losing coolant/ white smoke

[jcool]

I would imagine its the head gasket on my mothers truck but since I am not there I won't know till I see it. Anyway any other thoughts on what could be wrong? She had it scanned at advance auto and the only codes were the glow plug relay, which is something that has never been done but its out of warrenty at 230k. She is currently 3 hours from home and added a stop leak into the coolant when she stopped. Anyone with experience know what can be damages/destroyed in this condition? The truck is a 01 dmax with 230k on its clock. Any other info is appreciated.

 

[MACKIN]

If it's a headgasket and it's that bad as you describe it can hydro-lock. This will or can really cause some damage.

I'd stop driving it if it were mine to minimize repair cost.

Could possibly be a injector cup leaking but damage can be the same.

 

[got-h2o]

I'd vote an injector cup myself, and I agree about not running it. Possibly a hg, but usually they'll pressurize the coolant system instead of burning it.

 

[jcool]

Thanks guys I'm calling her now to see if she made it home

 

[Sparky8370]

Running it with low coolant can warp the heads, so you may just be doing them for her too.
I had to change mine earlier this year. My heads were warped. I wasn't into replacing them, and had them shaved anyway. Still running strong.

 

[jcool]

Running it with low coolant can warp the heads, so you may just be doing them for her too.
I had to change mine earlier this year. My heads were warped. I wasn't into replacing them, and had them shaved anyway. Still running strong.

I hope they are fine. :yikes:

 

[Sparky8370]

Mine were warped by .003", and on top of that one of the problems with the original '01 gaskets were that they corroded into the head causing groves where the metal part of the gasket folds over. There was a ring corroded around every cylinder and on the edges. Because of this they had to shave them .006" to get them flat. Make sure you take out your injectors and glow plugs first. When I did mine I took the heads out with the valvetrain, injectors, and glow plugs still inside. I removed all that on the bench. I put one of the old head bolts in on each corner from the underside so that the glow plugs and injectors wouldn't get damaged. A couple pieces of 2x4 would do the trick too. In fact you could screw them to your bench and then use some long lags to hold the head to the bench so you can work on it easier. Just don't torque it down. You may as well install ARP head studs while you've got it apart. I got mine for $580 shipped. If one of the vendors on here won't give you a comparable deal, just PM me and I'll get the contact info. I'll see if I can dig up the part numbers of the "type c" head gaskets. The third version that GM put out. The dealers I talked to had no idea what was what when it came to the gaskets and wanted to sell me the wrong ones. I had to go to one dealer an hour away to get one, and another an hour in the other direction to get the other one.

 

[jcool]

Mine were warped by .003", and on top of that one of the problems with the original '01 gaskets were that they corroded into the head causing groves where the metal part of the gasket folds over. There was a ring corroded around every cylinder and on the edges. Because of this they had to shave them .006" to get them flat. Make sure you take out your injectors and glow plugs first. When I did mine I took the heads out with the valvetrain, injectors, and glow plugs still inside. I removed all that on the bench. I put one of the old head bolts in on each corner from the underside so that the glow plugs and injectors wouldn't get damaged. A couple pieces of 2x4 would do the trick too. In fact you could screw them to your bench and then use some long lags to hold the head to the bench so you can work on it easier. Just don't torque it down. You may as well install ARP head studs while you've got it apart. I got mine for $580 shipped. If one of the vendors on here won't give you a comparable deal, just PM me and I'll get the contact info. I'll see if I can dig up the part numbers of the "type c" head gaskets. The third version that GM put out. The dealers I talked to had no idea what was what when it came to the gaskets and wanted to sell me the wrong ones. I had to go to one dealer an hour away to get one, and another an hour in the other direction to get the other one.

Thanks man, you just helped me a bunch, i had a choice of type a b and c hg's on gmpartsdirect.com.. now i know which ones too get! if my dad wants to spend the money on the truck(he may buy it from my mom) we will do a little to it.

 

[jcool]

update

mom called today and stated that the radiator was drained and filled with coolant and a sealant twice without any success. also found small amount of oil in with the coolant. still burning it off through the exhaust I assume since I still havent gotten up there to look at it yet. I told her to drain the oil in a clean container and confirm it is 10qts and also find someone whom can tell if there is diesel or coolant in it as well. she hasnt driven it since returning home. I am assuming that the head gaskets will need replacing and she asked for me to do it.... anyway she is trading the truck in as soon as it is fixed on a used 05 jetta. what is the going price for a mechanic to replace the head gaskets?

 

[Sparky8370]

It was gonna cost me several thousand if I had someone else do it. And then you still have to determine weather it's the HGs, an injector cup, or the turbo. Since it's blowing white smoke it's probably either the HGs or injector cup. Check in the intercooler tubes for antifreeze. Since it's burning antifreeze it would have to going through the intercooler tubes if it was the turbo. I don't think that's very likely though.

 

[jcool]

It was gonna cost me several thousand if I had someone else do it. And then you still have to determine weather it's the HGs, an injector cup, or the turbo. Since it's blowing white smoke it's probably either the HGs or injector cup. Check in the intercooler tubes for antifreeze. Since it's burning antifreeze it would have to going through the intercooler tubes if it was the turbo. I don't think that's very likely though.

whew, I was guessing around a thousand or so.. she is trading the truck in on a 05 jetta. and it looks as if i will be the one doing the work to the truck. i still havent seen it yet but will look at the intercooler tubes when i do, hopefully its not the turbo though.