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Head gasket leak/compression loss

Question:.......Is it possible for upper or lower intake manifold gaskets to allow combustion into the coolant......Can it be anything else except HG, head(s) or cracked block???
 
WarWagon said:
Time to pull the crossover off the block. Fill the engine till the water is at the top of the crossover ports on the head. Take off the fan belt. Start the engine and look for bubbles. This (bubbles) will let you know if you have to pull a head and what side to pull. Overheating at idle is an airlock condition and suspect cracked head or blown gaskets.
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I have found this to be the quickest and cheapest way to determine which side is causing problems. The cross over is easy to remove and the gaskets are cheap. I've also removed a glow plug to isolate the cylinder that failed.


Brooklyn Tow said:
Question:.......Is it possible for upper or lower intake manifold gaskets to allow combustion into the coolant......Can it be anything else except HG, head(s) or cracked block???
Click to expand...

Don't think so. In likely order of failure, HG, warped head, cracked head, cracked block or warped block, or some combination.

In the failures I've had, cracked head was a slight bubble, blown HG had very violent bubbles.

Louis, good luck

John
 
Brooklyn Tow said:
Will I do any significant damage driving the rig in this condition?
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I drove a cracked head for a while.

Blown head gasket was so bad it would get close to over heating within 2 miles of normal driving. The air bubble built real fast.

If you have to drive it, either remove or add a bleeder hole (1/8 to 1/4") in a thermostat. It will keep an air bubble from building in the water jacket, exposing the top of the heads.
 
Sounds like problems are abound right now Louis. If you determine it's a headgasket, it's not that hard to get apart. Devin and I had the heads off mine in 5 hours.
 
Thanks for all the advise guys.....I'll keep you all posted on any developments, good or bad.

Kenny, big thanks too you we'll see how things go and if I can some how make it up there.

Leo, I was thinking the same thing, seems Kenny doesn't think it'll do much for a compression leak, but I figure....what do I have to loose at this point.

David, I know your under the gun (time wise) and the pressure sucks, but Devin and you are pretty skilled wrench turners and your attention to detail is second to NONE.......(I'm a novice at best and seem to fighting more than one issue at this point) I and many others have absolute faith, that you guys will cover all the bases......I'm still pullin for you Brother!

Also thanks to BJ, John (jmiller), and everyone else who replied, and offered some advise.

Thanks to all,
Louis
 
I have zero experience with the cooling tabs but would give them a try.

The best thing would be to pull the heads though.
 
NVW said:
I have zero experience with the cooling tabs but would give them a try.

The best thing would be to pull the heads though.
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Gonna have to Leo, this truck aint going anywhere, it works too hard...(It's the money maker)......Besides this day was comming sooner or later, at least thats the way I see it.

Just didn't think it would be, before the odo saw 150,000 mi.........and the previous 2 owners were big fleet Co. but there PM sucks. God knows how many times they overheated this engine.
 
I would get a real low pressure rad cap or leave it cracked to allow the air to exit and not pressurize the cooling system. Maybe even try running with the bleed screw cracked.
 
Brooklyn Tow said:
Thanks for all the advise guys.....I'll keep you all posted on any developments, good or bad.
David, I know your under the gun (time wise) and the pressure sucks, but Devin and you are pretty skilled wrench turners and your attention to detail is second to NONE.......(I'm a novice at best and seem to fighting more than one issue at this point) I and many others have absolute faith, that you guys will cover all the bases......I'm still pullin for you Brother!
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Honestly if you've never done it (this was my first time pulling heads) it's a bit of a project but you can do it. My only advise is when you do, get a manual for it and keep track of where the fasteners go to. There are TONS of bolts and nuts.

NVW said:
I have zero experience with the cooling tabs but would give them a try.

The best thing would be to pull the heads though.
Click to expand...
If you use the cooling tabs, get the GM ones as they are an organic material that won't harm any other system. They come as a 5-pack. I've read you should crush them up and stick them in the upper radiator hose.

Brooklyn Tow said:
Gonna have to Leo, this truck aint going anywhere, it works too hard...(It's the money maker)......Besides this day was comming sooner or later, at least thats the way I see it.

Just didn't think it would be, before the odo saw 150,000 mi.........and the previous 2 owners were big fleet Co. but there PM sucks. God knows how many times they overheated this engine.
Click to expand...
Mine's at 150,100 right now. :/ I was hoping it would have made it longer, hopefully now it will.
 
Your never gonna believe this.....Just keeps getting better and better.

So just about a half hour ago I started the truck to see if the rad hose would get hard quickly on cold start, so the truck isn't even running 10 min. Earlier today someone mentioned FSOS and said maybe this is your problem (this mentioned from the guy who is going to flash the PCM). So as the truck is running I find the FSOS with the hex nut on top of the IP.....I start to look at the wires coming off it and trace it down to the plug.

At the plug I find 1 wire going into the plug spliced back about 1 inch on the harness side, Hmmmm, so where is the other wire that belongs in the plug (from the harness side- the male connector), well I come to find that side of the plug empty, so I back up to the FSOS and trace the wire coming off of the solenoid to find it dangling and spliced together straight from the harness to the FSOS (totally bypassing the weather pack connector (plug).

So picture this, the 2 ends of the plug, 1 from the harness and 1 from the solenoid with 1 wire from the harness running like it should thru the weather pack plug and connected to the FSOS plug (female).....the other wire just shoe maker-ed to the other end of the FSOS wire totally bypassing the weather pack (plug) and half of the insulation exposed! WTF!!

So, as I'm fiddling with the harness to FSOS connection, the exposed part of the splice, grounds to the intake (Close quarters in that spot) and immediately the truck shuts down.

So I figured that I pooched the FSOS and remembered that the plunger comes out, so fuel will pass, and it'd be like taking the solenoid out of the loop......So TTS search to the rescue! I find that I need to take out the "C" clip holding the plunger in and she should start right back up, Right?

WELL, guess what?.......Now on top of the WTS, compression blowing into the coolant, I now have a NO START condition from shorting out the FSOS, removing the plunger seems to make no difference.

What did I fry?.......does the FSOS get it's directions from the PCM, the PMD or something else, that I haven't a clue about?

I'm at the end of my rope and if I can't get this truck to run I will be ready to .......I don't know what to do......Please someone respond with some feedback, input and/or advise.

I'm really gonna lose it, I can't believe what I've done...........HELP PLEASE!

I'm dying a slow death here, like someone turning the knife every few hours........This truck has given me me many trouble free years and it seems like everything is going wrong all at once in a matter of a few weeks......Either from some stupid move that I do and/or just bad luck.......I need to get this truck running again, Please pray for me......I need something good to happen, Fast!!!
 
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Check the ecm fuse. If you need a Fuel shutoff sol pm me. I can drop in in the mail tomorrow. I have a spare one. Othe3rwise find a local re builder, they might sell you one. I know there are a few out on LI but not sure about NYC. Let me know, I can mail it first thing.
 
Also check the harness that goes under the manifold to the IP back by the FFM. They have a habit of rubbing through and shorting out by the FFM. Happened to my Tahoe. Kept blowing the fuse for the ecm. I think there may be a fuse for the FSO too. Can't remember for sure.. Unfortunately I had to pull my intake manifold off to remove the harness as it was so caked with gak I could not find the bare spot until I washed it with lots of brakleen. Wear safety glasses. I'm sitting here tying with one eye shut right now cause I blasted myself in the eye about 2 hrs ago...
 
No WTS and no start is sounding to me alot lot a blown ecm fuse. Do you have a code reader ? See if it will even connect to the ecm. If it does not, the fuse or the ecm itself is blown.
 
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