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Blowing coolant out the overflow tank. Head gasket or block??

I have not used the GM tabs. Personally the best snake oil stuff I used is liquid copper. Auto Zone, Advanced Auto parts has it not sure of any others. Down here it was around $8.00. Used it derby cars and worked great. Like stated b4 it is a snake oil cure.:nonod: Not sure about long time use...One thing to remember if you use a snake oil cure make sure you flush the system very good before you tear it down as to get the residue out of the block and system and not into your new work.
 
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Got the how-to from my buddy. It is not nearly as in depth as I had hoped for. You guys have told me more so far then that will. Also bought some of the GM tabs & have put one package in. I might put another package in as well. Time will tell. I'm not that lucky though.

Another question. Do you have to take the alternator off? what about the AC stuff?
What about push rods & rocker arms? If so is that straight forward?

My mechanic buddy told me once I get it apart he will come down & take a look & help determine what happened & how bad it is. aAlso help me clean up the head surface. My next door neighbor is a jack of all trades. One of those guys that can fix/build anything. He probably has heat. I'm going to ask him if he has a torch(I'm sure he does) & if I need heat to get some bolts off if he could help me out.

I'm starting to feel a bit better about doing this.
 
Rememeber the orientation and which one is which. Label parts and put in baggies if it helps.

I can't think of a reason you can't leave the manifolds attached to the heads if you can cut the crossover flanges/bolts apart to get it out.

Its not overwelming, don't be scared. Give yourself plenty of room. Take everything around it off, including alternator if its in the way or near the way on yours. Fan shroud, fan, everything. Make it easy on yourself. 1 Hour or so of dis-assembly can save hours and frustration down the road.
 
simone0414 said:
One more thing I forgot to mention. coolant system is still fully pressurized after truck sitting for 12 hours. Don't know if that helps narrow down anything or not though.
Click to expand...

Interested in the answer here too. Basically saying combustion pressure is getting into the coolant system, but not the other way around. Whatever the issue is, it takes alot more than the 15psi or so the cooling system maintains to breach the seal.
 
Simone, SSDiesel will just KILL you on parts prices, getting them across the border. They only ship via UPS, and they charge unbelieveable (and unpredictable) mystery 'brokerage' fees. Walt will tell you it's because of Canadian taxes, but that isn't it. Search 'brokerage' and SSDiesel for more info on that.

Try the GM SealTabs - and nothing else. Any of that other crap will need to be cleaned/flushed and may end up affecting your rad - which in these trucks is dicey enough.

Your system is staying pressurized because there is no place for that pressure to go - and that makes me think you might have a crack in a head - when the engine heats up, the crack opens, when it cools, it closes. With a compression leak, that can cause that symptom. You can get new heads fairly cheap, though, so get them checked (magnafluxed) while they're off. I had that exact problem with a Daytona.

Pulling the heads isn't that big a job; the guys on here have told you the basics, and yes, it can be done in the truck. The biggest worry you have is the exhaust manifold studs.

MRB is absolutely right... take everything off. Remove the turbo, plenum, injection lines, injectors, drop the crossover and downpipe, pull the alt and AC, and you'll see what else you need to do.

Hey, it's broke now, right? The worst that can happen is you'll not be able to fix it - which means you lost exactly nothing - and have to get it towed to somebody else. The more stuff you get apart, the less they have to put back on, later.

Make sure you buy new headbolts - these are single-use - not sure if somebody else mentioned that.

Missy likes Clearwater Cylinder Heads - $300 each

I've used heads from Ideal - their website seems to be down right now, but contact info by phone is in the link.

Gasket sets, probably cheaper to get them where you live than ship them from lord-knows-where.

Most importantly, try going through some of our site vendors... they will know about shipping to Canada, and will work with you if they can get good parts. We trust these guys, and like to support them because they support us. If they're in the ballpark on price, that's where I would buy from.
 
