easiest way to check for blown head gasket

[evanesce69]

when i try to start my truck, the overflow res shakes something terrible. I think the head gasket has gone south, but i dont want to take it apart just to find out nothing was wrong. Do you guys know of any quick and dirty ways of checking the gaskets without disassembly???

the truck does not start, and when it does,m it takes quite a bit of throttle to maintain a decent idle. it runs very rough. I have been unable to get the truck to the dealer to read the codes. I an gonna try to use a multimeter tomorrow. wish me luck.

I thank you guys for the help!

Rob

 

[locknar]

compression tester would probably be the easiest. if you are not loosing anti-freeze then it could be blown between cylinders, low pressure on adjacent cylinders usually shows a leak between.

 

[evanesce69]

well, I decided to tear the top of the motor off. I tried to start it again today and it blew antifreeze out the overflow tank. It HAS to have a leaking gasket letting cylinder pressure to get into the cooling system. I'll keep the updates coming and maybe even post a couple pictures.



Rob

 

[Beef52751]

a leakdown would have been a good idea, but good luck!!!
Beef

 

[shadetree]

a leakdown would have been a good idea, but good luck!!!
Beef

Very few people have the equipment to do a leak down test, even many professional garages do not have them. They use a compression test which will usually give you enough information to make a determination on what you need to do with the engine.shady

 

[evanesce69]

yeah, I used to have a compression tester, but that was before the divorce. I am assuming the burps through the overflow are caused by a leaking head gasket. I may be wrong, but it gives me a chance to put in those copper gaskets i talk about in my E85 thread.



Rob

 

[evanesce69]

well, it has been hot before, i replaced the heads about two years ago ergo stuck thermostat. I did notice the water pump was missing 3 vanes and the remaining were badly ate up. it is possible it had some hot spots. I can do the compression test still. I only have the upper intake removed. it shouldn't effect the results of the test. At least i dont think so....




Rob

 

[evanesce69]

 

[evanesce69]

I HATE EXHAUST STUDS!!!!!

 

[BRUTUS_T_HOG]

well i see you already have it torn apart, but a very quick way to check for a blown head gasket is to let it run until hot, SMELL the coolant.

if it smells like exhaust you've got a blown headgasket

 

[evanesce69]

Intake removed

 

[Beef52751]

Very few people have the equipment to do a leak down test

If you have ever seen a leakdown tester its not to hard to make one, mine is homemade.

Beef

 

[evanesce69]

leaky front seal

I agree... it is NASTY DIRTY. It had a leaky front seal for a long time. After reassembly I an gonna engine foamy and pressure wash to clean it up. Just imagine how i look after diggin around in that grease pit!!!! LOL




Rob

 

[TomB1269]

I hope you are tanking that block......... get the passages cleaned out.

 

[evanesce69]

reasons for the crappy perfomance of the 3.0L

Well i got the heads off just to discover that #4 and #6 cylinder exhaust valves were severely burnt. The pic is a little fuzzy, I'll edit this later to show a better image. I'm short on time at the moment!