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Head Gaskets?

S

snwmn584

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Well heres the issues guys, I just picked this truck a little over a month ago. It was warming up on day, i got in the low coolant was on. I added coolant. Well since then i have had to add coolant to it, Maybe a gallon and a half in 2 1/2 weeks. Well last week i was looking around for a coolant leak. Just happened to pull the oil fill cap off, there was some condensation, tasted it, yup coolant. Changed oil Monday and didn't really see any signs of Water/Coolant. Oil samples were sent off and waiting for results. Here is what i know. I cannot find a visible anywhere. I don't smell anything from engine compartment, cab or from the exhaust. I have not overheated nor run hot. I have not puked coolant, nor do i build excess pressure in the system, and for the matter, not sure if i am building any pressure as the hoses don't get hard, and i can pull the coolant cap off without any problems when its up to temp. According to records injectors have not been touched. Truck is going in monday to get checked out. Am i most likely looking at head gaskets? I know Injector cups are a possibility also. Thanks for any help guys!



02 Lb7
Banks 6 gun, Exhaust, Intake
 
My first thought is why isn't the cooling system pressurized?

Commonly with either head caskets or injector cups leaking you'd have that problem...

any oily residue in the coolant reservoir?

any sooty residue in the coolant reservoir?

Check your turbo coolant lines...and the short bypass line above the
*water pump*

but to lose that much coolant and not see any signs is puzzling...

could very well be your initial thoughts of Head gasket or Injector cups...but without the pressurization is just baffling...

I've had blown head gaskets on one motor and a leaking injector cup on another...and on both the hoses were rock hard...
 
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Coolant residue in the oil without a pressurized cooling system sounds like an O-ring on an injector sleeve is pissing out under pressure. I would change out the cap first to make sure your cap is good, but then I would find somebody to do a coolant pressure test. If it doesn't hold much pressure, but no white smoke when you restart it after pressuirizing it I would bet it's a seal on an injector sleeve.
 
i actually pumped all the coolant out of the resivoir to check for oil or soot and the coolant was pretty clean. The no pressurizing is what confuses me. Everything i have read says top hose rock hard and it will hold pressure after system has cooled off. Mileage has been around 13-14 since i bought it.

My initial thoughts were water pump, but without seeing any visible leaks, and not smelling the coolant that what boggles me. I am not getting any visible haze out of the exhaust.

When i drained the oil monday, there was no milky oil. I have pulled the oil fill cap off a few times since monday and haven't seen any coolant signs on the cap, but the coolant level has dropped a little bit.
 
LB7's are famous for leaking coolant at the small hose that feeds coolant to the turbo on the passenger side. It leaks down and evaporates off before it will leak to the ground normally. If your sure it isn't getting into the crankcase, and that the water pump isn't leaking(DEX-COOL doesn't leave a leak trail like the old green stuff does, so it is hrd to make sure), then I would change out the coolant hoses going to the turbo. Also head gaskets can leak externally as mine were leaking down the back of the block with no pressurizing of the cooling system(early head gaskets were known to leak like this unlike head gaskets from 03 on).
 
Well I was looking again, I did notice on the drivers up pipe there was some like dried white residue.

If they were leaking externally wouldn't I smell it, unless it leaks under maybe high boost and it dries/the air moves the smell before u can detect it?
 
Dex cool doesn't have that telltale odor like the green stuff does. Did you replace the radiator cap (yeah I know... It's on the overflow) just to make sure that's not your pressure loss?
 
Hoses look fine. Unless I don't know what I'm looking at I cannot find a sign of coolant leaking. Looks like I'll find out Monday.
 
I will. Ya I have been preparing myself. Not real happy but I ready to face it. If it is head gaskets would it be wise to do injectors while it's apart? Or check injector rates and if they seem fine just do hg and roll with it?
 
I did my injectors while it was apart, and it turned into a nightmare. I wish I would have left my old ones in, but hindsight is always 20/20. Before you go pulling teh ehads off, get a pressure tester on it and look for the leak first.
 
If the pressure test doesn't give you any indication...and you are dead set on it being a h.g. or injector cup...If you have access to a bore scope you could also check each cylinder (through glow plug openings) for signs of water intrusion... it's a lot of additional work though...but...if it turns out to be a single injector cup all you have to do is reseal that one cup...


Ferm: Doesn't balance rates sometime indicate something going on in a particular cylinder?

maybe if he knows someone with EFI or a TechII or something to check the balance rates, it might give him an idea where the issue may lie...
 
I'm assuming you guys are talking about a pressure test on the cooling system?

I can get access to a tech II.
 
Balance rates will show if a cylinder is ingeting water sometimes, but not always. If it is getting enough in it to cause a misfire it will show up, or if it is losing compression out of it it will show up. This doesn't sound like head gaskets to me unless it is leaking into the crankcase or down teh sides of the block.
 
Ya not real sure. Hopefully Monday the guy will have something to tell me and that my oil analysis comes back.
 
Well truck got dropped off monday evening. Got to see a nice duramax in the shop getting its second built motor(the crank was in two pieces on the floor from the first motor)being put back together in the truck, twins, whole nine yards. Makes me wonder how some of these young guys afford big parts like that.

Anyways, he put pressure on the system when i got there while it was hot. I got a call today saying it only lost about 8 pounds in about 6 hours. Upon startup it didn't smoke at all. So his recommendation was to drive it till i start getting more definite symptoms. I'm still waiting for my oil analisys so that will hopefully tell me a little more whats goin on. Thanks for all of the help guys!
 
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