I bieleve the reason for this is combustion pressures are WAY higher than coolant(15 or so) and the combustion pressure is what blows out the gasket, unless the coolant has ate the gasket enough so it will leak. If the "hole" between combustion and coolant is small enough once the combustion gets into the coolant system and raises pressure on the coolant system the gasket will sorta act like a check valve and keep the higher pressure in the coolant system, barring any leak down through the cap or hose clamps etc...

I also agree with Jifaire it could be a cracked head and steel swells with heat and shrinks with cold. If I had to bet on this I would bet cracked head.....

As for my SS experience it was before I found DTR. Alot more info and education here.

1 other thing If you must keep driving it, try to run with cap loose so the pressure does build too high, and it can relieve alot more faster that way too. It can blow a heater core, radiator, hoses apart.
 
I have to agree with you Jifaire about shiiping costs. I have bought stuff from the states before & the shipping & brokerage charges was unreal. An absoulte rip off. Probably wouldn't be much difference in price at the end of the day & I can get them when I need them instead of waiting a week or more for them to be shipped here.

If it is a crack in the head what's the chances it can be repaired? The shop I will be taking it too is top notch so if it can be repaired they can do it. Guess I will have to weight the cost to repair vs the cost of a new one.

I got some GM tabs & put one package in this afternoon & drove it for a while. Let the engine cool & opened the rad cap & there was bit of pressure but nothing like before . The coolant level was low but that never matter before so I put another package in & let her idle in the yard for 1/2 hour. Wife & I went for drive tonight to see if she would blow off coolant & it didn't. After letting her cool down I opened the rad cap & there was no pressure at all. She seems to be working properly. Way to early to tell if the tabs worked but it was a bit incorraging & even if they do work I still am expecting to have to tear her apart & am still getting things in place for that.

I think the big guy has decided it's my week to have some bad luck though. When the wife & I went for a drive I had a flat tire:wtf: It wasn't a slow leak either. She blew. Sounded like a bomb going off. My first thought was engine blew up & I expected to look in my mirror & see flames coming out of the tail pipe. Luckly it was a back tire & we was going slow. Blew a 2" hole out the sidewall. I work at Michelin so I get free tires so no big deal but still.:mad2:
 
Actually I put them in a 6.2 and three years later when I sold it they were still holding. They generally don't hold for long against compression though. I really think the rust is scaring you. I'm telling you New england uses straight salt on the road here. Mine looked like crap on ashingle and they all came out. Start soaking them now with PB blaster. Do it every day while onst GM Tab Holiday. If you buy exchange heads then just cut all the bolts off with a wizzer and save the manifolds. Worse case you could buy ex heads and used manifolds and not even bother but you sound defeated before you start. Gotta lose that mentality. Damn man dind't you watch Star Wars ???? The Empire Strikes Back ?? Luke was in the swamp with Yoda and couldn't raise the x wing fighter and Yoda did . Luke said I don't believe it..Yoda said.."That is why you fail"
Use the force...And lots of it...:D
 
BTW and I know Ill catch crap for this and yes new headbolts are the proper way to go but I have reused them on 6.2s with no issue cause I was broke and used to drink alot.
 
Once a head is cracked, its a door stop or a boat anchor.

Dont be lead into repairing one of these heads.

Too thin and too cheap to get good replacements aftermarket.

Reusing head bolts is not a great plan but, I have seen it done too.

MGW
 
Acesneights1 said:
MGW did you change your last part of your name from Wrench to Wench or am I just retarded and never noticed it till now ? Just curious.
:D
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I just noticed that too? ):h


Worst case, you surf Ebay or the forums and buy some new/used manifolds, you could probably pick up a near new set for under $100, cheaper than having a shop remove the broken bolts and put heli-coils in. Took me 45 mins to remove 3 broken bolts on the drivers side manifold and helicoil, :mad2:
 
I'm not afraid to do the job but I won't tackle anything until I fully understand what I am getting myself into. I guess if I plan on keeping the truck I don't have much to lose though. Got to find out what's going on.
I didn't realize that anything but heat will work on manifold's. PB blaster will start them? Can't hurt to try I guess. My original plan was to take the heads out with the manifolds still on them & then take them somewhere to have them seperated.
I think I am going to spend some time today under the truck & under the hood looking. Haven't really taken a good look yet.
If the tabs hold though I gotta tell ya I am seriously considering letting her go & see what happens. I really don't have the cash right now for this job.
 
