Well after changing the water pump, radiator and heater core twice within the last 4 months, I'm still not done with the after effects of a neglected cooling system.

Today after racing the engine a little, it started to act sluggish...I thought it must have been gas (low at the time) so I stopped at the local station, filled it and fired her up. It was acting funny...but I finally got it going. So I rev'd it a little (2,000 rpms) and looked back to see if I was smoking. Didn't see anything. So now I was starting to think maybe plugs, wires or something along those lines. So I headed back home. While making a turn (foot off the gas) the tack fell and sat around 2-300 RPMs. I tried to give it gas -- nothing. Put it in neutral and while coasting tried some more -- still nothing...vitals (oil/temp/power) all read normal. It died...so I stopped...popped the hood and took a look around. Nothing out of the ordinary, but I did smell a hint of coolant. Checked the dipstick - white. So now I know I've got water in my oil. But how much? Could be a LOT. Because I've been changing all the parts on the coolant system, I've really lost track of the amount of water I've put in it...

So I'm pretty sure my engine is toast. Any other reason, given the symptoms, the engine wouldn't start? It could have been smoking and I just didn't see it...it was dark and my exhaust dumps about 3/4 of the way down the frame...so who knows? I've come to accept that I'm about to drop a couple grand into it at least....idk maybe I'll get a V8 out of the deal...

 

One thing I failed to mention...

On the back of the intake, there is a hose that runs down the back of the engine...I'm pretty sure this is for the EGR, right? It had heated up to an extreme temperature, loosened itself and come off it's fitting. When I was turning the engine over, I noticed white smoke (steam?) shooting out of it. So I took a look and it gots what looks to be foam. Which is another reason why I think I've got some bad rings. The coolant is blowing by the pistons and going up the EGR tube.

I got shafted big time.

Anyone have experience with the cost to get my cylinders honed and pistons replaced? I don't think it would even be worth doing that seeing as how all the parts suffered from oil deprivation. Bearings would be going out left and right.

 

Sounds like you might have lost a head gasket. Have you pulled the plugs to see what they look like or check compression? How high was your oil level when you found the oil to be white? How long did you run the engine after it started acting up? If you are lucky, you haven't wasted the main and/or rod bearings.

Does the truck still turn over?

 

After it started acting up I drove for probably 2 miles. The the oil/water was probably about 1/4 - 1/3 of the way up the dipstick. I haven't had a chance to pull the plugs or check compression. It does still turn over.

 

So here's the deal...I tried starting it up the morning after so I could drive it the couple hundred yards home and what do you know? It worked. So I'm thinking the reason it died the night before it because it was literally flooded. When it was running I checked the tailpipe and it was shooting water fairly profusely...not just dripping...it was more then that. So now I'm thinking when the intake manifold gasket went, it also let water into the intake system which is why it flooded it and is spewing out water. So I'm gonna change the gasket and if that doesn't fix the problem then it's probably the head gasket or something. But I'm ruling out piston rings due to a lack of blow by. Any other ideas given the symptoms?

Thanks,
Jacob

 

As I said earlier, I would recommend a compression test. That will difinitively tell you whether it is a head gasket failure or an intake gasket failure.

 

For anyone in the future in this situation:


I replaced the Intake Manifold gaskets...flushed the system out (Will do another oil change in <100 miles) and it seems to run good. I may have shortened the life of some bearings, but for now it runs the same as it did before. Definitely happy I'm not replacing anything big.

If you're planning to do this job, have some extra money and you've got 100,000 miles + on the truck, you will want to buy GM # 17113205 It's an o-ring kit for the spider injector. Most likely your o-rings will be worn out and having this kit on hand will ensure no more delays when doing this fix. After it was all said and done, I probably spent a good 7-8 hours with this job. Not as quick as many say (3-5 hrs) but I had quite a few bumps along the way. The Chilton's manual I had didn't show the correct procedure for my model....it was for a slightly different intake manifold design, and because of this there were many procedural differences...the write up which can be found here is correct and helped along the way.