Well, its a long story. I bought my truck a month ago after someone ran it out of water (cracked radiator). They drove it till it quit. Well, we put in a new radiator, and it always ran rough-like it had a slight miss or something. I kept a close eye on my water and dipsticks, and it never faltered. id replaced a few maintenance items (dist cap and rotor, fuel filter, plugs), and it seemed to get better, but never quit missing.

I was headed to go see some friends the other weekend, and noticed that the truck was feeling sluggish, like it wouldnt pull itself along. All my gauges looked fine, and i wasnt overheating, but it was a little warmer than normal. I attributed it to the outside temp and the fact that id been doing a lot of start and stop driving. It died shortly thereafter. I checked everything, and found my overflow resevoir to be empty, and my radiator appeared very low or empty too. I pulled the dipstick and it looked like a chocolate milkshake-classic sign of coolant in the oil. It did not appear to be overful. I have started tearing down the truck to see whether it was a leak from the manifold, or if it was a blown HG. ive got the upper manifold off, and have started clearing the way for the lower one. is there a way to tell if its just the intake mani leaking?

Im prepared to do the HG job, but it would be nice if i could get away without it. Would an intake manifold leak cause the above symptoms?

One more question-would it be normal for the carbon and buildup in the manifold to appear wet? Should it be absoultely dry between the upper and lower manifold?

Thanks everyone in advance?

 

The only expierience I have with a blown head gasket is when my son blew his. It smoked like crazy. Huge white cloud of smoke. You couldn't miss it.

Here is a pic of what a blown head gasket looks like.

 

if ya got coolant in your oil... more than likely it's a headgasket. there's no oil passages that run through the intake.... there's oil and coolant passages that are isolated by the headgasket that flow all through the heads so I'd have to say it prolly is your head gaskets... and... if it were me.... and I already had the intake off and even SUSPECTED there to be an issue or could be with the headgaskets... replace 'em...you're half way there anyways...

 

To rule out a cracked head, take it to a machine shop and have them magna flux it. While they are there, get them cleaned, new vavle guides installed and have them check the deck to amke sure its flat. You laready ahve the head of. [8D]

 

i had the heads checked, and everything checked out. new valve stem seals, lapped the valves. I should be picking them up in the am. I do have a question-would a regular old gasket scraper work to remove the old hg matierial, or is it too risky? Ive been using 3m roloc pads on a die grinder, which do great, but i cant get around my dowel pins and in some areas with it. anything else you guys would recommend?

 

So long as you don't gouge the block, you should be fine.

 

that is never a good sign...is that a honda motor Hanr?

 

You can use a razor blade to remove the chunks of gasket around the dowel pins. I have a gasket scraper that uses razor blades. If you miss any of the gasket, a little 100 grit emery cloth works well.

 

thanks for the reply chevy lover... ive got it almost ready for the heads to go back on... anyone wanna come to starkville to gimme a hand?

 

Hey I'd love to!
Where's Starkville?

Have you got all the torque spec that you need for assembly?