasket just failed over time.

I even drove it from Phoenix to So. California with a trailer to visit relatives and pick up parts back then, with the slow leaking gasket, which I didn't know at the time, was the gasket.

My engine had well over 250k miles on it, which is really the only reason I decided to do a complete rebuild, otherwise I may have just replaced the gaskets and had the heads rebuilt.

Fix itself?? never, once started with a problem, it'll just get worse over time until ultimate failure.
 
Maybe I should join in your "might as well" mentality and pull the engine, do splayed main caps, forged rotating assembly, and a big ol' blower smacked on top it! Man a guy can dream can't he :doah:
 
I just had mine pretty much as a stock rebuild, although they did have to bore out the cylinders a little, and the roller cam & lifter option was added as well.

Ran me about $1200 for them to machine everything, the rebuild kit and 95% assembly of the engine.

I picked up the engine from the shop and simply had to install the intake and oil pan. They kept those off for my personal inspection and so I could double check the mains and rod cap torques.
 
That's a good deal on a stock rebuild. I built my engine and its far from stock. I estimate about 450hp with what's on it. But That's really the limit I want to take the 2 bolt block and cast crank. So with that being said, I am just going to replace the head gasket and be happy with it.
 
Bars Leaks, accept no substitutes, will often buy you some time. That company makes a solution that is supposed to fix head gaskets or even hairline cracked heads, but I would not use it.
If you have the time and coin, then do the gasket. But, if you need it to limp along for while, then grab a bottle of the original stuff and pour it in.

Its some of the nastiest looking stuff I have ever put in a car, and that includes a couple of girlfriends.
But it does work, and does not stop up things like some of the other stuff does.
 
I used some off the shelf stuff like that to fix a leaky radiator and that stuff continued to stay in the cooling system after i replaced the radiator and for years and many flushes later. I won't use stuff like that if I don't absolutely have to again.

I'm just going to replace the gasket and deal with the truck being down a few days. Kinda sucks because I wanted to use my boat this weekend :doah:
 
Hard to say if its a head gasket,seeing its been replaced and done right not too long ago--seen some rot away at the corners or near the "ring" enough to leak ever so slightly..............................................................................................Its not uncommon for a head to crack between the valve seats,and often when they do,it may display symptoms like yours had ,then seemingly "go away" for awile...because the crack doesn't always expand enough to allow enough coolant seepage to do more than get shot right out the tail pipe..its after a longer shut down that enough will build up after awhile and show as white smoke upon start up.....................................................................................................I know a guy with a 2003 Suburban that had symptoms like yours does,he had to go to maine recently,I told him good luck,when he left here it was billiowing white smoke...he stopped at Autozone and bought 2 tubes of "Copper Seal" that looked like copper glitter...dumped them in,topped the coolant off,put a 7 lb cap on the radiator too,then left...next weekend when he came back,he said it ran perfect and didn't need any more coolant added--he dont care about the truck,this is the second time he did this in 3 years with it...how its survived being overheated BAD more than a few times,with 260K on it,I will never know.........................................................................................................................................................................................................Other friends have tried that "Blue Devil" stuff,dont use that ,both of them that did said it hardens like portland cement and cant be chiseled out once it "sets"...it looks like water but its sodium silicate or "water glass"...it can work,but it can screw things up beyond repair too...I'd consider any stop-leak temporary,but I've seen it last years too..it just stinks you cant really trust it for longer trips knowing it could let go and really start leaking--it buys you time though...
 
Yes use are suppose to use arp thread sealer. I have seen them leak down a bolt into a cylinder, not very often but it happens. Are the heads new? I have had a valve guide leak water as well.
 
80' 427 said:
Yes use are suppose to use arp thread sealer. I have seen them leak down a bolt into a cylinder, not very often but it happens. Are the heads new? I have had a valve guide leak water as well.
Click to expand...

The heads are new. How can the bolts leak into a cylinder, wouldn't the combustion ring stop it?
 
You may just have an intake water port gasket leak.
I've seen it happen many times, often being improperly diagnosed as a head gasket failure.
Do your leak down test, that will be the deciding factor.
 
How can a intake leak to a intake port? The ring should stop it but I have seen them seep into the cylinder. Do a leak down and a compression test.
 
actually, I would do a coolant system pressure test first before a cylinder health test.... it's by far the most sweat-free :whistle:, quickie of diagnostics for a leaky head gasket.. :haha:
 
ryoken said:
actually, I would do a coolant system pressure test first before a cylinder health test.... it's by far the most sweat-free :whistle:, quickie of diagnostics for a leaky head gasket.. :haha:
Click to expand...

How do i do that?
 
Instead of paying $67+shipping, why don't I just put an air fitting and gauge in place of the drain cock on the radiator, then crank the air regulator on my compressor down to 15psi?
 
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