One other thing. This may open a big can o worms but if I find that it is going to cost big bucks to fix it I'm cutting my losses. So another truck is in the back of my mind. Not going with any more 6.5's. I can't afford anything real new so the new engines don't matter. I have heard the 5.9 cummins, 7.3 powerstroke are real good engines but what should I stay away from? Have heard bad things about the 03-04 6.0l. Haven't heard much about the Dmax other then injectors were bad in some years but I don't like the looks of them anyway. Keep in mind I plan to run veggi.
 
simone0414 said:
If the tabs hold though I gotta tell ya I am seriously considering letting her go & see what happens. I really don't have the cash right now for this job.
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Let your conscience be your guide. Just think of some poor person who might buy it scraping his last bucks together and then that happens. I sold one with that stuff in it but it was 3 yrs after I put it in and I told the guy buying it.
I never had a 6.5 apart but on the 6.2s IIRC there was no valve adj. Just sock em down. Don't mix up the push rods and rockers. Take a cardboard box and mark "front" on it and lay the rockers next to the push rods and keep them in order. I know plenty of people who have mixed them up and never had a problem but you should keep them in the order they were removed.
 
As far as what to buy, anything needs repair sooner or later. Do what I did and poke around the other sections here. I think you'll see alot of the other engine's have thier issues to and if you think working on a 6.5 looks hard try working on a 6.0 You have to lift the cab up. A dmax headgasket job is not for the faint of heart either. The reason the 6.5s are so popular here is the ease of working on them and the relatively inexpensive repairs. Even if you took the truck to a shop it would be half the cost to have headgaskets done on a 6.5 vs a dmax, PS . The only other one that is not too too bad to work on is the Cummins(which is why I bought one) but they have issues too. Don't want to end up with a 53 block or a bad LP. Don't want to work on it ? Buy new.
 
The head may not be cracked anyway. It could just be headgasket. In that case don't even take the mainfolds off. Just slap the head back on.
 
simone0414

Dont get all squirely on us now.

As has been mentioned, the 6.5 has its issues BUT, bolting the camp and buying another truck is way too far out of the picture at this point.

A good little 6.5 can be tossed together with bits and pieces fairly easily. Cheap too.

My DaHoooley (1995 3500 4x4 Crew cab) took a crap back in late april.

Turned out that the block was cracked in the number 4 main saddle up into the number 6 and 8 cylinders and leaking coolant into the oil.

OK
Block Junk
Heads had cracks that had not caused a failure yet but not good enough to go back on.
Crank OK
Cam OK
Lifters Junk due to glycol poisoning
Valve train, good to go
All other parts, (Not much left) still fine. (covers bolts, brackets etc)

I had to come up with a fresh block $350
Needed boring
New pistons
Reconditioned the rods
Scrounged a set of heads
Rings bearings gaskets
Timing chain.
Water pump (used one with many miles is ?????)

Now I am still not into this thing a Buttload as compared to buying another rig and then maybe getting someone elses issues to boot.

SECRET

You can if need be scrounge up a good 6.2 and swap all the goodies off the 6.5 including the turbo and the IP etc and use it. (Must use 6.5 TD heads and injector lines with the turbo.

These are wonderful mix and match engines.

Get it apart and see what you have to work with before you panic and run off screaming.

There is enough expertise here at DTR to help you get your rig up an purring fine again and with minimal cost.

Hang in there baby.

If this Old lady can do it, your gonna do fine.

Missy
 
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