Head gasket? (Another truck losing coolant somewhere)

[Steve O.]

After a quick search on the forum it seems like this may be a possibility. I am losing coolant somewhere. Here's where I've been with it:

-Did all the proper '97 cooling mods as part of a professional rebuild. Over the winter I notived a leak around the pass. side base of the crossover. I siliconed around it. Things seemed fine. Yes,I was lazy and should have taken it all apart but didn't.

-I know am losing coolant somewhere. No obvious leaks. But I do smell coolant sometimes, usually after I park it from a decent drive.

-Motor is running cool, even in hard summer driving and traffic.

-Yes, there is a white puff of smoke at startup.

-Motor was purchased as a short block assembly almost two years ago. Maybe has 20,000 miles on it since. Seems early for a head gasket to go, no?

-Nothing but oil, as far as I can tell, on the dipstick, which I have checked cold and hot.

Any thoughts, as always, would be appreicated.

Steve

[twaddle]

Hi Steve,
You need to get a hold of a cooling system pressurising kit.
It is a hand operated air pump like a bicycle tyre pump with a air pressure gauge and adapters to fit onto the radiator cap flange.

Pump the coolant pressure up to no more than 15psi and look around the engine for leaks.
Usually this test kit shows up the leak without spending a lot of time getting the engine warmed up and up to pressure.

Regards and good luck.

Jim Twaddle
Biggar, Scotland

[Iain]

Check under the rad in the small "drip tray" area and see if is damp. Sometimes hard to see in there and it may not drip on the floor if the drain holes are plugged. If it is a small leak it may be in the rad or a lose lower rad hose.

You also might want to try putting a new gasket under the crossover manifold were it is leaking if it is leaking a little it will drain into the intake valley where you may not see it.

Other than that, follow the pressure test in the previous post would be the next step.

Good luck,

Iain

[DA BIG ONE]

You smell coolant, then don't forget to check heater cores too, along with the lines that run under truck if you have the dual ac/heat option!

[Steve O.]

Originally posted by DA BIG ONE:
You smell coolant, then don't forget to check heater cores too, along with the lines that run under truck if you have the dual ac/heat option! Give the man a prize! I asked a question about this a while back but was told there was no connection... I do have the rear AC and have what I am sure is a bad front heater core under the dash:

I have heard a lot of coolant sloshing in my heater core under the dash. Also, my AC system is not pumping very cold air now, despite being all new as of last summer. (new rear lines, new compressor, etc...)However, for some reason, the rear AC does blow a bit cooler than the front...

Like I said, I posted earlier on this but was led to believe a heater core would have nothing to do with AC.

Do you have any specific suggestions on what I should be looking at?

Side note to Jim Twaddle: I see you're from Scotland... my cousin owns a house on the Isle of Skye. Been meaning to get there for a long time now. Looks like a beautiful place. How about an Intercontinental Diesel Rendevouas ;)

Steve

[twaddle]

Hi Steve,
Give me a shout if your comin' over I'll buy you a wee dram or two.
Does your cousin live in Scotland?
Be prepared for a shock if you think the price of gas is getting bad in the US, it is up to around the equivilent of $1.50 per litre over here just now and doesn't look like it's going down any.
About 75-80% of that is tax.

Yes I think you would like Scotland it is a lovely country. Let me know if I can be of any help if you do decide to come over.

By the way I would recommend getting a coolant pressurising kit to find that leak it really does make finding it so much easier.

Good luck and best regards

Jim
Biggar, Scotland
jim@jimmyt.plus.com