I've got a 98 2 door Tahoe with the good old 350. Truck has 235k miles on the clock. A year ago I had a bad coolant leak and changed the lower intake manifold gaskets, water pump and valve cover gaskets. Changed timing chain and sprokets and oil pan gasket while I was at it. A year later I still have a slow coolant leak. Its much, much slower than before. It seams to be internal because there are no visable signs of leaking. I probably loose 10 to 20 ounces of coolant between oil changes. I'm seeing no signs of coolant in the oil or vice versa. No signs of vapors/condensation under the oil fill cap. The only signs I'm seeing is a slightly to moderately wet exhaust and a sweet coolant smell when I get out of the truck. The truck runs great all the time and doesn't overheat. Any other tests to perform before I tear into this project? Am I on the right path to solving the coolant leak. Thanks
Head Gasket Time??
- Thread starter willxfs
- Start date
Disclaimer: Links on this page pointing to Amazon, eBay and other sites may include affiliate code. If you click them and make a purchase, we may earn a small commission.
retorq
Full Access Member
Could be a cracked head ... If you tore it down to the point to do timing chain and oil pan gasket, new head gaskets were only a few more hours of work.
SunlitComet
OBS Jedi-Do Good
What intake gasket did you use and have you inspected your plugs for unusual conditions?
Yeah I know. Bonehead move not changing out the head gaskets when I had it all apart allready.
I used all quality parts. I used the fel-pro gasket kit and a gm water pump, timing chain, sprokets and front cover.
This weekend I'll pull the plugs to inspect them.
I used all quality parts. I used the fel-pro gasket kit and a gm water pump, timing chain, sprokets and front cover.
This weekend I'll pull the plugs to inspect them.
SunlitComet
OBS Jedi-Do Good
fel pro made an improved design but still carries the older one that is why i was asking.
Ok, I searched for receipts for the lower intake manifold gaskets but cant find them. So, I'm thinking it was a felpro kit I picked up from Oreilly. Dont know anything other than that.
I pulled the spark plugs yesterday. They were changed about 2.5 years ago and have about 43K miles on them. All of the above mentioned work was done at that time, not a year ago. What do ya'll think?
I pulled the spark plugs yesterday. They were changed about 2.5 years ago and have about 43K miles on them. All of the above mentioned work was done at that time, not a year ago. What do ya'll think?
Attachments
SunlitComet
OBS Jedi-Do Good
something dont look right. can you give me the make and model of plugs please?
retorq
Full Access Member
Looks fine to me, the redish area is deposits from additives, the white ash is normal. You may have a fuel distribution issue as seen from the amt of ash that changes from one cylinder to the next.
SunlitComet
OBS Jedi-Do Good
must be the pic. some of them dont look right. must have some harsh fuel and additives for them to look like that. you could test for leaks head cracks one way by using a combustion leak detector. it has a fluid inside that reacts to combustion gases. you hold it against the radiator neck opening while engine is running. also if you are sure you have no air in the cooling system. look for bubbling in the reservoir tank when running as gases will go there too.
Similar threads
