head gasket problem?

[titansarrow]

ok, i started a thread a bit ago about my truck overheating. i went through the stages to try and figure it out. had some issues with the thermostat, got it fixed.

i was out for a drive to test everything. i was out for about 10 minutes (after stalling because my alternator is dying). then parked and let it run for another 10 or so. temp got up to little past L. so i killed it and opened up the hood. a little smoke (white) came up. i attribute that to burning gunk and spilled fluids. but the coolant lid was off...and all of my coolant was gone. wtf!?

somebody had suggested to me last nigh that my head gasket was going. there has been some white smoke from the tailpipes on occasion, mostly when starting. I have also heard that if that is the case, it can cause massive overheating and ultimately catastrophic failure of the motor.

I guess i'm just asking for verification of this. if this is the case, i'm taking the truck of the road until i can build a motor for it. which i will be starting in 2-3 weeks with a builder motor(junk yard).

thank again guys, a million time over!!

 

[doonze]

It is possible, mostly it will be a two way street, if the fluid can get in, combustion gases can get out. And they are HOT, vaporizing the water in the water channel and sending air and REALLY HOT water back into the system.

But if it's just a little white smoke on starting, well, I wouldn't worry about that too much yet.

If you lost that much water that fast you would have had CLOUDS of steam I would think, it did on my Le baron when I developed a crack or blew the head gasket, never learned which, sold it finally.

What your seeing is steam, not smoke if you do have a gasket blown or a cracked head. And if your also burning water. But I wouldn't give up on it being something else yet. If you losing that much water (almost all in 20 mins) you should see it coming out the tail pipe as steam. If you just get a white puff when you start it is more likely oil, and old rings. They expand when they warm up and oil no longer get by them.

That's just too much too fast for me to believe you wouldn't be "steaming" quite a bit, think James Bond and a smoke screen. I've done that by the way, with my Le Baron.

I'm not saying you DON'T have a blown gasket or cracked head, but I'm not convinced yet by what your telling me. Now if your oil is milky, or your coolant has oil in it. Then yeah, I'm convinced. But I just can't see you burning that much water that fast and NOT seeing a steady steam cloud coming from the tailpipe.

A test....hmmmm.... Fill er up again , idle it and watch, is the fluid vanishing? Does it boil over? If you don't have a new cap (or a bad new cap) it's possible that it's boiling and spraying it everywhere. NOT burning it.

Now when you said your coolant lid was gone... you mean the overflow lid??? NOT the radiator cap right? And when you say all gone, you mean in the overflow AND the RADIATOR right?

 

[titansarrow]

i meant the overflow lid was off. and the overflow was empty. dunno about the radiator. i'm going to go out and let it run with the hood open to see if i see anything when it gets hot...with safety glasses. let you know when i get in

 

[titansarrow]

just got back in.it heated up until around the A. saw no leaks, nothing hitting the ground. it smelled hot, guessing i'm burning a lil coolant. sat and watched the overflow being drained. there's lots of bubbles. i turned it off after a lil bit and watched it flow back into the overflow, again lots of bubbles (sounded like boiling but wasn't).

somebody had just told me that air in the cooling system can f-things up until it's purged. could these be my air bubbles?

 

[titansarrow]

just went out again. coolant was gone from the overflow. ran it for a while, seemed to hold at A/L. there were less bubbles coming into the overflow this time,

the only thing i don't get is that the fluid coming into the overflow seemed to be boiling. i shut off the truck and watched it. it continued to flow with a loud boiling sound and a little vapor was coming from the overflow. this is probly how my lid popped off last time(pressure).

so... 1- the truck is still getting a little too hot
2- why does it do the boiling thing?
3- where does the coolent go after the truck cools a bit?

 

[doonze]

Hmmm... have you got a new radiator cap??? This will happen if your current one isn't up to spec.

If you have the cap off, does it bubble as soon as you start the truck? Need to start our checks there.

 

[titansarrow]

i think i fixed it...and i feel like a tard. sorry for the stupidity guys lol

i answered some of my questions.

i just went out and tried burping it, didn't move all that much till i cranked on the heat. then i forgot to watch the temp...so it flowed over, and onto my air filter no less(i have it relocated). so after cleaning and drying the filter i turned on the truck and let it sit again.

before it took only about 10-15 minutes to get to A or so.
this time it seemed to struggle to O. the truck seem to run slightly quieter/smoother too, but maybe that's just me. fluid levels are the same after shut off as well.

so I think that this project may be done (fingers crossed).

tomarrow i swap out the alternator. and later in the week i'll adjust the lifters.

thank you for all your help and dealing with my laziness/ noobness!!